Egypt rights defenders face government-backed ‘phishing’ attacks

Scores of Egyptian human rights defenders have been targeted by government-backed “phishing” attacks since the start of this year, Amnesty International revealed yesterday.

The London-based rights group announced that its technical team had conducted an investigation into the attacks which put the lives of human rights defenders and critics of Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi’s government in “grave danger”.

“Since January 2019 Amnesty Tech has analyzed dozens of suspicious emails sent to Egyptian human rights defenders, journalists and NGOs,” the organisation said.

It added: “The organisation found that the emails used a technique known as OAuth Phishing to gain access to private accounts, and that attacks spiked during key political moments such as the anniversary of Egypt’s uprising on 25 January.”

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Tactical Technologist at Amnesty Tech, Ramy Raoof, said: “These digital attacks appear to be part of a sustained campaign to intimidate and silence critics of the Egyptian government.”

He added: “Over the past year Egyptian human rights defenders have faced an unprecedented assault from the authorities, risking arrest and imprisonment whenever they speak out, and these chilling attempts to target them online pose yet another threat to their vital work.”

Raoof continued: “President Al-Sisi’s government’s crackdown on freedom of expression is growing worse by the day, and it is more important than ever that human rights defenders can communicate online without fear of reprisal.”

“There are strong indications that the Egyptian authorities are behind these attacks. We are calling on them to stop their relentless attack on human rights defenders and respect the rights to privacy, freedom of expression and association.”