Clinton Emails Suggest Google's Assistance In Undermining Assad

An interactive tool created by Google was designed to encourage Syrian rebels and help bring down the Assad regime, Hillary Clinton's leaked emails have reportedly revealed
            
By tracking and mapping defections within the Syrian leadership, it was reportedly designed to encourage more people to defect and 'give confidence' to the rebel opposition.

It was allegedly described as a “pretty cool idea” by senior Clinton adviser Jake Sullivan, and was broadcast into Syria by Al Jazeera, Google claimed.

Thousands of Clinton's personal emails have been published and indexed by WikiLeaks, and some reveal interesting details about the relationship between the State Department and major corporations.

The email detailing Google's defection tracker purportedly came from Jared Cohen, a Clinton advisor until 2010 and now-President of Jigsaw, formerly known as Google Ideas, the company's New York-based policy think tank.

In a July 2012 email to members of Clinton's team, which the WikiLeaks release alleges was later forwarded to the Secretary of State herself, Cohen reportedly said: “My team is planning to launch a tool on Sunday that will publicly track and map the defections in Syria and which parts of the government they are coming from.”

 “Our logic behind this is that while many people are tracking the atrocities, nobody is visually representing and mapping the defections, which we believe are important in encouraging more to defect and giving confidence to the opposition.”

The email said Google would be “partnering with Al Jazeera” who would take “primary ownership” of the tool, maintaining it and publicising it in Syria.

Cohen asked the Clinton team to tell him if there was anything the company needed to think about before launching the tool, before adding: “We believe this can have an important impact.”

The visualisation was eventually published by Al Jazeera in English and Arabic, and Jigsaw's website claims it became one of the site's most-viewed visualisations. 

A post about the tool on the site claims it successfully showed "patterns and trends" in support for the regime, but makes no mention of encouraging defectors or helping the opposition.

WikiLeaks has previously been responsible for publicising links between Google and high-ranking State Department officials, and founder Julian Assange's 2014 book When Google Met WikiLeaks accused the company of helping to further the US government's foreign policy agenda.

As the Daily Mail points out, the news comes as Google reveals its plans to expand internet access in Cuba, in an announcement timed to coincide with Barack Obama's historic visit to the island.

Clinton's thoughts on Google's plan were not revealed in the WikiLeaks release, but she reportedly instructed an aide to print out Cohen's email for later reference.
Independent: http://ind.pn/1RhZGa2

« Facial Recognition Might Stop the Next Brussels
FBI Can Unlock iPhone Without Apple’s Help »

CyberSecurity Jobsite
Perimeter 81

Directory of Suppliers

DigitalStakeout

DigitalStakeout

DigitalStakeout enables cyber security professionals to reduce cyber risk to their organization with proactive security solutions, providing immediate improvement in security posture and ROI.

XYPRO Technology

XYPRO Technology

XYPRO is the market leader in HPE Non-Stop Security, Risk Management and Compliance.

Cyber Security Supplier Directory

Cyber Security Supplier Directory

Our Supplier Directory lists 6,000+ specialist cyber security service providers in 128 countries worldwide. IS YOUR ORGANISATION LISTED?

IT Governance

IT Governance

IT Governance is a leading global provider of information security solutions. Download our free guide and find out how ISO 27001 can help protect your organisation's information.

Alvacomm

Alvacomm

Alvacomm offers holistic VIP cybersecurity services, providing comprehensive protection against cyber threats. Our solutions include risk assessment, threat detection, incident response.

Avanan

Avanan

Avanan is The Cloud Security Platform. Protect all your SaaS applications using tools from over 60 industry-leading vendors in just one click.

Ceerus

Ceerus

Ceerus was created to simplify the process of deploying and managing security across all the channels in an organisation.

iFluids Engineering

iFluids Engineering

iFluids Engineering is a leading engineering consulting and risk management firm providing a full range of services including Cyber Security for Industrial Control Systems.

Prolimax

Prolimax

Prolimax deliver innovative solutions to IT Manufacturers, Distributors, Resellers and End-users including Data Erasure and secure IT Asset Disposition (ITAD)

AirEye

AirEye

AirEye is a leader in Network Airspace Protection (NAP). Block attacks against your corporate network launched from wireless devices in your corporate network airspace.

Searchlight Cyber

Searchlight Cyber

Searchlight Cyber is a leading darknet intelligence company. Working with law enforcement, industry, and end users to help protect society against the threats of the darknet.

Clarabot Nano

Clarabot Nano

Nano is the secure file sharing tool to improve content search, data access and collaboration between multiple parties.

ACI Learning

ACI Learning

ACI Learning - Training tomorrow’s industry leaders with formats for all types of learners in Audit, Cybersecurity, and IT.

Unified National Networks (UNN)

Unified National Networks (UNN)

UNN’s mission is to unify the national networks and create a modern and cost efficient digital platform connecting the entire country.

Barclay Simpson

Barclay Simpson

Barclay Simpson is proud to have a long history of delivering cyber security, technology and governance recruitment services.

S2W

S2W

S2W is a data intelligence company specialized in cyber threat intelligence, brand/digital abuse, and blockchain.

Nightwing

Nightwing

Nightwing is the intelligence services company that continually redefines the edge of the possible to keep advancing our national security interests.

KTrust

KTrust

KTrust provides Continuous Threat Exposure Management for Kubernetes environments.

Identifid

Identifid

Identifid offers a suite of fraud prevention and identity authentication solutions to businesses and governments using the latest advances in AI, vision processing, and biometric recognition.

Strobes Security

Strobes Security

Strobes is among the world’s first cybersecurity platforms specifically designed for end-to-end continuous threat exposure management.

Nothreat

Nothreat

Nothreat has revolutionized how businesses like yours protect themselves from damaging cyber attacks. Our tech learns and adapts in real time, protecting clients from even zero-day attacks.