WikiLeaks published some documents today, which they've called "Vault 7", that some are claiming could be more significant than the Snowden leaks. They identify more ways the CIA is able to use technology we all already own for surveillance. I'll give a rundown.
> Samsung Smart TVs can be used as a listening device, even when they appear off.
> The US Consulate in Frankfurt is also a covert CIA station, for monitoring data from Europe, Asia and Africa. They gave people diplomatic passports to go collect data from here, and told them to "Breeze through German Customs". From here, they could go anywhere in the Schengen area without being checked.
> They've got software on nearly everything (iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Linux), that can be used for remote access, including taking nearly all data from your device such as your location or message history, as well as live camera or microphone data.
> They often paid companies to include these backdoors, and paid them to not fix errors in their software that could patch these. They've also purposefully not told the companies about some hidden backdoors, to avoid them patching them.
> As a result of the OS backdoor, encryption in things like WhatsApp or email is somewhat meaningless, as they already take the messages before they're encrypted.
> The CIA has experimented with hacking cars, forcing them to crash, creating an undetectable assassination.
> These exploits are not locked down the the CIA, and can be used by anyone who can figure them out, including hackers or other governments.
This is only Part One of Vault 7. Part One is 8 8,761 documents and files. They're not saying how many parts there are, but they've said that the entire Vault 7 leak is the largest intelligence leak, ever. I imagine this'll be an interesting few weeks as they release more...
We're probably all on some sort of surveillance list now just for mentioning this. Enjoy having your life monitored
Discuss.
(Ironically my connection to the forums dropped twice while trying to post this)
Some links for reading. They're quite easy to find on Google, and more will show up soon as people read through the documents.
WikiLeaks (
https://wikileaks.org/ciav7p1/index.html)
The Guardian (
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/mar/07/wikileaks-publishes-biggest-ever-leak-of-secret-cia-documents-hacking-surveillance)
The Independent (
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/wikileaks-cia-what-are-they-explained-vault-7-year-zero-julian-assange-secrets-a7616826.html)
The Telegraph (
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2017/03/07/wikileaks-vault-7-has-revealed-can-cia-hack-phone/)
Wikipedia Summary (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vault_7)
WikiLeaks on Twitter (
https://twitter.com/wikileaks)
