WikiLeaks reveals secret Central Intelligence Agency tools used to hack phones, TVs

One of these people provided Wikileaks with the documents they have just released.

Scott Uehlinger said the information released in Tuesday’s document dump is far more damaging to the US than other information WikiLeaks has released.

WikiLeaks shared almost 9,000 pages of leakeddocuments from the Central Intelligence Agency today.

The whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks says it has published thousands of documents by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) that reveals the U.S. spy agency’s hacking secrets, including its ability to penetrate encrypted communications.

The CIA declined to comment to USA Today about WikiLeaks’ report.

“The worst thing that could happen is for users lose faith in encryption-enabled tools and stop using them”. The programme, code-named Weeping Angel, was meant to convert new digital televisions into “covert microphones” to spy on smart television users.

This tool allegedly allows government agencies to place Samsung TVs into “fake-off mode”, that allows conversations to be recorded even when the television appears to be switched off. The revelations of yet another government attempt to use modern technology in order to spy on citizens have been met with criticism by privacy advocate agencies. This revelation follows an introductory disclosure in February, which was about Central Intelligence Agency targeting French political parties and candidates in the lead up to the 2012 presidential elections.

Those redactions, in part, make it hard to ascertain just how comprehensive the leaked information is. (MDB) developed numerous attacks to remotely hack and control popular smart phones. Even the Apple iPhones are not safe since USA intelligence agencies allegedly bought security flaws.

Much the of the leak confirms what most people assume about the United States government’s ability to circumvent the built-in security features of computer software and mobile devices – for example, that the organization has many “zero day” exploits for computers running Windows, Mac OS, Linux, and more.

The vulnerabilities in the iOS software could be used to track users, monitor their communications, or even take control of their phones, according to The Verge.

Unlike the Snowden leaks, which revealed the NSA was secretly collecting details of telephone calls by ordinary Americans, the new WikiLeaks material did not appear to contain material that would fundamentally change what is publicly known about cyber espionage. This time, though, the leaks reveal details on how security agencies leverage flaws to conduct espionage.