Egypt begins close monitoring of online communication with new technology

Egypt has contacted a sister company of a US-based online security firm to monitor the country's cyber communications a few months after authorities unveiled a new campaign to keep social networking sites under surveillance.

See Egypt, the sister company of US-based Blue Coat, has already started monitoring Egypt's online communications, according to BuzzFeed News which spoke with several Egyptian officials.

The company, which an anonymous official told BuzzFeed is close to the country's security apparatus, has planned to provide authorities with a technology called the Deep Packet Inspection which offers rigorous scrutiny by allowing tracking and providing statistical information.

“Our job as a company is to give them the system. I train the government on how to run it and we give them the program,” Ali Miniesy, the CEO of See Egypt, told BuzzFeed

Miniesy said the program, similar to other systems used by western authorities including the US, can be used to "to penetrate WhatsApp, Viber, Skype, or other programs if needed."