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CIA malware and hacking tools

wikileaks.org

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Re: CIA malware and hacking tools

#231

Post by ttctciyf »

dmix wrote: post #199
at-fates-hands wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm wondering if these documents are going to match the same ones that were taken by Harold Martin III and if the CIA will out him as the Wikileaks source.

These documents were being passed around by former CIA hackers. It says this right on the page. Harold has already been disproven to have any connection to leaks. He was just a hoarder with a mental illness. This hasn't stopped people from connecting every leak since his arrest to him.

Actually, WikiLeaks press release says:

> The archive appears to have been circulated among former U.S. government hackers and contractors in an unauthorized manner, one of whom has provided WikiLeaks with portions of the archive.

and later specifically mentions Martin:

> Over the last three years the United States intelligence sector, which consists of government agencies such as the CIA and NSA and their contractors, such as Booze Allan Hamilton, has been subject to unprecedented series of data exfiltrations by its own workers.

> A number of intelligence community members not yet publicly named have been arrested or subject to federal criminal investigations in separate incidents.

> Most visibly, on February 8, 2017 a U.S. federal grand jury indicted Harold T. Martin III with 20 counts of mishandling classified information. The Department of Justice alleged that it seized some 50,000 gigabytes of information from Harold T. Martin III that he had obtained from classified programs at NSA and CIA, including the source code for numerous hacking tools.

EDIT: I would infer from this that WL mention Martin to shore up their claim that the CIA hacking archive is circulating among contractors, not to hint that he's a source.

Re: CIA malware and hacking tools

#232

Post by rhino369 »

omouse wrote: post #176
buzz27 wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not a US citizen, but if I was, I would want professionals sworn to defend my country and the constitution to be able to modernize their capabilities. Today, these tools are essential to defense. It may turn out to have been the best defense against RU attempt to Balkanize USA.

The best offense is a good defense. Improving the quality of software in general would be far more beneficial than developing zero-day short-sighted tools.

That wouldn't help you break into a Russian generals email account to read his email to his mistress saying he's going to Ukraine for a couple weeks.

The CIA isn't even really responsible to cyber defense. They are an offensive spy agency.

Re: CIA malware and hacking tools

#233

Post by Donzo »

afandian wrote: post #227

I am completely bemused that on the one hand the CIA is quite happy to literally murder, rape and and torture left right and centre, overthrow foreign governments, interfere with elections etc ... but is careful about adhering to the finer points US Constitution.

This is because if they answer to anyone, it's the US Gov that is structured by the Constitution.

They have no issue with commiting those attrocities in foreign lands, in which Constitutional protections and rules do not apply to them.

Re: CIA malware and hacking tools

#234

Post by Bartweiss »

alphonsegaston wrote: post #144
Bartweiss wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> saying Russia has "vibrant" criticism of Putin's regime No, he didn't. I know The Guardian said he did, but they mislead readers so badly that the interviewer they were quoting specifically called them out for bad journalism. Wikileaks has gone off the rails lately, but the "vibrant" thing is from a hitpiece that's inaccurate in almost every way. Assange said "In Russia, there are many vibrant publications, online…

I literally linked to the actual interview. I know exactly what he said and my original statement still stands. And there's so much "vibrant" criticism in Russia that the guy he mentions is in prison? If that doesn't refute his argument (assuming it wasn't ironic), I don't know what does. Here's someone who also went to prison for protesting against Putin who says that Assange uses rhetorical dodges, but it's out in…

I continue to think quoting the word "vibrant" without the end of the sentence is badly misleading. I mean, he's talking about whether Russia has Wikileaks-equivalents, and you answer that it's different from the US because the biggest leakers and critics are in prison or exile? The analogy to Manning and Snowden makes itself...

Yes, Assange is soft on Russia and Trump (and apparently Roger stone just copped again to a Trump-Assange connection). No, it wouldn't surprise me even a little bit if he's looking to the Kremlin for leaks and protection, and so publishing at their discretion. Yes, Russia clearly engages in censorship and violence against critics on a level not at all comparable to the US.

(The Manning/Snowden comparison on "in prison" is obvious, but I do realize the difference. The US doesn't have an epidemic of murdered journalists and civil rights advocates in exile, and wealth and fame aren't required to survive dissent.)

But because I worry about all of that, I wish the discussion of the topic wasn't so often allergic to context. Most articles and public statements on the issue are easily shredded for horrible inaccuracies, when even a straightforward summary of events is deeply alarming.

Re: CIA malware and hacking tools

#235

Post by tehwalrus »

danielam wrote: post #183
tehwalrus wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If these actions are being done domestically against US citizens, with no just cause sure I will get upset, but that has yet to be seen. May I just ask, why does this distinction matter? Why do you believe the world should be divided into "people who were issued bits of paper by my overlords" and "people who weren't"? I never understood this division in other people's heads. It leads to all sorts of philosophical p…

That some governments use that kind of tribal moral relativism to justify war does not mean that war cannot be waged for justifiable and morally good reasons.

I agree with you, sort of. Specifically, I will admit that there are some cases where something some people would call war is justifiable.

Re: CIA malware and hacking tools

#236

Post by camperman »

dmix wrote: post #204
imron wrote: post #66

The CIA's Remote Devices Branch's UMBRAGE group collects and maintains a substantial library of attack techniques 'stolen' from malware produced in other states including the Russian Federation. With UMBRAGE and related projects the CIA cannot only increase its total number of attack types but also misdirect attribution by leaving behind the "fingerprints" of the groups that the attack techniques were stolen from. Th…

There also still hasn't been any public evidence that Wikileaks got their Podesta email data from Russians yet. So far we only know the DNC leaks were very likely Russian. That means until today only about ~50% of the 'election hacks' have been attributed to Russia with public evidence. Now this leak calls into question some of the evidence about the DNC hack [1]. This evidence being the malware was Russian. But ther…

> So far we only know the DNC leaks were very likely Russian.

We don't know that at all. There isn't a single piece of evidence for it anywhere.

Re: CIA malware and hacking tools

#237

Post by roryisok »

ploggingdev wrote: post #191
bhouston wrote: post #9

- Smart TV turned into listening devices with fake off mode? - Intercepting audio/texts before encryption by Signal, Whisper, WhatsApp etc. - Dozens of O-day attacks again Andriod and iPhone. Pretty powerful stuff.

> Intercepting audio/texts before encryption by Signal, Whisper, WhatsApp etc. This basically means if your device is compromised, expect malware to be able to read all content (including Signal, WhatsApp messages). Nothing new. The way it's phrased makes it sound like Signal, WhatsApp have vulnerabilities, but no, the intention is sensationalism over sound analysis.

No mention of Windows Phone. I guess I'm safe =)

Re: CIA malware and hacking tools

#239

Post by tgragnato »

Spooky23 wrote: post #75
andai wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're being paid by the spooks! On a serious note, doesn't cyberwarfare sound more like it could lead to nasty consequences, such as regular warfare, rather than preventing it?

As nuclear proliferation becomes more and more common, "regular warfare" is going to become impossible. The reality is that there isn't going to be a traditional war with any nuclear power. WW2 was the last big state on state conflict -- that cannot happen again. Since 1948, the US vs. USSR model has applied, where nuclear powers have proxy wars at the fringes with various minor states. As nukes become available to 2…

Ok, but the current trend seems to suggest a strong preference for SIGINT, ELINT, ... over traditional HUMINT.

Isn't this overestimating only a peculiar aspect ?

Re: CIA malware and hacking tools

#240

Post by roryisok »

blauditore wrote: post #207

This may sound stupid, but I'm wondering if using Windows Phone 8 (not Windows 10 mobile) might be a strong measure for protecting oneself against such attacks. First, it's quite restricted in terms of deep system access towards devs and users. Apps are sandboxed and extremely isolated from each other. Then, its market share is so low that probably no one makes an effort to build targeted attacks towards it.

I was just wondering the same, looking down at my trusty old lumia here. Unfortunately no desktop OS seems to be safe
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