Eyes of the Surveillance State--The Shadow War by the Assad Regime and "Black Shades" and "Dark Comet" (2011-)

Eyes of the Surveillance State--The Shadow War by the Assad Regime and "Black Shades" and "Dark Comet" (2011-)

As the Arab Spring wave of 2011 swept over Syria, the Bashar al-Assad regime launched a crackdown on dissent not only by force, but also in cyberspace. At the center of this campaign were two notorious remote-access malware - Black Shades and Dark Comet.

Black Shades, an inexpensive commercial espionage tool that could generally be purchased for less than a hundred dollars, was distributed to hackers around the world because it allowed even novices to easily take over other people's computers. Once infected, the victim's PC becomes the target of complete surveillance. It was possible to record keyboard input (keylogging), remotely control webcams and microphones, view screens in real time, steal files, and even delete files in some cases.

Dark Comet, on the other hand, was developed by French programmers, but was unintentionally misused by a number of dictatorships. Featuring a user-friendly interface and powerful surveillance features, it became popular on the black market, and the Assad regime also used the tool to track democratic activists. The developer himself later condemned this abuse and stopped distribution.

These malware were sent to activists under the guise of Skype, image files, or PDF documents, spreading the infection as if it had come from a trusted friend. And infected PCs were sending communications to the IP addresses of Syria's state-run communications agency, an investigation by Citizen Lab (Citizen Lab) revealed, conclusively confirming that this was state-sponsored surveillance.

Among the victims were activists who had fled the country. IT technician Dilshad Osman discovered the existence of these malware through his own research and provided security assistance in cooperation with human rights organizations abroad.

The reality of this cyber-repression has had a strong impact on the international community, and Citizen Lab, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and other organizations have announced measures to respond to the situation. Support for human rights activists became urgent. The reality of a state using commercially available hacking tools to remotely monitor its own citizens - it was a quiet war scene where freedom was secretly being crushed.