WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has vowed to give technology firms like Apple access to the CIA’s “cyberweapons” arsenal so they can develop fixes that make our devices more secure.
Earlier this week, thousands of leaked documents and files revealed the full extent of the CIA’s cyber attacks on smartphones, computers and even smart TVs. WikiLeaks says the spy agency has lost control of it all in a “historic act of devastating incompetence.”
Since the dump, several tech firms have reached out to WikiLeaks, seeking more information about the tools being used by the CIA to break into consumer gadgets. The site redacted lots of valuable data before publishing its findings.
With access to this information, anyone who knew how to use it could take advantage of the same holes exploited by the CIA to install malware, viruses, trojans and other “weaponized” software on people’s devices.
The best way to avoid that, Assange says, is to provide tech firms like Apple, Google and Microsoft with exclusive access to the “technical details” so they can develop patches that bolster devices’ security.
The CIA told USA Today that it is prohibited from conducting electronic surveillance on U.S. citizens, and that it “does not do so.”
Spokesman Dean Boyd also questioned Assange’s “truth and integrity,” and said that despite the efforts of WikiLeaks, the CIA “continues to aggressively collect foreign intelligence overseas to protect America from terrorists, hostile nation states and other adversaries.”
But according to the leaked documents, the CIA’s Center for Cyber Intelligence has more than 5,000 registered users who have produced over a thousand hacking systems used to remotely control smart devices and turn them into covert microphones.
According to Assange and WikiLeaks, the agency recently “lost control of its entire cyberweapons arsenal,” giving the possessor “the entire hacking capacity of the CIA.”
“This is an historic act of devastating incompetence to have created such an arsenal and stored it all in one place and not secured it,” Assange said.
Meanwhile, FBI director James Comey today warned that “absolute privacy” does not exist in America, and that “there is no place outside of judicial reach.” With good reason, the government has access to your data, your conversations and even your memories, he said.
Killian Bell is a freelance writer based in the U.K. He has an interest in all things tech and also covers Android over at CultofAndroid.com. You can follow him on Twitter via @killianbell.
One response to “WikiLeaks vows to share CIA ‘cyberweapons’ so tech firms can fix holes”
“WikiLeaks vows to share CIA ‘cyberweapons’ so tech firms can fix holes”
Riiiiight.
Julian Assange is an accused rapist who has been living in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for more than FOUR years, because he’s afraid to face his two accusers in Sweden where the assault(s) occurred. He’s also admitted he’s afraid he will be extradited to America for leaking government documents and interfering with U.S. elections, about which he is most certainly correct. He is also in collusion with Russia (something he simply declines to discuss, rather than outright deny), and helped them interfere with the U.S. elections to discredit Hillary Clinton and get Donald Trump elected. Recall that Assange said he would release damning emails and documents each and every day until the election… and that’s exactly what he did. Not surprisingly, there was not ONE new release of stolen and hacked documents until the VERY day Trump most need to distract from his recent lies about Obama phone-tapping Trump Tower. It’s clear Assange, is either working directly with the Trump administration, or on their behalf… not yours.
So, an Australian citizen, accused of raping two women in Sweden, living in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for FOUR YEARS, hacked and interfered with the U.S. Elections, is now meddling in the operation of the United States… AGAIN. This self-admitted anarchist—who clearly has a messianic complex—should not be believed about ANYTHING, much less be tolerated. Assange should be expelled (or dragged) from that embassy, placed in shackles, hauled off to Sweden to face his accusers, then to America and tried for his cyber crimes and interfering with the U.S. elections. And people complained about Hillary Clinton?? If •anyone• should be locked up it’s Julian Assange. He is a thief, a cyber-terrorist and a liar.
Of course, this is just one man’s opinion.