Apple has already fixed most of the iOS exploits the Central Intelligence Agency used

March 09 12:16 2017

“But the significance of ‘Year Zero” goes well beyond the choice between cyberwar and cyberpeace.

If verified, the information would amount to yet another stunning breach of classified material stolen in recent years from USA intelligence agencies. The C.I.A., which has maintained that it has “no comment” on the authenticity of the new trove of Wikileaks documents, insists that its tools are for foreign cyber-espionage and that it does not target US citizens for surveillance. Hardly reassuring for those who worry their data might be compromised.

The leak, called “Vault 7” by WikiLeaks now seems to be as significant as the 2010 Iraq and Afghanistan disclosure by Chelsea Manning in 2010, and Edward Snowden’s leak of classified material in relation to the National Security Agency and Britain’s equivalent in 2013. The hacking arsenal comparises several hundred million lines of code. Among the hacking tools listed are those for iOS, a collection of Android 0days, and hacking techniques from various sources, including the UK’s GCHQ and the National Security Agency. According to the agency, the American public should be “deeply troubled by any Wikileaks disclosure created to damage the Intelligence Community’s ability to protect America against terrorists and other adversaries”. For others, like exploits on so-called connected Internet of Things devices like smart refrigerators or baby monitors, it could take much longer.

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Perpahs one of Wikileaks” most shocking revelations was that the Central Intelligence Agency is also targeting Samsung smart TVs using a surveillance technique dubbed “Weeping Angel’, which was reportedly created in partnership with the UK’s MI5. This means that surveillance tools can potentially move into hip pockets of billions of users worldwide as well as right into the homes.

So basically, your most private, personal and revealing conversations could be being read by American intelligence operatives.

The CIA is able to remotely hack into smartphones using the software or hardware flaws known as “zero-day exploits” that have not been yet identified as vulnerabilities in devices by the manufacturer.

These vulnerabilities were reportedly withheld from Apple, so they couldn’t be fixed.

US intelligence officials scrambled Tuesday to assess the scope and potential validity of a mountain of documents that the anti-secrecy organization WikiLeaks has begun publishing online with a claim that the trove consists of thousands of files from the CIA’s most secretive computer hacking operations.

What is Vault 7? WikiLeaks releases 'Year Zero' leaked documents TODAY

Apple has already fixed most of the iOS exploits the Central Intelligence Agency used
 
 
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