WikiLeaks has published a huge trove of what appear to be CIA spying secrets.
The files are the most comprehensive release of US spying files ever made public, according to Julian Assange. In all, there are 8,761 documents that account for “the entire hacking capacity of the CIA”, Mr Assange claimed in a release, and the trove is just the first of a series of “Vault 7” leaks.
Already, the files include far more pages than the Snowden files that exposed the vast hacking power of the NSA and other agencies.
In publishing the documents, WikiLeaks had ensured that the CIA had “lost control of its arsenal”, he claimed. That included a range of software and exploits that if real could allow unparalleled control of computers around the world.
It includes software that could allow people to take control of the most popular consumer electronics products used today, claimed WikiLeaks.
“‘Year Zero’ introduces the scope and direction of the CIA’s global covert hacking program, its malware arsenal and dozens of “zero day” weaponized exploits against a wide range of U.S. and European company products, include Apple’s iPhone, Google’s Android and Microsoft’s Windows and even Samsung TVs, which are turned into covert microphones,” the organisation said in a release.
The public files don’t include the cyber weapons themselves, according to a statement. The organisation will refrain from distributing “armed” software “until a consensus emerges on the technical and political nature of the CIA’s program and how such ‘weapons’ should analyzed, disarmed and published”, it said.
The files were made available by a source who intended them to start a conversation about whether the CIA had gained too much power, according to the organisation.
“In a statement to WikiLeaks the source details policy questions that they say urgently need to be debated in public, including whether the CIA’s hacking capabilities exceed its mandated powers and the problem of public oversight of the agency,” a release read. “The source wishes to initiate a public debate about the security, creation, use, proliferation and democratic control of cyberweapons.”
It also redacts the details of some of the names, locations and targets that are identified in the documents.
The organisation had teased the release in advance with strange messages about the release being “Year Zero”, and references to “Vault 7”. It had planned to release the files later on but that plan was thrown off when its press conference came under cyber attack, Mr Assange claimed.
Wikileaks released what it claimed to be the full hacking capacity of the CIA in a stunning 8,000-plus page disclosure Tuesday, Fox News reported. The website claims that the release is “the largest ever publication of confidential documents on the agency.”
The 8,761 documents and files were released as “Vault 7 Part 1” and titled “Year Zero.” Wikileaks claimed that the documents were obtained from an “isolated, high-security network” at the CIA’s Center for Cyber Intelligence in Langley, Va.”
According to Wikileaks, the trove of information was “circulated among former US government hackers and contractors” before it was supplied to Wikileaks.
The CIA refused to comment on the release of the information.
Among the tools used by the CIA were specially created malware designed to target iPhones, Android phones, smart TVs and Microsoft, Mac and Linux operating systems, among others. The malware programs bore names such as “Assassin” and “Medusa.”
According to the press release which accompanied the release of the documents, the CIA had an entire unit devoted to developing programs to hack Apple products.
Many of the malware programs were designed to turn the infected devices into recording and transmission stations in order to spy on targets. Other programs would allow the CIA to take control of vehicles remotely.
“It would permit the CIA to engage in nearly undetectable assassinations,” the release stated.
Wikileaks stated that it released the documents because it believes that the information contained within “urgently need to be debated in public.”
WikiLeaks on Tuesday published thousands of documents it said came from from the CIA’s Cyber Intelligence division, describing the data dump as the “largest ever publication of confidential documents on the agency.”
The release is the first in a series called “Year Zero” that involves 8,761 documents and files from the spy agency’s Center for Cyber Intelligence in Langley, Va., the group said.
“‘Year Zero’ introduces the scope and direction of the CIA’s global covert hacking program, its malware arsenal and dozens of ‘zero day’ weaponized exploits against a wide range of U.S. and European company products, include Apple’s iPhone, Google’s Android and Microsoft’s Windows and even Samsung TVs, which are turned into covert microphones,” Wikileaks said in a press release.
The CIA’s cyber division built a “very different type of covert, globe-spanning force – its own substantial fleet of hackers,” WikiLeaks said.
By the end of 2016, the division had amassed more than 5,000 registered users, an array of hacking systems, viruses and other “weaponized” malware.
“Such is the scale of the CIA’s undertaking that by 2016, its hackers had utilized more code than that used to run Facebook,” WikiLeaks said.
The group said the documents were provided by a source who wanted to “initiate a public debate.”
“In a statement to WikiLeaks the source details policy questions that they say urgently need to be debated in public, including whether the CIA’s hacking capabilities exceed its mandated powers and the problem of public oversight of the agency,” the group said.
“The source wishes to initiate a public debate about the security, creation, use, proliferation and democratic control of cyberweapons.”
Jonathan Liu, a spokesman for the CIA, told the Associated Press: “We do not comment on the authenticity or content of purported intelligence documents.”