Defense & Intelligence Policy, Business and Technology

WikiLeaks says it has obtained trove of CIA hacking tools

The Washington Post: The anti-secrecy organization WikiLeaks said Tuesday that it has obtained a vast portion of the CIA’s computer hacking arsenal, and began posting the files online in a breach that may expose some of the U.S. intelligence community’s most closely guarded cyber weapons. WikiLeaks touted its trove as exceeding in scale and significance the massive collection of National Security Agency documents exposed by former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden. A statement from WikiLeaks indicated that it planned to post nearly 9,000 files describing code developed in secret by the CIA to steal data from targets overseas and turn ordinary devices including cellphones, computers and even television sets into surveillance tools. The authenticity of the trove could not immediately be determined. A CIA spokesman would say only that “we do not comment on the authenticity or content of purported intelligence documents.” But current and former U.S. officials said that details contained in the documents suggest that they are legitimate. Such a breach of U.S. intelligence capabilities, and the potential fallout it might cause among U.S. allies, could pose a significant challenge to President Trump, who in the past has praised WikiLeaks and disparaged the CIA.

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