WikiLeaks publishes huge trove of CIA spying files in 'Vault 7' release
"WikiLeaks has published a huge trove of what appear to be CIA spying secrets.
The files are the most comprehensive release of US spying files ever made public, according to Julian Assange. In all, there are 8,761 documents that account for "the entire hacking capacity of the CIA", Mr Assange claimed in a release, and the trove is just the first of a series of "Vault 7" leaks."
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Hacks into common applications, AntiVirus, vehicles, and more. Even use of Russian utilities as misdirection.
None of this comes as a surprise to me, but I am glad it is getting public recognition. A rogue CIA is extremely, extreeeeeeeeeeeemley dangerous, and this is why.
Big wikileaks fan but its been compromised. The beauty of wikileaks for me was that it rarely showed political bias and I could trust it as a source of info. Now it seems there has been a real shift and is keeping Trump clean as can be during all of this. It does a huge resource still keeping citizens aware in a world of misinformation but its not the anti-government site it once was.
Quote:Big wikileaks fan but its been compromised. The beauty of wikileaks for me was that it rarely showed political bias and I could trust it as a source of info. Now it seems there has been a real shift and is keeping Trump clean as can be during all of this. It does a huge resource still keeping citizens aware in a world of misinformation but its not the anti-government site it once was.
I'm guessing cuz it's just too early into his administration for there to have been anything major. I'm sure we'll be getting stuff come out sooner or later about this administration.
Quote:I'm guessing cuz it's just too early into his administration for there to have been anything major. I'm sure we'll be getting stuff come out sooner or later about this administration.
I didn't see any anti-trump stuff during the election anyway, and literally nothing so far.
Its not a huge deal because the info that has come out is still legit, just that I would have considered Wikileaks an almost anti-political entity where as now I think you can see it has clearly taken a side on which areas to leak. As you said though its still early days.
Quote:I'm guessing cuz it's just too early into his administration for there to have been anything major. I'm sure we'll be getting stuff come out sooner or later about this administration.
Agreed. How can Wikileaks have material on an administration that's only been in office for 6 weeks?
Are these tactics used for spying on Americans...or other nations?
Reason I ask, is I just don't know what we as Americans gain by Wikileaks leaking our CIA spying info if it's to be used against other, possibly hostile countries.
I do not agree with spying on the average American citizen...with that said, what about the Mob or other such entities...and known or perceived terrorist that reside in the U.S. That I would have to agree with.
Quote:I didn't see any anti-trump stuff during the election anyway, and literally nothing so far.
Its not a huge deal because the info that has come out is still legit, just that I would have considered Wikileaks an almost anti-political entity where as now I think you can see it has clearly taken a side on which areas to leak. As you said though its still early days.
Probably because Hillary had her dirty little fingers in government for decades while Trump did not. It's easy to discern once you put your own biases aside.
It's pretty clear all the agencies need to tighten up policy, procedure, and most importantly HR.
Far too much bloat, poorly trained/supervised EEs, just sloppy subpar product in most if not all agencies (this is not something only the CIA suffers from, it's all of them to some extent.)
Need to button up and retool/reinvent for our modern technologies and applications of the agencies to suit modern needs in a modern world.
Either we have no good strategy for cyber operations in modern times, not enough technical competence to supervise and monitor how our people are operating in the technology/cyber space, or both.
If they can't keep their own operations clean, how can they be doing their jobs effectively? It would be like walking in to a garage with pools of oil over the floors and tools spread disorganized over the shop, or a restaurant with unclean and disheveled decor and a disaster of a kitchen. If it's that big a mess, you can't possibly be doing a good job and in dire need of a remodel to get it back into proper operating shape.
Quote:Probably because Hillary had her dirty little fingers in government for decades while Trump did not. It's easy to discern once you put your own biases aside.
I'd consider myself pretty unbiased when it comes to American politics. There has been a marked shift in how Wikileaks operates over the last year or two.
Quote:I didn't see any anti-trump stuff during the election anyway, and literally nothing so far.
Its not a huge deal because the info that has come out is still legit, just that I would have considered Wikileaks an almost anti-political entity where as now I think you can see it has clearly taken a side on which areas to leak. As you said though its still early days.
Trump doesn't use email, or at least he didn't, so it's hard to get info on someone like that very easily.
Quote:I'd consider myself pretty unbiased when it comes to American politics. There has been a marked shift in how Wikileaks operates over the last year or two.
I haven't read the released material, but I don't see how exposing CIA secrets is political, unless specific CIA investigations were political.
Wikileaks has always had an anti-American bent, exposing Hillary's corruption was certainly within that purview.
Quote:I haven't read the released material, but I don't see how exposing CIA secrets is political, unless specific CIA investigations were political.
Wikileaks has always had an anti-American bent, exposing Hillary's corruption was certainly within that purview.
No its more wikileaks in general as of late. These are the kind of leaks that make it great, keeping citizens informed of how their oppressors operate.
Quote:Are these tactics used for spying on Americans...or other nations?
Reason I ask, is I just don't know what we as Americans gain by Wikileaks leaking our CIA spying info if it's to be used against other, possibly hostile countries.
I do not agree with spying on the average American citizen...with that said, what about the Mob or other such entities...and known or perceived terrorist that reside in the U.S. That I would have to agree with.
Between the CIA, NSA, ATF, FBI, DHS, ICE and all those other fruit salad agencies I think we've got the gamut covered.
Nothing new. We've all known about this since the 1960's. The CIA actually not engaging in upstanding conduct when it comes to foreign and domestic policies? No way! Say it ain't so!!!
I think we need to be careful as a society. The fact that this information is now being openly leaked into the public should raise eyebrows. So, you mean to tell me that the CIA has this much sophisticated technology for spying, obtaining and extracting information without any fear of legality or crossing lines?
Yet, they can't pinpoint or prevent terrorism from occurring here at home or abroad? That they can't see impending attacks coming? Of course they can. The house of cards are being set up to fall openly. What comes next is more important.
Quote:No its more wikileaks in general as of late. These are the kind of leaks that make it great, keeping citizens informed of how their oppressors operate.
That's a little like the Ancient Tree in Empire Strikes Back. You only take out what you bring in.
Are they intended to be our oppressors or are they intended to keep the country safe?
Either way, the intent and the result could be different things.
There are many secret things our country should do to keep us safe, as long as that's the objective of those things secret. And being secrets, one can always fear what is unknown is not working for but against them.
Quote:Big wikileaks fan but its been compromised. The beauty of wikileaks for me was that it rarely showed political bias and I could trust it as a source of info. Now it seems there has been a real shift and is keeping Trump clean as can be during all of this. It does a huge resource still keeping citizens aware in a world of misinformation but its not the anti-government site it once was.
In other words, they released some things that didn't favor your candidate (Hillary), so you have to discredit them somehow.
Wikileaks doesn't care if you're Republican or Democrat. If they have something worthwhile, they're going to release it.
Quote:In other words, they released some things that didn't favor your candidate (Hillary), so you have to discredit them somehow.
Wikileaks doesn't care if you're Republican or Democrat. If they have something worthwhile, they're going to release it.
He's in Ireland...he doesn't have a candidate here.
Quote:He's in Ireland...he doesn't have a candidate here.
Oh, I know. Political affiliations don't often stop at the border though.
I'm making more of a connection along political lines than anything else.
The fact that the DHS has these kinds of tools is no surprise. It's been going on for decades. It's been said in many published documents that the government is probably the biggest holder of
zero day exploits.
There are two things alarming about this whole story though. The first is the fact that it's getting public attention not only to us, but to
everyone (on a global scale). The second is the fact that the information had to come from an inside source.
Quote:Are these tactics used for spying on Americans...or other nations?
Reason I ask, is I just don't know what we as Americans gain by Wikileaks leaking our CIA spying info if it's to be used against other, possibly hostile countries.
I do not agree with spying on the average American citizen...with that said, what about the Mob or other such entities...and known or perceived terrorist that reside in the U.S. That I would have to agree with.
To answer the first part in bold... yes and yes.
To answer the second part in bold, it's a sticky situation. Posting "not-so-good" stuff to social media would probably get an "average American citizen" looked at.