Why You Should Be Worried About The Most Recent C.I.A. Leaks
Major tech giants and consumers are up in arms after Wikileaks, a major whistleblowing platform, released comprehensive details about the hacking capabilities of the Central Intelligence Agency, or the CIA. This release comes during a time of distrust of government authority, where even the sitting President Trump accused previous President Obama of performing illegal wiretaps on his offices. But what exactly did this release reveal?
Anonymous sources within the CIA and from various government hacker groups provided Wikileaks with a data collection that contains “more than several hundred million lines of code,” which gives whoever owns the collection “the entire hacking capability of the CIA.” This database consists of a multitude of documentation and software such as viruses, trojans, weaponized exploits, and malware used to take control of wireless systems.
The leaks reveal multitudes of vulnerabilities in anything from computer operating systems, to applications, to smartphones and TVs. The leaked CIA files document numerous vulnerabilities and holes in the security of a broad range of technology. However, the CIA did not notify the creators or developers, potentially leaving millions of people open to being hacked.
The documents published by Wikileaks show hijackable “backdoors” in applications such as Skype, McAfee, Kaspersky, and even Google Chrome. The agency’s secret documents also outline tactics used to infiltrate Android and iOS mobile devices as well as Wi-Fi networks and Samsung smart TVs.
But how does this affect the average person? According to Nathan White of the digital rights advocacy group Access Now, although the leaks reveal the CIA is able to tap and surveil smart TVs, smartphones, and digital personal assistants, “there is no reason to believe that this means that all of these things have been hacked." Many technology experts have become increasingly aware of the CIA and NSA’s hacking capabilities, especially since ex-NSA contractor and famous whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed that the National Security Agency taps millions of citizens phone calls and keeps logs of nearly every U.S. citizen through a broad monitoring tool known under the secret code PRISM.
Essentially, just because this information has been released doesn’t necessarily mean the CIA is monitoring you. And as the past has shown, only whistleblowers such as Snowden can show the truth depth at which the government surveils its people.
Although the idea of wiretapping and wireless surveillance by the government is becoming more and more possible as the capabilities of the CIA expand, most people shouldn’t be too afraid. It’s safe to say (for now, at least) that the government doesn’t care about your relationship issues or what clothes you’ve been buying online.
For those of you who do care about your privacy, however, it is worth considering whether or not the lack of privacy is worth a new Amazon Alexa or Samsung smart TV. For those of you who don’t, however, you don’t have to worry about losing any files from your phone or computer; the CIA may have a backup for you.
