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Tag: Qatar

  • Qatar Demonstrates Danger of Contact Tracing Apps

    Qatar Demonstrates Danger of Contact Tracing Apps

    A major security vulnerability left Qatari citizens open to having highly sensitive, personal information stolen.

    Qatar is one of the many countries that has rolled out a contact tracing app. Contact tracing is widely considered to be one of the keys to getting a handle on the coronavirus pandemic. Unfortunately, there is tremendous potential for an app to be abused, or for poor security to open users up to hackers and scammers. For example, North Dakota’s Care19 app was recently discovered to be sharing location data with FourSquare.

    Qatar’s app is now the latest to have an issue, with Amnesty International’s Security Lab discovering a serious vulnerability that “would have allowed cyber attackers to access highly sensitive personal information, including the name, national ID, health status and location data of more than one million users.”

    To make matters worse, the Qatari contact tracing app is mandatory for the country’s citizens, ensuring virtually everyone was at risk. Amnesty International informed the authorities on May 21 of the vulnerability and they released a fix the very next day.

    “While the Qatari authorities were quick to fix this issue, it was a huge security weakness and a fundamental flaw in Qatar’s contact tracing app that malicious attackers could have easily exploited. This vulnerability was especially worrying given use of the EHTERAZ app was made mandatory last Friday,” said Claudio Guarnieri, Head of Amnesty International’s Security Lab.

    “This incident should act as a warning to governments around the world rushing out contact tracing apps that are too often poorly designed and lack privacy safeguards. If technology is to play an effective role in tackling the virus, people need to have confidence that contact tracing apps will protect their privacy and other human rights.”

    Hopefully governments around the world will take note of Qatar’s example and work hard to protect their citizens’ privacy.

  • Two Arrested In Lauren Patterson Case

    Two Arrested In Lauren Patterson Case

    Lauren Patterson, a 24-year-old British woman living and working in Qatar as a primary school teacher, is believed to have been brutally murdered after she went missing in the early morning hours of Saturday, October 12. Now, two men have reportedly been arrested in connection with Patterson’s death.

    Lauren Patterson’s body was allegedly found in the desert on Saturday morning after she was declared missing; it has been reported that she was informally identified by an unusual tattoo, and that her mother, Alison Patterson, has flown to Doha to officially identify her daughter’s body.

    Reports are conflicting and confusing on the matter, as Qatar’s Ministry of Interior has yet to release but more than a few details on the case. The website for the group has the only information that has been officially released; the statement posted Wednesday reads, “The police has [sic] arrested the suspects of a European woman’s murder. The case has been referred to Public Prosecution to complete further judicial procedures applicable in this regard.”

    No other comments have been made, even to merely confirm or deny that the body found was that of Lauren Patterson.

    However, according to numerous Facebook and other social media site posts made by Lauren’s family and friends, the body found, was, in fact, that of Lauren Patterson. Lauren’s boyfriend, James Grima, began searching for any news about her after she was officially declared missing on Saturday. Almost two days later, Grima’s posts changed from searching to displaying his grief over her death. Lauren’s mother, Alison, also posted about her daughter’s tragic end, saying, “Lauren was a wonderful young woman having the time of her life. There have been so many people that have put to us how highly they thought of Lauren and loved her.”

    Lauren Patterson grew up in Britain and had only just returned to Doha from there on Friday; she had been attending her grandmother’s funeral in England, where her family still resides. She was in her third year as a primary teacher at Newton British School in Qatar.

    Some of Lauren’s friends have reported that they saw her leaving La Cigale, the upscale hotel that was home to the nightclub Lauren was at, around 1:30 a.m. She was seen leaving with a group of five men, one of whom was a previous boyfriend of Patterson’s. At least one of those friends says that she received a text from Lauren saying that she was being taken to the wrong house. None of these reports have been determined to be true, as well as whether or not one of the men arrested was the rumored ex- boyfriend Lauren was seen leaving with on Saturday.

    Image courtesy @TiffanyLingham via Twitter.

  • Qatar Teacher Arrests: British Teacher Killed, Suspects Brought Into Custody

    Qatar Teacher Arrests: British Teacher Killed, Suspects Brought Into Custody

    Lauren Patterson was a 24-year-old primary school teacher from the UK, who was teaching in the Gulf state of Qatar. The young woman was last seen in the early morning hours on October 12th, after she had been out on the town, hanging out in a five star hotel’s nightclub, where she was seen in the company of two unidentified men. Lauren was declared missing that morning, and her boyfriend, James Grima, launched a social media campaign to find his missing girlfriend. After dozens of pictures and pleas posted to Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, the hard news hit both James and the rest of Lauren’s family; her body had been found, and Lauren was dead.

    Qatar’s Interior Ministry, in a statement written in English on its website, claimed, “The police has arrested the suspects of a European woman’s murder. The case has been referred to Public Prosecution to complete further judicial procedures applicable in this regard.” The Internior Ministry has yet to say anything more concerning the case, casting some suspense and lack of clarity on the whole situation.

    Allegedly, two suspects have been taken into custody concerning Lauren’s death. However, no official information has been given, making it unclear how long the trail will last, or if the right culprits are even in custody. The lack of information is concerning, especially for Lauren’s loved ones.

    Despite this lack of clarity, many of Lauren’s loved ones have seemed to make peace with their loss. James wrote, “I was so happy that I had finally found someone that could my change my life so much, and in such a positive way too – Rest In Peace babe, I will always look up at the sky cause you always were the brightest star and always will be.” Hopefully, peace can be brought to Lauren’s family and friends soon through justice and light being brought to this terrible situation.

    [Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.]

  • Zidane Headbutt Statue Moved to Qatar

    Zidane Headbutt Statue Moved to Qatar

    The Qatar Museum Authority has decided to buy a 16-foot tall statue of Zinedine Zidane infamously headbutting Marco Materazzi, for an untold sum. Qatar, which is the tentative site of the 2022 World Cup, had moved the “ode to defeat” to its shores last week.

    During the 2006 World Cup in Berlin, Zidane headbutted Materazzi in the sternum:

    After the butting, Zidane received a red card and was ejected from the game, and Italy went on to defeat France 5-3. It was later discovered that Materazzi had insulted Zidane’s sister, which led to Zidane’s heightened anger. In 2010, Zidane said that he would “rather die than apologize” to Materazzi, though also admitted that he “could never have lived with himself” had he been allowed to remain in the game. Zidane retired after the incident.

    The statue, entitled “Coup de Tete,” was created by Algerian Artist Adel Abdessemed, and was originally unveiled at a museum in France last year. It’s now being installed in outside of a restaurant in Doha.

    The QMA’s director of public art told the Doha News, “Yes, we expect a lot of people to want to take photos with it, and of it. It’s an impressive piece. It’s a huge sculpture, and it’s done in the same style as Greek Mythological statues, but this glorifies human defects instead. It shows that although we sometimes treat footballers like gods, they’re not – they’re just human beings.”

    Oil-rich Qatar has been recently struggling to keep dibs on hosting the 2022 World Cup. Aside from the classy headbutt statue acquisition, the country has been questioned by soccer federation FIFA about its use hundreds of thousands of migrant workers, in a situation similar to modern-day slavery. It’s been reported that 44 Nepalese workers died so far this year, while building World Cup infrastructure.

    The World Cup is the largest sports event on the planet, and Qatar is putting about $100 billion into hosting the event. While soccer isn’t so big a deal in the U.S., foreigners take the game very seriously.

    Image via YouTube.