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Vault 7 is a series of documents that Wikileaks began to release on March 7, 2017 that detail activities of the United States Central Intelligence Agency to perform electronic surveillance and cyber warfare. According to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, Vault 7 is the most comprehensive release of US spying files ever made public. The files, dated from 2013 - 2016, include details on software capabilities of the agency, such as the ability to bypass encryption on instant messaging services, such as Signal, Whatsapp, and Telegram, smart televisions, smart phones, including Apple's iPhone and phones running Google's Android operating system, Windows, and Linux.
Release
The first batch of documents to be released consisted of 7,818 web pages with 943 attachments, purportedly from the Center for Cyber Intelligence, which already contains more pages than Edward Snowden's NSA release. Wikileaks did not name the source but said that the files had "circulated among former U.S. government hackers and contractors in an unauthorized manner, one of whom has provided WikiLeaks with portions of the archive." According to Wikileaks, the source "wishes to initiate a public debate about the security, creation, use, proliferation and democratic control of cyberweapons" since these tools raise questions that "urgently need to be debated in public, including whether the C.I.A.’s hacking capabilities exceed its mandated powers and the problem of public oversight of the agency."
Wikileaks redacted names and other identifying information from the documents before their release. It also said that it would postpone releasing the source code for the cyber weapons "until a consensus emerges on the technical and political nature of the C.I.A.’s program and how such ‘weapons’ should be analyzed, disarmed and published."
Authenticity
Although the documents appear to be authentic, when asked about their authenticity a CIA spokesman replied that the organization does "not comment on the authenticity or content of purported intelligence documents."
Umbrage
The documents revealed that the agency had amassed a large collection of cyberattack techniques and malware produced by other countries, including Russia, which it collectively referred to as "Umbrage." According to Wikileaks, these techniques and software was used to mask the origin of the agency's cyberattacks and to confuse forensic investigators.
Weeping Angel
One of the software suits, code-named "Weeping Angel," is able to use Samsung smart televisions as covert listening devices. An infected smart television can be used "as a bug, recording conversations in the room and sending them over the internet to a covert C.I.A. server" even if it appears to be off.
Compromised Software and Products
Windows
The documents refer to a "Windows FAX DLL injection" exploit in Microsoft Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 operating systems.
Smart phones
The electronic tools can reportedly compromise both Apple's iPhone and Google's Android operating systems.
Messaging services
Some of the agency's software is able to bypass encryption on instant messaging services such as Signal, Whatsapp, and Telegram. According to Wikileaks, once an Android phone is penetrated the agency can collect "audio and message traffic before encryption is applied."
See also
References
- ^ "WikiLeaks publishes massive trove of CIA spying files in 'Vault 7' release". The Independent. 7 March 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
- ^ "WikiLeaks Releases Trove of Alleged C.I.A. Hacking Documentsa". The New York Times. 7 March 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|authors=ignored (help) - ^ "WikiLeaks claims to release thousands of CIA documents". CBS News/Associated Press. Mar 7, 2017. Retrieved 2017-03-07.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - Mazzetti, Scott Shane, Mark; Rosenberg, Matthew (2017-03-07). "WikiLeaks Releases Trove of Alleged C.I.A. Hacking Documents". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-03-07.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
External links
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