The Syrian government's computer system has reportedly been hacked, to reveal private memos, documents and emails apparently advising President Bashar al Assad on how to tackle reactions to his crackdown on protesters.

Hacking group Anonymous claim the documents show how advisers close to the president offer their thoughts on how he should deal with questions from the press amid the government's on-going military campaign.

One email appears to advise Assad on how to approach his interview with ABC's Barbara Walters, who spoke to the leader late last year.

"Mentioning 'armed groups' in the interview is extremely important and we can use American and British articles to prove there are armed gangs," the adviser writes.

The president was also advised to mention the way protests are sometimes handled in western countries, adding that "Syria doesn't have a policy to torture people, unlike the USA... We can use Abu Ghraib in Iraq as an example".

Sky's foreign affairs editor Tim Marshal said of the hacking: "The translations of the emails from Arabic to English do not prove that they are what the hackers say, but it would have taken a solid knowledge of how the Syrian government and political public relations works to make them up," he said.

"The emails are not particularly damaging to the Syrian government, which would mean if forged someone has gone to a lot of effort for little gain.

"This suggests they are real, and while not devastating, they throw some light on the government's thinking."

An email goes on to explain that admitting to errors committed early on may be a good way of shaping public opinion.

"American psyche can be easily manipulated when they hear that there are 'mistakes' done and now we are 'fixing it,'" the email says.

Continuing to generalise about western thought processes, the adviser says Facebook and YouTube are "open now" and that these things are "very important to the American mind-set".

The adviser continues: "It would be worth mentioning how your personality has been attacked and praised in the last decade according to the media," adding that he should make more of the "hero" and "bad guy" images because "Americans love these kinds of things and get convinced by it".

Another memo appeared to uncover the identity of a suspected defected diplomat who had recently given an anonymous interview to a western reporter.

The hacking by Anonymous is the latest in a number of high-profile attempts by them at revealing classified information. Earlier this month hackers from the same group intercepted FBI calls with Scotland Yard.

President Assad's crackdown started almost a year ago, and this weekend saw operations intensify in the city of Homs, where Sky correspondent Stuart Ramsey is with activists.