Assad's Staff Needs Better Computer Passwords

The hackers of Anonymous got their hands on emails going in and out of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's office, and two items stick out:

• Gullible Americans: As Assad prepped for an interview with Barbara Walters last year, a press official wrote: "It is hugely important and worth mentioning that 'mistakes' have been done in the beginning of the crises because we did not have a well-organized 'police force.' American psyche can be easily manipulated when they hear that there are 'mistakes' done and now we are 'fixing it.' It's worth mentioning also what is happening now in Wall Street and the way the demonstrations are been suppressed by policemen, police dogs and beatings." More details at Haaretz.

• Not-so-tough passwords: And just how did the hackers get access to the accounts? The Daily Intel blog is happy to point out that a common password was 12345.

(More Anonymous stories.)