Hackers use trick to frame their enemies

ONE of the most insidious CIA strategies revealed in Vault 7 is to use other hackers’ ‘fingerprints’ to cover their tracks.

A hacking group called Umbrage keeps a ‘substantial’ library of attack techniques ‘stolen’ from malware produced in countries including Russia, said Wikileaks.

The group claimed the CIA’s ‘ hand- crafted’ hacking techniques pose a problem for the agency as each one forms a unique ‘fingerprint’ that can be used by forensic investigators to connect various hacks to the same source.

The Umbrage library allows CIA hackers not only to mask the origin of cyber attacks but to ensure that they are blamed on other, hostile, states.

Experts say the revelation might prompt a reevaluation of recent cyber attacks blamed on Russia and China.

Some noted it was the CIA who identified hackers linked to the Kremlin as responsible for breaking into email accounts linked to Hillary Clinton’s election campaign.