The attacks, which happened between November 2013 and January 2014, resulted in a slew of strategic information being stolen, according to cybersecurity company FireEye. These included detailed military plans which outlined attack strategies, the political structure of the opposition and even identification cards of refugees who had escaped to Turkey.
The attacks began with a Skype user with a female persona striking up a conversation with a male opposition fighter. The hacker would ask the victim what device they were using so they would be able to send the appropriate malware.
After some conversation, the female avatar would send a "personal" photograph which was malicious. When the victim opened the file, they would unknowingly install malware, giving the hacker access to their device.
This led to the theft of 7.7 gigabytes of data being stolen, 31,107 Skype conversations, 12,356 contacts and nearly a quarter of a million messages, according to the report, called "Behind the Syrian Conflict's Digital Front Lines."
"We are really seeing the convergence of traditional methods of espionage and internet communication tools," Richard Turner, EMEA vice president of FireEye, told CNBC by phone.
"The evidence of that is the use of the attractive lady avatar to generate interest and open up individuals to deliver malware and compromise their communication."
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