Reuters – Google has temporarily blocked an unspecified number of Afghan government email accounts, according to a person familiar with the matter, as fears mount about the trail of digital documents left by former officials and their international partners.
In the weeks since the Taliban’s swift takeover of Afghanistan, reports have highlighted how biometric and salary databases could be exploited by new Afghan rulers to capture their enemies.
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In a statement Friday, Alphabet Inc’s Google stopped short of confirming that Afghan government accounts were being blocked, but said the company was monitoring the situation in Afghanistan and “taking temporary action to secure relevant accounts.”
A former government employee told Reuters that the Taliban are trying to hack into emails from former officials.
At the end of last month, the employee said that the Taliban had asked him to keep the data stored on the servers of the ministry for which he used to work.
“If I do, they will have access to official data and communications from the former head of the ministry,” said the employee.
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The employee assured that he did not comply and that he has been in hiding since then. Reuters did not identify the man or the ministry he worked for over concerns about his safety.