Earlier this week, WikiLeaks released a trove of documents claiming to detail the hacking tools that the CIA uses. One of the revelations made in the documents was that the agency is capable of bypassing encryption applied by popular apps like WhatsApp by accessing an Android smartphone remotely and pulling voice and message data even before the app has a chance to apply encryption. WikiLeaks has now said that it wants to work with major tech companies to help them plug vulnerabilities that enable CIA hackers to do that.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said today that they will work with tech companies and provide them with access to the CIA hacking tools in their possession so that they can patch up their software vulnerabilities.
The anti-secrecy group only published part of what it has in its possession, which is believed to more than several hundred million lines of codes related to programs that the CIA allegedly uses to conduct operations against smartphones, PCs, and even smart TVs.
“Considering what we think is the best way to proceed and hearing these calls from some of the manufacturers, we have decided to work with them to give them some exclusive access to the addition technical details that we have so that the fixes can be developed and pushed out, so people can be secure,” Assange said today during a press conference broadcasted using Facebook Live.
The CIA is obviously not happy about this even though it hasn’t confirmed or denied anything. CIA spokesman Jonathan Liu said in a statement that “As we’ve said previously, Julian Assange is not exactly a bastion of truth and integrity,” adding that “Despite the efforts of Assange and his ilk, CIA continues to aggressively collect foreign intelligence overseas to protect America from terrorists, hostile nation states and other adversaries.”
What WikiLeaks has not confirmed as yet is how it’s going to work with tech companies to provide them access and if any of these companies have actually accepted its offer.
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