For years, the Makhzen has portrayed its intelligence agencies as the “ever-watchful eye” — a security apparatus that monitors everyone, pursues its opponents, and knows the details of what is happening inside Morocco and abroad. But the emergence of massive leaks allegedly linked to the “Jabroot” group has put this image through one of its most embarrassing tests.
The group published data it said contained tens of thousands of names associated with Moroccan security and intelligence services, along with administrative information and personal data. If the authenticity and scale of this data are confirmed, this would not be an ordinary leak, but rather a major security breach that strikes at the very heart of the image of the highly controlled system that the Makhzen has long sought to project.
What is particularly damaging for the Makhzen is that “Jabroot” did not limit itself to names and personal data. The group also referred to information concerning assignments, ranks, and working methods, and over recent months published documents it claimed revealed sensitive details linked to institutions and influential figures within the Moroccan regime.
This is where the stark contradiction emerges: an apparatus that monitors citizens and dissidents and gathers information on its opponents now finds itself facing questions about its own ability to protect its information. How can an agency present itself as having the longest reach in the security sphere while data allegedly belonging to it becomes material circulating on the internet?
The issue becomes even more embarrassing when placed in the context of previous leaks associated with the name “Jabroot.” The group had previously been linked to extensive leaks involving data from Morocco’s National Social Security Fund, and subsequently continued publishing information it claimed to have obtained from sensitive Moroccan institutions and bodies.
Spanish channel 24 also reported that 90% of the Moroccan intelligence agents whose names and identities appeared in the “Jabroot” leaks had abruptly and simultaneously left European capitals for Morocco as a precautionary measure, amid fears of legal proceedings that could be initiated against them in Europe.
The confrontation, therefore, is no longer merely a clash between a hacking group and security agencies. It is a battle over the image the Makhzen has constructed of its intelligence power. The image of an apparatus that knows everything, monitors everything, and can reach everywhere is now confronted with another reality: its own data allegedly becoming the subject of leaks and online circulation.
The Makhzen has long made its security power an integral part of its political image. But the online world has little regard for myths. There, a single leak can open the door to countless questions, and a single file can undermine an entire narrative about an impenetrable security apparatus.
Thus, the Makhzen finds itself facing a painful paradox: the eye that was said never to sleep only woke up after its files had become the talk of the world.
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