WikiLeaks has released a huge set of files that it calls “Year Zero” and which mark the biggest exposure of CIA spying secrets ever.
The massive set of documents – over 8,000 pages in all – include a host of hacking secrets that could embarrass intelligence agencies and the US government, as well as undermining spying efforts across the world.
Here are six of the biggest secrets and pieces of information yet to emerge from the huge dump.
1) The CIA has the ability to break into Android and iPhone handsets, and all kinds of computers
The US intelligence agency has been involved in a concerted effort to write various kinds of malware to spy on just about every piece of electronic equipment that people use. That includes iPhones, Androids and computers running Windows, macOS and Linux.
If that software is as powerful as WikiLeaks claims, it could be used to remotely control those devices and switch them on and off. Once that happened, a vast array of data would be made available – including users’ locations, messages they had sent, and potentially everything heard by the microphone or seen by the camera.
2) Doing so would make apps like Signal, Telegram and WhatsApp entirely insecure
Encrypted messaging apps are only as secure as the device they are used on – if an operating system is compromised, then the messages can be read before they encrypted and sent to the other user. WikiLeaks claims that has happened, potentially meaning that messages have been compromised even if all of the usual precautions had been taken.
