Last Updated Mar 7, 2017 3:52 PM EST
WASHINGTON -- WikiLeaks published thousands of documents Tuesday described as secret files about CIA hacking tools the government employs to break into users’ computers, mobile phones and even smart TVs.
Some companies that manufacture smart TVs include: Apple, Google, Microsoft and Samsung.
The documents describe clandestine methods for bypassing or defeating encryption, antivirus tools and other protective security features intended to keep the private information of citizens and corporations safe from prying eyes. U.S. government employees, including President Trump, use many of the same products and internet services purportedly compromised by the tools.
The documents describe CIA efforts -- cooperating with friendly foreign governments and the U.S. National Security Agency -- to subvert the world’s most popular technology platforms.
Some of the products affected include: Apple’s iPhones and iPads, Google’s Android phones and Microsoft Windows operating system (desktop and laptops).
Details of WikiLeaks’ document release
- Largest publication of confidential documents about the CIA
- Code-named “Vault7”
- Part 1 includes 8,761 documents from CIA’s Center for Cyber Intelligence
- Reveals direction of global hacking program
- Information on agency’s malware arsenal
- Claims that CIA used products like iPhones and smart TVs as covert microphones
- Claims that the CIA used its Langley HQ and U.S. consulate in Frankfurt, Germany as bases for its hackers
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Broad exchanges of tools and information among the CIA, NSA and other U.S. intelligence agencies
