What WikiLeaks CIA Hack Means for You and Your Gadgets

[ormak99]

I really wish people would stop dogging on the CIA. There are agents in the field risking their lives for our security. Many have payed the ultimate price. We should adopt a national pride and appreciation for our intelligence officers that is comparable to that of our soldiers. With that said a foreign power has hacked an agency that has sacrificed so much for our country, in an attempt to discredit them. This is deeper than partizan politics. How many members of your friends and family were arrested by secret police again?

 

[blee808]

People who didn't already realize this was possible are ignorant Trump supporters, which is hilarious because most of them are conspiracy theorists too. Any one with half a tech brain already knew these devices could be hacked.

 

[Elen_Tbuor]

Wow!, the stupidity of the left really knows no boundaries.

 

[normannormanton]

This guy missed the main point in that this CIA hacking aresenal ( viruses, tools, documentation, etc) was not kept secure and is now also in the hands of others.
Its one thing if this were just confined to CIA spooks,though still pretty serious. But scammers, thieves, kid hackers, malicious countries spooks can do absolute carnage with this and that is the way this will affect everyday people everyday.

 

[Travis_43]

So everything is true... except... the whole thing is make believe Russian propaganda to support evil Trump. lololololing

 

[Richard_RAG]

I'm a skeptic by nature. QUESTION: How do you verify what Wikileaks is publishing is real? It may be real, but we know Assange is not a fan of the U.S. Do we just accept it as real? We question the honesty of our government institutions. We question the "mainstream media". So why do we automatically accept this without verification?

 

[ward_19]

Disappointed that Tom's Guide has become another political mouthpiece that plays the regular Russian excuse. I think we know where to go if we need Fake News. How about some deep dives into the material like:

Windows FAX DLL Injection
https/wikileaks.org/ciav7p1/cms/page_2621760.html

iOS Exploits Data
https/wikileaks.org/ciav7p1/cms/page_13205587.html

etc...

We'd like to read some Tech articles here..... REALLY.

 

[Travis_43]

I'm a skeptic by nature. QUESTION: How do you verify what Wikileaks is publishing...

Yes, let's verify.

First, no single wikileaks post ever has been proven illegitimate. That means a lot, given the number of leaks they have distributed over the years, I'm sure you would agree.

Second, there are methods to verify. For example, in the DNC leaks leading up to the election, all of those emails were on gmail. You may know that gmail has headers that include digital verification of every character in an email. That was a sure-fire way to verify the validity of every email and probably the reason that DNC did not challenge / spin the legitimacy of the emails but instead chose to attack the source of the leaks (blame Russia). I would imagine that there will be methods to validate these CIA claims such as verifying the existence of malicious code 'in the wild' etc. I would suggest that a technical forum such as Tom's should focus on that instead of making political statements speculating that this is all some Russian plot (wtf! proof please lol)

 

[Einstein_Jr]

and whats really surprising is that if the CIA gives a dam about you they have even more sophisticated tools at their disposal. Ive heard they can push a camera through the pipes and film through you toilet. and and you know what? um Im very paranoid even though I have nothing to hide. because Im a nut.

 

[Matthew_233]

Refreshing introduction! I will buy you a drink anytime.

 

[Steve_198]

I suppose this is Trump fault the news media blame him the boys in the backroom in Washington we'll make sure of that

 

[Steve_198]

I suppose this is Trump fault the news media blame him the boys in the backroom in Washington we'll make sure of that

 

[Bill_128]

Russia has been clearly using Wikileaks to advance its agenda for years. The validity of most of its "dumps" are not the real question. Its Russian motives and the Assange agenda that is of concern. No way you can convince me that hacked FSB and Putin material would cast a far darker shadow on the actual state of affairs than the highly selective, politically motivated "dumps" we have been offered to date...not to mention China, Iran etc etc. Assange has such material in a thumb drive somewhere, never to be seen

 

[eesankar]

IT seems to me, WikiLeaks, Trump and some, not all, of his White House officials are working by any means necessary to drown out the real story that concerns the American people “The Russians hacking in our election and then use the information to sway the outcome for a Trump win presidency”. This is something I think every American should be concern about!! A foreign country, who wants to weaken our democracy, our leading power and respect from other countries to regain leading power of his own regime. I also believe Trump and his White house close officials, like Steve Bannon and Steve Miller, would risk the security of our country and democracy to fulfill their hidden agenda, which does not include all Americans. For the love of our country, we can’t let that happen!!! So fellow Americans, media and true lawmakers don't be side tracked with this WikiLeaks story, there is nothing there that is concrete compared to the Russian's hacking . This is another distraction from the real story. We know Trump and his close officials wish the Russian hacking investigation will go away. We must for the sake of our democracy find out the real truth behind all this, especially when our own President who does not offers any support or concerns of even wanting to know the real truth. Well this is strange and it really concerns me. Why is Trump bending over backwards to protect and defend Putin? Should we get to know more about who is this President who is now running our country? Who is he? His tax returns will reveal a lot on that. Enough already!!!!!!! I think congress should subpoena his tax returns and find out more on his background and decide if he’s the person who should and is mentally capable of running our country or is he a risk? Enough is enough!!! It is time for our congress, senate and judges to step up and do what’s right for this country and its people. When? God bless America and all its people!!!

 

[Syonansan]

Surprising first para - riding the Russian bogeyman bandwagon!

 

[Ed_21_]

So what's the basis for assuming it's likely a Russian thing. You don't look like a CIA Agent, a Democratic Party Senator, a New York investment banker, a global corporate CEO, or a personality disordered, intellectually-challenged, LGBT, illegal alien Obama\Clinton voter with randomly recurring violent outbursts and a predisposition to fraud. Wait a minute, is that you George?

 

[Joel_68]

yep blame the Russians again! lol the MSM are fake news!

 

[Joel_68]

blame the Russians again eh! you know what the people are tired of these kind of lazy mainstream media that disseminates fake news and propaganda articles . we know the truth

 

[chettercheese]

Talk about a CIA disinformationist, who would have taking you for the enemy, but hey the CIA is every whenre especially in the web sites like this one.

The Russians didn't do it. It has been known since last Ocober that the CIA leaked the hillary and podesta emails

 

[Paul Wagenseil]

I'm standing by my story. Do I *know* it was the Russians? No. Is at least *some* of the alleged CIA material in the data dump real? Yes.

But boy, do I have a hunch. Look at the timing of this release. Previous WikiLeaks dumps have also been timed for maximum impact upon the U.S. news and political cycle. This one already has certain media outlets openly wondering whether it was CIA, and not the Russians, who hacked the DNC.

Ask yourself two things: 1) When has WikiLeaks ever dumped material belonging to the Russian intelligence services? and 2) Who benefits from this new release?

Now, what do you do about this all? There's not much to do, other than keep your software updated to the latest versions (especially on Android and Windows) run antivirus software where possible, and be very wary of suspicious emails, tweets and Facebook postings that contain links or attached files.

But if the CIA, NSA or FBI -- or their Russian or Chinese counterparts -- want to hack you, you're gonna get hacked. The silver lining is that 99.9% of the U.S. population does not interest those agencies as targets.