Reuters revealed that the UAE uses former employees of the National Security Agency to build a cyber espionage program targeting countries, officials, activists and media.
The agency said it had examined more than 10,000 documents of the Emirati secret espionage unit known as "Drad" before it was called the "Raven" program.
Reuters said that the former national security and counterterrorism coordinator in the United States, Richard Clarke, helped the UAE build the secret unit that started its work in 2008 under the name "Development, Exploitation and Research Division", with goals and practical plans.
She added that she has held dozens of meetings with contractors, former intelligence agents, and employees of previous governments familiar with the documents about the project Clark has run since 2008, and who knows his plans and goals.
In its report, the agency said that Clark took advantage of his strong relations with UAE leaders and was able, through his experiences as a senior official, to sign a number of contracts for security consultations in the UAE, including helping to build a secret spy unit at an unused airport in Abu Dhabi.
The documents revealed that Abu Dhabi intensified its espionage operations with the launch of the Arab Spring targeting demonstrators and others who criticize the regimes, as well as activists and human rights defenders.
The agency confirmed that in 2014 the Emirati spy unit targeted hundreds of Qatari officials and at the time commissioned the program to increase infiltrations to foreign governments in the Middle East, such as Iran and Qatar.
Reuters reported that former National Security Agency officials helped the UAE target computers for Qatari and other FIFA officials after Doha won the rights to the World Cup 2022 in the hope of obtaining information harmful to Qatar’s right to win the tournament.
She added that in 2017 the Emirati spy unit developed a remote spying device to penetrate the mobile phones of media figures and leaders, including the Emir of the State of Qatar.