Wikileaks warns of covert hacking program using smartphones and televisions

Covert hacking, techniques to encrypt personal information and using your television as a bug.

It sounds like the scene from a James Bond movie, but according to Julian Assange, this is what is currently happening in the US.

This, and much more, is covered in a WikiLeaks press release issued yesterday, claiming to be leaks about the the CIA

The statement is one of a series, code-named Vault 7, and says it is the largest ever publication of confidential documents on the agency, and comes after an introductory disclosure last month of CIA targeting French political parties and candidates in the lead up to the 2012 presidential election.

WikiLeaks, under editor Julian Assange, is an international non-profit organisation that publishes secret information, news leaks, and classified media from anonymous sources.

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“Recently, the CIA lost control of the majority of its hacking arsenal including malware, viruses, trojans, weaponized “zero day” exploits, malware remote control systems and associated documentation,” the report says.

“This extraordinary collection, which amounts to more than several hundred million lines of code, gives its possessor the entire hacking capacity of the CIA.

“The archive appears to have been circulated among former U.S. government hackers and contractors in an unauthorized manner, one of whom has provided WikiLeaks with portions of the archive.

It goes on to say the hacking extends to include Apple’s iPhone, Google’s Android and Microsoft’s Windows and even Samsung TVs, which are turned into covert microphones.

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“The CIA found itself building not just its now infamous drone fleet, but a very different type of covert, globe-spanning force — its own substantial fleet of hackers.”

Julian Assange said 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,” Julian Assange said.

“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.”

The report stated that Wikileaks reviewed the documentation and avoided publishing some and anonymised other identifying information.

What do you think of this report from Wikileaks?