What WikiLeaks CIA Hack Means for You and Your Gadgets

[Paul Wagenseil]

The WikiLeaks data dump on CIA activities may be propaganda, but there are some lessons within on how to keep your devices safe and private.

What WikiLeaks CIA Hack Means for You and Your Gadgets : Read more

 

[Daekar3]

Wow... Still pushing "the Russians did it!" narrative, huh? Boy, put the truth in front of a blind man and he still can't see.

 

[stateofstatic]

So because you're a security guy this gives you the insight to say its "likely part of a Russian disinformation campaign meant to undermine the U.S. intelligence agencies in general, and to more immediately lend credence to President Donald Drumpf's allegations that former President Barack Obama spied on him."???

Any evidence in the leak to support your theory?

Fun find in the leak: A guide on how to use stolen hacking tools from other countries to put their "fingerprints" on CIA ops to make it look like say, oh...the Russians did it.

"Some of the CIA hacking tools mentioned in the WikiLeaks dump are real. Some of them probably are not. We may never truly know which is which."

Given wikileaks 100% accuracy record over the past 10yrs, what makes you think anything in the leak is fake?

Another fun find in the leak: 22,000+ IP addresses WITHIN the United States listed as CIA "TOOs" (targets of opportunity) had to be redacted by Wikileaks. Wow, that's a LOT of terrorists on our own soil, right?

 

[Arthur Dent The Third]

So - you think that the allegations are for the most part completely accurate, yet you open by calling it part of a "disinformation" campaign? That's some reporting there...

 

[FrostedFlake]

What, me worry?

This is a boon to the general public, real or memorex. Every security firm in the UNIVERSE is even now scrambling to get a grip. In the next few weeks they will all roll out new and vastly more effective software.

 

[Daekar3]

@ArthurDentTheThird - don't give them the credit. There hasn't been any important reporting or real journalism taking place in establishment-controlled outlets for years. With an article-lead like that, this qualifies as propaganda and damage control.

 

[JOHNBOYLOL]

LOL @ any of this being new, the American public is EXTRA gullible. The is part of the Russian/Wikileaks wake-up call literally any time Trump gets in trouble. It never fails.

The CIA isn't to blame for any of this, if you spent any time in the ISP world you'd know this casual hacking has been going on since the Internet became the Internet.

OMG, it's the CIA!!!!!

 

[JOHNBOYLOL]

If you log into Google and enable location services they know where you are. If you use Chrome and prediction services they audit your browser. If you just now figured out that every device device you use is gathering information & now you want to blame the CIA for protecting the country with it in some cases lol @ you.

 

[Dave_132]

StateofStatic, he's not questing the validity of the wikileaks... He's questioning the CIA.

 

[J Gravelle]

How might we quantify the asserted likelihood that this release is part of a Russian disinformation campaign...?

 

[daiichi]

Until I read this article, I gave Tom's Hardware some credibility when it came to high-tech opinions. Not so any longer. Evidently, this Paul Wagenseil is a biased shallow thinker.

His assertion that a three-letter agency's ability to hack into smartphones only matters if you are a "high value" target is absurd. If the tool that the CIA is using is quick and efficient, then a vulnerability in your phone should be a huge concern (think along the lines that most of Trump's cabinet would not have been considered "high value" until recently). Also consider that if the vulnerability exists, then nothing stops your tech-savvy spouse from hacking into your smartphone too.

So unfortunately, now TH has fallen into the class of websites whose opinionated articles should be generally ignored if a better-qualified source disputes their claims.

 

[Robert_378]

This is absolutely pathetic. I used Tom's guide as a resource for electronics. I had no idea they were liberal propagandists. Will never use this ridiculous site again

 

[TronBible]

I was actually thinking exactly this - the timing is suspicious. Trump is at war with the US intelligence apparatus who are building the case to impeach and likely imprison him for treason - then we get wikileaks, (who've been used in the past by Russian sources to disseminate data that progresses their agenda) publishing this trove of data to incriminate US intelligence and/or distract attention from Trump's administration.

 

[Guest]

'The Russians did it' ... again.
No, wait. Actually the writer's brain has been infected with a mind virus that's sweeping through the media industry population.
Another mantra-repeating zombie.
This is getting very boring.
The antivirus is in a red pill.

 

[Bill_128]

Wikileaks dump hit @ 13:18GMT. RT (Russia Today) released a rather detailed response/"analysis" 5 mins later.

 

[relmasian]

DAEKAR3, After reading you multiple comments, I suspect you badly need a better job. Hoping things go better for you.

 

[Corey_33]

So did the government tap the Trump campaign or not? Intercepting phone calls reported back in February says yes, but in this case you say no? Sounds partisan. https/www.nytimes.com/2017/02/14/us/politics/russia-intelligence-communications-trump.html

 

[rienone]

"likely part of a Russian disinformation campaign meant to undermine the U.S. intelligence agencies" ???!!!
DISINFORMATION ALERT!!! YOUr statement is the disinfo campaign. You should be ashamed for carrying that brackish water for the left. What a crock.

 

[Bill_128]

"likely part of a Russian disinformation campaign meant to undermine the U.S. intelligence agencies" ???!!!
DISINFORMATION ALERT!!! YOUr statement is the disinfo campaign. You should be ashamed for carrying that brackish water for the left. What a crock.

Russian "disinformation" is by design meant to undermine Western Democracies in general, they care little about the "Right or Left" of America politics. They simply seek to sew general discord on confusion

 

[stewar15401]

I laughed out loud from beginning to end.