New CIA leak reveals that smart-devices could be vulnerable
The largest dump of leaked intelligence documents is currently being published by Wikileaks after the first section was released on March 7.
These new leaks, once again, raise questions on privacy rights in the digital age. Concerns have also been raised about whether American intelligence agencies can protect secret documents that have the potential to pose a risk to national security.
The first part of the series is entitled “Vault 7,” is available online, and is comprised of 8,761 documents and files focusing mainly on techniques for hacking, according to an article published by The Guardian.
Included in the leak are documents that disclose cooperation between the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the United Kingdom’s MI5. The two intelligence agencies reportedly worked together on operation “Weeping Angel” to develop a way to compromise smart televisions by making them into improvised surveillance devices. The leak details how televisions were placed into a pseudo off-mode for surveillance purposes.
According to a Wikileaks press release, the “Year Zero” leaks give the public access to the scope and direction of the CIA’s formerly-covert global hacking program, its malware arsenal that can extract and corrupt data, and weaponized exploits that leave U.S. and European company products, including Apple’s OS, Google’s Android software, and Microsoft Windows, vulnerable.
The leaks also indicate that the CIA cyber intelligence division—formerly believed to solely operate out of the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia—has a second covert base within the U.S. consulate in Frankfurt, Germany. The second base covers much of the CIA’s current European, Middle Eastern, and African activity.
The CIA has declined to comment and has not verified the content of the leaks.
“We do not comment on the authenticity or content of purported intelligence documents,” wrote CIA spokesperson Heather Fritz Horniak, according to a report from CNN.
However, it is understood that the leaks are genuine and The Guardian reports that a hunt is underway for the leakers or hackers who are responsible. It is still unclear if this is a deliberate attack or the actions of a whistleblower.
Former National Security Agency-affiliated whistleblower Edward Snowden tweeted on the credibility of the documents, stating, “What @Wikileaks has here is genuinely a big deal. Looks authentic.”“Here’s the big deal: first public evidence USG (United States Government) secretly paying to keep US software unsafe,” Snowden wrote in a series of tweets.
“The CIA reports how the USG developing vulnerabilities in U.S. products, then intentionally keeping the holes open. Reckless beyond words.”
The leaks have fed into the current controversy in Washington over alleged links between President Donald Trump’s cabinet and Russia. U.S. officials and critics of Wikileaks have claimed that Wikileaks acts as a catalyst for Russian intelligence and their recent cyberattacks.
President Trump sided with the website during the 2016 elections when Wikileaks published a collection of leaked Hillary Clinton and Democratic National Committee (DNC) emails, according to an article from The Independent.
President Trump has been critical of U.S. intelligence agencies since entering office, while praising Wikileaks during the election season.In a statement released by Wikileaks, founder Julian Assange stated that, “There is an extreme proliferation risk in the development of cyber ‘weapons.’ Comparisons can be drawn between the uncontrolled proliferation of such ‘weapons,’ which results from the inability to contain them combined with their high market value, and the global arms trade. But the significance of ‘Year Zero’ goes well beyond the choice between cyberwar and cyberpeace. The disclosure is also exceptional from a political, legal and forensic perspective.”
In an article published by The Guardian, an unnamed source associated with the CIA’s information security capabilities, was concerned with Assange’s comments that wanted to create a debate surrounding cyberwarfare.
The source criticized Assange on warning the public about cyberwarfare while simultaneously leaking a major superpower’s classified information and techniques. The source said it was akin to warning the world of the proliferation of nuclear weapons while publicly releasing the launch codes.In a statement on Medium, rights group Privacy International said it has long worried about the overarching powers of governments.
“Insufficient security protections in the growing amount of devices connected to the internet or so-called ‘smart’ devices, such as Samsung smart TVs, only compound the problem, giving governments easier access to our private lives,” Privacy International stated.
“We increasingly face a world where we are vulnerable in ways most of us cannot imagine, and our governments contribute to the problem as often as they try to fix it.”
No further announcements have been made on when the next section of Year Zero will be released.
Photo courtesy of Almudena Fernández via CC BY SA 2.0.