WikiLeaks publishes "biggest ever leak of secret CIA documents"

[TheIrishman]

WikiLeaks publishes "biggest ever leak of secret CIA documents"

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/mar/07/wikileaks-publishes-biggest-ever-leak-of-secret-cia-documents-hacking-surveillance

The 8,761 documents published by WikiLeaks focus mainly on techniques for hacking and surveillance

The US intelligence agencies are facing fresh embarrassment after WikiLeaks published what it described as the biggest ever leak of confidential documents from the CIA detailing the tools it uses to break into phones, communication apps and other electronic devices. Thousands of documents focus mainly on techniques for hacking, including how the CIA cooperated with British intelligence to engineer a way to compromise smart televisions and turn them into improvised surveillance devices.

The leak, dubbed "Vault 7" by WikiLeaks, will once again raise questions about the inability of US spy agencies to protect secret documents in the digital age. It follows disclosures about Afghanistan and Iraq by army intelligence specialist Chelsea Manning in 2010 and about the National Security Agency and Britain's GCHQ by Edward Snowden in 2013.

The documents appear to be from the CIA's 200-strong Center for Cyber Intelligence and show in detail how the agency's digital specialists engage in hacking. According to the documents:

- CIA hackers targeted smartphones and computers.
- The Center for Cyber Intelligence is based at the CIA headquarters in Virginia but it has a second covert base in the US consulate in Frankfurt which covers Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
- A programme called Weeping Angel describes how to attack a Samsung F8000 TV set so that it appears to be off but can still be used for monitoring.

The CIA declined to comment on the leaks beyond the agency’s now-stock refusal to verify their contents. "We do not comment on the authenticity or content of purported intelligence documents", wrote CIA spokesperson Heather Fritz Horniak. But it is understood the documents are genuine and a hunt is under way for the leakers or hackers responsible for the leak.

Source: The Guardian

[MattScott]

In our digital age it is impossible to protect yourself from spying. Well, now publish documents and then what? This is news to you? I think it's the reason for the attack on CIA which organizes and hosts Russia.

[gentlemand]

Anyone who doesn't expect Them to have the capability to help themselves your smartphone, tv, computer etc is a bleedin' moron.

Of course they'll be able to do that. If you don't like it then junk it all and go retro. Even if the CIA isn't listening to you, the manufacturers themselves clearly state that they'll monitor all the things you get up to.

[mindrust]

Ye ye, they recorded all of our actions. We already know that.

Those iphone's and samsung galaxie's (or any other smart phones) are the best way to track people's activities. If you think that secret services weren't taking advantage of this then you must be stupid.

Have you tried to get visa from USA? They first check your Facebook account If you don't have one, they won't like you because you are an unknown person to them

Linux/GNU based systems are the solution to this madness. Fuck microsoft, fuck apple, fuck google.

[AdolfinWolf]

Anyone who doesn't expect Them to have the capability to help themselves your smartphone, tv, computer etc is a bleedin' moron.

Of course they'll be able to do that. If you don't like it then junk it all and go retro. Even if the CIA isn't listening to you, the manufacturers themselves clearly state that they'll monitor all the things you get up to.

It even goes further, google is required by law to give data about specific IP's search info's and more to the CIA.

Everything you do is tracked and probably saved somewhere. All your only purchases. All your locations. All your webvisits.

I strongly believe windows 10 has integrated backdoors in their operating system aswell.

Online privacy is something that is starting to disappear more and more, its sad to see, but i believe there's not much that we can do to stop it. We have no tools nor power.

[electronicash]

Ye ye, they recorded all of our actions. We already know that.

Those iphone's and samsung galaxie's (or any other smart phones) are the best way to track people's activities. If you think that secret services weren't taking advantage of this then you must be stupid.

Have you tried to get visa from USA? They first check your Facebook account If you don't have one, they won't like you because you are an unknown person to them

Linux/GNU based systems are the solution to this madness. Fuck microsoft, fuck apple, fuck google.

if i have to believe snowden, linux may still not be useful in such case. i don't understand how they get into some cameras actually but then when snowden says its what it is, i guess i'm just too naive not to listen  governments likes to control, its what they do. internet was once military technology, they made it available casually for us, they must have found better one.

[barbarah]

This should expose Trump from what he was lying about all this time.

[tvbcof]

I've been saying for some time that end-to-end encryption and various other security procedures are probably mostly giving a false sense of security and the real Achilles' heal these days is device security.

The solution, as I see it, would be for consumers to demand the ability to ensure device security.  Every part of every device from a gaming server to a USB stick to a 'smart' light-bulb should have an OS and firmware that the user can (optionally) build from source and install.  Also, hardware manufacture should be available for audit.

We are a long way from this as best I can see, but it is also the case that the IoT (Internet of Things) is in a relatively early stage.  That means that if there is consumer demand for provably secure implementation a market could develop.  Or at least it would smoke out corp/gov efforts to force us into a spy grid through legislative means.

For my part I can and have paid top dollar for items which I could have somewhat more confidence in.  Rarely is complete confidence possible but if it were, I'd pay even more for it.

[gentlemand]

I've been saying for some time that end-to-end encryption and various other security procedures are probably mostly giving a false sense of security and the real Achilles' heal these days is device security.

I find it pretty amazing the speed all of these companies are heading towards connecting everything conceivable to the internet, yet they really don't appear to give much of a shit about leaving the doors wide open for hackers to have some fun.

It would be far more reassuring had they provably solved device security before running down this road. I don't really fancy some Russian midget calling me up and threatening to drive me into the nearest brick wall if I don't pay up.

[BADecker]

Ye ye, they recorded all of our actions. We already know that.

Those iphone's and samsung galaxie's (or any other smart phones) are the best way to track people's activities. If you think that secret services weren't taking advantage of this then you must be stupid.

Have you tried to get visa from USA? They first check your Facebook account If you don't have one, they won't like you because you are an unknown person to them

Linux/GNU based systems are the solution to this madness. Fuck microsoft, fuck apple, fuck google.

if i have to believe snowden, linux may still not be useful in such case. i don't understand how they get into some cameras actually but then when snowden says its what it is, i guess i'm just too naive not to listen  governments likes to control, its what they do. internet was once military technology, they made it available casually for us, they must have found better one.

One of the "better one"s is the power grid. If your computer plugs into a wall outlet, they can see everything on it. They do it through complex, self-interacting, force combinations that they send down the wires of the power grid.

It's like having a computer completely made out of electromagnetic forces, that they send down the wires, and into your computer, where it reads everything that goes on in your computer. It wouldn't surprise me if they could read you hard drive while your computer was not running. But solid state drives are easier. That's why they are promoting solid state in all the computers.

[tvbcof]

I've been saying for some time that end-to-end encryption and various other security procedures are probably mostly giving a false sense of security and the real Achilles' heal these days is device security.

I find it pretty amazing the speed all of these companies are heading towards connecting everything conceivable to the internet, yet they really don't appear to give much of a shit about leaving the doors wide open for hackers to have some fun.

It would be far more reassuring had they provably solved device security before running down this road. I don't really fancy some Russian midget calling me up and threatening to drive me into the nearest brick wall if I don't pay up.

I have to seriously question how much of this is a bug and how much a feature.  And also how much is a mandate.

---

Another practical way for us outsiders to try to deal with the problem would be sort of a crowd-learning system for internal networks.  I'm thinking along the lines of a reasonably easy-to-use network analysis tool which could spot suspicious device behavior and combine efforts on notation and analysis.  At least it might help spot and reverse engineer abuse and shame/warn of vendors who allow it of their wares.

I've looked around casually for such efforts from time to time and have not seen any.  Nor have I tried to roll-my-own since I'm burnt out on software engineering and have been for the last few years.

[DD-Lex]

I've been saying for some time that end-to-end encryption and various other security procedures are probably mostly giving a false sense of security and the real Achilles' heal these days is device security.

I find it pretty amazing the speed all of these companies are heading towards connecting everything conceivable to the internet, yet they really don't appear to give much of a shit about leaving the doors wide open for hackers to have some fun.

It would be far more reassuring had they provably solved device security before running down this road. I don't really fancy some Russian midget calling me up and threatening to drive me into the nearest brick wall if I don't pay up.

I have to seriously question how much of this is a bug and how much a feature.  And also how much is a mandate.

---

Another practical way for us outsiders to try to deal with the problem would be sort of a crowd-learning system for internal networks.  I'm thinking along the lines of a reasonably easy-to-use network analysis tool which could spot suspicious device behavior and combine efforts on notation and analysis.  At least it might help spot and reverse engineer abuse and shame/warn of vendors who allow it of their wares.

I've looked around casually for such efforts from time to time and have not seen any.  Nor have I tried to roll-my-own since I'm burnt out on software engineering and have been for the last few years.

Guys, do not you think that the world relies heavily on the Internet and wireless communications? But this is dangerous, especially in the face of imminent threats in the world.

[squatz1]

Anyone who doesn't expect Them to have the capability to help themselves your smartphone, tv, computer etc is a bleedin' moron.

Of course they'll be able to do that. If you don't like it then junk it all and go retro. Even if the CIA isn't listening to you, the manufacturers themselves clearly state that they'll monitor all the things you get up to.

It even goes further, google is required by law to give data about specific IP's search info's and more to the CIA.

Everything you do is tracked and probably saved somewhere. All your only purchases. All your locations. All your webvisits.

I strongly believe windows 10 has integrated backdoors in their operating system aswell.

Online privacy is something that is starting to disappear more and more, its sad to see, but i believe there's not much that we can do to stop it. We have no tools nor power.

Yeah the whole Windows has a backdoor and some other revelations were made in the last release, I think it was something related to Vault7? It seem pretty scary to know that the govenment CAN at any point go into our computers and have no issue getting into them at all.

I guess all the stuff that Microsoft puts out such as BitLocker and all these other encryption tools are just to ease your mind while the government is simply watching without an issue. I think the only way of security is going to have to be going off the grid and using these devices to the minimum, use burner phones and so on.

It's tough to do, but lets all at least thank WikiLeaks for making this knowledge to us all.

[Sundark]

Why am I totally not surprised by that revelation?

I suspected as much even prior Edward Snowden confirmed existence of PRISM and other systems which created global surveillance program.

You sheep thought that this is it? That government will stop this project, just because society knows about it?

Of course not! They will only perfect and escalate it, internet of things is their best friend. Soon they will use your washing machine, oven and fridge to spy on you.

Because they are already using your TV! Haha.

[barbarah]

Windows should die and linux should be sold on all customer level computers since Trump has become president it just shows how over the last 8 years under the "Obama customer care" he has provided to the United States of America and how he has stolen everybody's privacy in the form of email/phone calls/geo cached locations having all be logged of every citizen of the U.S.A under the name of so called "National Security" for the greatest nation of the civilized world!

Truth be told? I don't know about it until all have been revealed about what is in the new wikileaks documents.
Only thing that is certain is Trump is in damage control mode.

[GreenBits]

I really don't get the surprise or outrage at this. Fuck yes, I want the CIA to be able to do all the shit in this document, and more. I want them to be able to see through fucking walls, to be honest. Y'all don't get this privacy shit, so let me break it down.

YOU ARENT THAT FUCKING IMPORTANT. The government is not trying to spy on regular people. There are more people than analysts, exponentially so. there is no way they have the time or resources to listen in on individual citizens in a meaningful way, because there is a whole nations worth of communications to sort through, every 24 hours. If you feel some kind of way about 'radical Islamic terrorism', then why would you feel some kind of way about our government having the tools to catch said terrorist?

So unless you are:

A international drug dealer
A self radicalized crazy head
A spy
President Trump

you really aren't cool enough for the government to be spending money to watch you look at interracial porn and read the forum.

This is was not a win for the common guy. Far from it. This is a huge blow to our national security, in the face of growing conflict with multiple nations. And the timing is suspect, giving the growing scrutiny on the intelligence community after Trump's seemingly erroneous accusations.

[Cxfan]

The sad part is that everybody had already assumed that the CIA had unlimited backdoors on all of our devices.

[mainpmf]

Anyone who doesn't expect Them to have the capability to help themselves your smartphone, tv, computer etc is a bleedin' moron.

Of course they'll be able to do that. If you don't like it then junk it all and go retro. Even if the CIA isn't listening to you, the manufacturers themselves clearly state that they'll monitor all the things you get up to.

And that's why I do think it's a bit worrying to see such strong monopolies being established :/

[tvbcof]

I really don't get the surprise or outrage at this. Fuck yes, I want the CIA to be able to do all the shit in this document, and more. I want them to be able to see through fucking walls, to be honest. Y'all don't get this privacy shit, so let me break it down.

YOU ARENT THAT FUCKING IMPORTANT. The government is not trying to spy on regular people. There are more people than analysts, exponentially so. there is no way they have the time or resources to listen in on individual citizens in a meaningful way, because there is a whole nations worth of communications to sort through, every 24 hours. If you feel some kind of way about 'radical Islamic terrorism', then why would you feel some kind of way about our government having the tools to catch said terrorist?

So unless you are:

A international drug dealer
A self radicalized crazy head
A spy
President Trump

you really aren't cool enough for the government to be spending money to watch you look at interracial porn and read the forum.

This is was not a win for the common guy. Far from it. This is a huge blow to our national security, in the face of growing conflict with multiple nations. And the timing is suspect, giving the growing scrutiny on the intelligence community after Trump's seemingly erroneous accusations.

You may have a mild point in some respects if there were any indication that the CIA has ever worked for 'Americans' at all.  Everything I can see is that the focus of many, if not most, of their projects are done for the benefit of a handful of wealthy elites and the entities which are important to this class.  Mostly corporations and 'foundations.'  As these entities become more 'multi-national' and 'globalist' the arguments that the CIA somehow benefits most Americans vanishes still farther.  The term 'help' means different things to different people.  Some red-blooded American social engineers find it very helpful to have a lot of heroin available in inner cities for instance.  Or to have an 'ISIL' at all.

As for these tools, they might help catch a pedo ring, but then they have to let the creeps off scott-free else they lose their electronic toys.  I would suggest that spending resources on old-school gumshoe techniques would be a lot more 'helpful' to Joe Sixpack (and his kids) than these tools.

Nextly, any genuine threat is not going to be ignorant about device security.  If anything such a target will turn these tools back on the CIA which is modestly easy to do given the nature of data processing.

You did hit the nail on the head in pointing out that the tools are great for making sure that your sponsors remain in power and their opponents don't have a chance.  That is exactly what I figured would happen.  I remain amazed that Trump pulled it off in spite of everything stacked against him.  Including significant parts of the CIA.  (Other parts, or former parts, may have helped him significantly however.)

(I would clarify that certain elements of the CIA do seem to do a valuable job and do it reasonably well, but I'm far from certain that they even constitute a majority of the operation.  Most CIA workers themselves probably don't even know, and curiosity about this is probably not at all welcome.  That suspicion comes from my experience in large organizations in the private sector which are compartmentalized by accident as much as by design.)

[Sithara007]

At least this time the revelations were not much damaging for the CIA. No information on the CIA spying on foreign leaders, no information about the torture techniques in Guantanamo....