WIKILEAKS BARES CIA HACKING
Leaked documents describe methods for bypassing encryption, antivirus tools of an electronic gadget
WikiLeaks published on Tuesday thousands of documents described as secret files about Central Intelligence Agency hacking tools that the US government employs to break into users’ computers, mobile phones and even smart TVs from companies like Apple, Google, Microsoft and Samsung.
The documents disclose clandestine methods for bypassing or defeating encryption, antivirus tools and other protective security features intended to keep the private information of citizens and corporations safe from prying eyes.
US government employees, including President Donald Trump, use many of the same products and internet services purportedly compromised by the tools.
The documents describe CIA efforts—cooperating with friendly foreign governments and the US National Security Agency—to subvert the world’s most popular technology platforms, including Apple’s iPhones and iPads, Google’s An- droid phones and the Microsoft Windows operating system for desktop computers and laptops.
The documents also include discussions about compromising some internet-connected televisions to turn them into listening posts. One document discusses hacking vehicle systems, indicating the CIA’s interest in hacking modern cars with sophisticated on-board computers.
WikiLeaks has a long track record of releasing top secret government documents, and experts who sifted through the material said it appeared legitimate.
The chair of the House intelligence committee, Rep. Devin Nunes, Republican-California, said he was very concerned about the release and had asked the intelligence community for more information about it.
Former CIA Director Mike Hayden said if the documents were what they were purported to be, it would amount to a “very extensive file of the tactics, techniques, procedures, targets and other political rules” under which the CIA hacked targets.
“If it is that, it would be very, very damaging,” Hayden added.
The CIA and White House declined to comment.
Missing from WikiLeaks’ trove are the actual hacking tools themselves, some of which were developed by government hackers while others were purchased from outsiders.
WikiLeaks said it planned to avoid distributing tools “until a consensus emerges” on the political nature of the CIA program and how such software could be analyzed, disarmed and published.
Tuesday’s disclosure left anxious consumers who use the products with little recourse, since repairing the software vulnerabilities in ways that might block the tools’ effectiveness is the responsibility of leading technology companies.
The revelations threatened to upend confidence in an Obamaera government program, the Vulnerability Equities Process, under which federal agencies warn technology companies about weaknesses in their software so they can be quickly fixed.
WikiLeaks said the material came from “an isolated, high-security network” inside the CIA Center for Cyber Intelligence.
Some technology firms, like Microsoft Corp., said they were evaluating the information.
In an unusual move, WikiLeaks said it was withholding some secrets inside the documents. Among them, it said it had withheld involved details of tens of thousands of “CIA targets and attack machines throughout Latin America, Europe and the United States.”
If the authenticity of the documents is officially confirmed, it would represent yet another catastrophic breach for the US intelligence community at the hands of WikiLeaks and its allies.