A massive leak of sensitive documents from Syria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates has triggered widespread controversy after exposing diplomatic cables, internal correspondence, payroll records, and personal data belonging to citizens and expatriates.
The documents — most of them dating from the period following the fall of the former regime in December 2024 — were published on a dedicated Telegram channel. The incident has raised urgent questions about the digital security of Syrian state institutions during the country’s transitional phase.
The leaked archive amounts to roughly 19 gigabytes of material. It includes scanned documents, internal letters, payroll and expenditure statements for foreign missions, and records detailing the costs of furnishing offices inside Syria and in embassies abroad.
A review by Enab Baladi shows that the files also contain diplomatic cables, official correspondence between Syrian embassies and missions, financial documents, receipts, migration and visa papers, property records, and personal data belonging to Syrian citizens and expatriates.
Foreign Ministry Vows Accountability
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates announced that its specialised departments had taken immediate steps to verify and investigate the leaked documents and correspondence attributed to the ministry.
In a statement published by the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), the Ministry’s Directorate of Information and Communication said it had begun coordinating with technical departments and security agencies to conduct a comprehensive investigation. The goal is to determine the source, method, and scope of the leak and to take appropriate legal and judicial measures to contain the fallout and hold those responsible to account.
The Directorate stressed that the ministry’s operations — including consular and diplomatic services — continue uninterrupted. It pledged to take all necessary measures to protect information security, safeguard official documents, and preserve the interests of the state and its institutions, while keeping the public informed through official channels.
It also warned that some of the circulated materials may have been digitally manipulated, cautioning the public against relying on unverified sources that could distort facts or mislead public opinion.
A well-informed source inside the ministry told media outlets that the incident was not the result of a cyberattack. Instead, the source said, the leak was carried out by an employee inside the ministry’s headquarters who had direct access to the data.
Internal Threats and Governance Failures
Web and data management specialist Mohammed Tawfiq Nahlaoui told Enab Baladi that data becomes a “dangerous weapon” when it falls into the wrong hands.
Nahlaoui said the leak exposes a deeper problem: the absence of a data-management culture across state institutions. This failure, he argued, cannot be blamed solely on IT departments. A lack of professional ethics and weak administrative oversight created the vulnerability that allowed the leak to occur.
He described the incident as a wake-up call requiring a comprehensive overhaul of Syria’s information-governance system. Today, he said, data is a sovereign asset “more important than money,” and its leakage — especially when it includes diplomatic correspondence and personal information — can inflict long-term political and psychological damage that is difficult to repair.
According to Nahlaoui, available indicators suggest the breach occurred through direct physical access to ministry devices. This points to weaknesses in access control and highlights the danger posed by internal threats, whether through negligence or deliberate leaking. Protecting data, he stressed, is an institutional responsibility that extends across all administrative departments, not just IT units.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
