Cyberwar — Qatar
Qatar
May 2017 The
Washington Post reported
the U.S. government officials had said that that UAE
government had discussed plans to hack Qatar,
and then had done so.
Washington Post 2017-07-16
June 2017 The
New York Times reported
on events from the preceding month.
News reports appeared on the official Qatari new agency's
web site, designed to alienate the U.S. and Gulf Arab
nations.
A few days later, emails from the U.A.E.'s ambassador to
the U.S. began to appear in Western news media and the
Qatari news network Al Jazeera.
Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E. led smaller Arab nations in
cutting off diplomatic relations, travel, and trade
with Qatar.
New York Times 2017-06-08
The U.S. F.B.I. and U.K law enforcement agreed that the
official Qatari news agency was hacked.
Qatari officials blamed the Saudis and Emiratis.
The F.B.I. and some industry analysts said
that it was probably done by Russian hackers for hire.
Also see the Bellingcat report
Bahamut, Pursuing a Cyber Espionage Actor
in the Middle East.
Washington Post 2017-07-16
Bellingcat
October 2017 SCL Social Limited,
part of SCL Group/Cambridge Analytica, was hired by
the UK company Project Associates for approximately
$330,000 to implement a social media campaign for
the UAE against Qatar.
Foreign Agents Registration Act filing
The United Arab Emirates
and Qatar
leaked emails, issued propaganda, and otherwise used
information to influence U.S. policy on Iran and the
UAE and Saudi blockade of Qatar.
"How Two Persian Gulf Nations Turned The US Media
Into Their Battleground"