WikiLeaks Explained: How Vulnerable Are You to Hackers?

The CIA hasn’t confirmed that the documents in the WikiLeaks dump are real. It claims this will represent the largest dump of confidential documents on the agency in history.

The collection includes information on CIA-developed malware – bearing names such as “Assassin” and “Medusa” – meant to target iPhones, Android phones, smart TVs and Microsoft, Mac and Linux operating systems, among others. But should you start freaking out just yet?

Security researchers have warned for weeks now of the possible repercussions that could result from Mr. Trump’s reported use of an unsecured, consumer-grade Android device while in the White House, the likes of which could be potentially compromised by hackers and exfiltrated for data or turned into a monitoring device. The CIA can turn them on and listen to you without you knowing.

Wikileaks also claims that as of past year, the CIA has built up an arsenal of 24 Android “zero days”, some of which were allegedly obtained by the UK’s GCHQ agency and the NSA.

Coming from anyone else, such claims would be instantly shouted down as ridiculous and maybe even delusional., However, it is Wikileaks we are talking about here.

What’s in the leaked documents? In addition, the cost of these tools is too great for the government to use them on ordinary citizens. The documents reveal new exploits that companies like Apple and Google apparently didn’t know about.

Maybe, but probably not. It is so-named because the weakness is not known till it is exploited by hackers, leaving the software’s author “zero days” to create patches to address the vulnerability. (There might be some for Windows, though.) Most of the of the vulnerabilities described are old ones that can’t be implemented.

Among the most noteworthy claims made by Vault 7 is that the CIA, through a partnership with agencies both local and foreign, have bypassed the encryption measures used by popular and communication apps such as WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram.

And then there will be the questions over whether the CIA’s technical capabilities were too expansive and too secret.

“Those who demonstrate journalistic excellence may be considered for early access to future parts”, Wikileaks said in the leak.

Why is the leak a big deal?

The National Security Agency faced its problems when Edward Snowden passed on documents to journalists – but this time it’s the NSA’s sister agency.

Has anything shady been going on? The site has consistently been a thorn in the US government’s side.

The documents, if they are indeed legitimate, include charts that detail iOS exploits that would allow the Central Intelligence Agency to surveil iPhone users and, in some cases, control their devices.

“The CIA’s job, after all, is [to] collect intelligence, and while its primary purview is human intelligence, hacking systems interacts synergistically with that collection”.

More than 5,000 users are registered in the CIA’s hacking division. It also urged customers to stay current with software updates.