Okay, if there is anything on this boring Tuesday that could be a reason for us to shout “RUN FOR THE HILLS!”, This. But let's take it easy.
O WikiLeaks, the largest website in the world dedicated to publishing confidential documents and information from governments and companies, today published its largest collection of secret archives in history, called "Year Zero" (“Year Zero”): there are only 8,761 documents obtained from a high security network of CIA (United States Central Intelligence Agency) in Langley (Virginia). The subject, as usual, has to do with a topic beyond hot in recent times: privacy.
RELEASE: Vault 7 Part 1 "Year Zero": Inside the CIA's global hacking force https://t.co/h5wzfrReyy pic.twitter/N2lxyHH9jp
– WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) March 7, 2017
Publication: Vault 7, Part 1 “Year Zero”: Inside the CIA's Global Invasion Force
According to the documents exposed, the Cyber-Intelligence Center of the CIA has maintained an ultra-specialized group of hackers and computer professionals dedicated solely to the task of exploiting new vulnerabilities and invading the most used mobile operating systems in the world: the Android it's the iOS. The idea is to take advantage of these loopholes, which are inherent in each new version of software (and whose companies pay thousands of dollars to developers who discover them and report them for correction), to infiltrate devices and have access to personal information there saved and even your microphones and cameras. Desktop systems, such as Windows and Linux, also appear on the list, but less frequently.
A comes the worrying part: the leaked documents expose with absolute clarity of details all malware and methods used by the CIA to hack iPhones and other devices; the vast majority of them involving loopholes that Apple and Google (and other companies that develop on Android) were not aware of so far, incidentally, that goes against the promise made by the government of Barack Obama, which pledged to share all vulnerabilities detected on operating systems immediately with their developers.
Although Android is by far the most widely used mobile system in the world, iOS is highlighted on the numerous pages of files, and it is not difficult to understand why: due to its absolutely closed nature, the Apple OS is significantly more difficult to be invaded, therefore requiring more effort and exploration by CIA staff and hackers around the world. One of the leaked documents even details a so-called “iOS screening process” carried out by the CIA with each new version of the system: it contains, step by step, the procedures used by the agency to discover loopholes in the software.
What left the world in an uproar after the publication of the archives was the impression that hackers from all over the globe, whether they are good or malicious, would now have a very detailed instruction manual with all the hacking methods of the largest intelligence agency on the planet.
CIA illicitly hoarded 'zero day' attacks, putting at risk industry, government and even Trump's Twitter account https://t.co/K7wFTdlC82 pic.twitter/miJOPvl7MD
– WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) March 7, 2017
The CIA illegally accumulated “zero-day” attacks, putting the industry, the government and even Donald Trump's Twitter account at risk
However, it may not be a reason to worry so much: although it takes a long time to analyze all the files, hackers and subject matter experts who have already looked at the documents claim that most of the loopholes related to old systems and / or not more applicable. In addition, publishing the material can serve as a valuable little machine to Apple, Google and others who will certainly be the first to scrutinize the invasion methods to correct any loopholes discovered by the CIA.
Still, it is still a worrying warning: if the world only knew about the illegal espionage NSA, we now have confirmation that another notorious and even more powerful United States security agency employs heretical efforts in the paranoid quest to illegally spy on any potential enemies of the country, be it the President of Russia or his brother-in-law who retweeted a malicious meme from Donald Trump on Twitter.
So, if you value your privacy, follow the basic primer, as always: keep your OS always up to date with the latest security fixes and do nothing that can put you in the sights of the CIA. It is a good idea not to criticize the American government on social media, although admittedly it is increasingly difficult to avoid something like this. (I, for example, must have 84,629 spyware on my iPhone and a closet just for me at the CIA.)
(tip from @robsonpolice It's from @abreum)
Update by Rafael Fischmann · 03/08/2017 s 09:02
THE Apple I couldn't keep silent after this leak. She issued a statement saying that "many" of the iOS vulnerabilities in the documents have already been fixed.
Here is the paragraph in full, obtained by BuzzFeed:
Apple is deeply committed to protecting the privacy and security of our consumers. The technology employed in today's iPhone represents the best data security available to consumers, and we are constantly working to keep it that way. Our products and software are designed to bring security updates quickly to the hands of our consumers, with almost 80% of users running the latest version of our operating system. While our initial analysis indicates that many of the issues leaked today have already been fixed in the latest iOS, we will continue to work to quickly resolve any identified vulnerabilities. We always recommend that consumers download the latest iOS to make sure they have the latest security updates.
In other words, there is on the cake "Vault7"yes, some vulnerabilities that are not yet closed in the latest version of iOS. Let's see if Apple fixes them in time for the release of version 10.3.
