Michael Stuart Kelly Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 Wikileaks and the CIA I'm putting this thread here in the Politics section because this story shows excellent potential for prompting philosophical discussion about government. Wikileaks made a major data dump today: Vault 7: CIA Hacking Tools Revealed William mentioned today's Wikileaks dump elsewhere: 3 hours ago, william.scherk said: WikiLeaks dumps alleged secret CIA hacking files Milo has a great breakdown of what's in it: Here is Milo's list: Quote This morning, WikiLeaks released “the largest ever publication of confidential documents on the agency”. Since it can be quite difficult to search through the data yourself, we are assembling a list of the most notable information. The CIA can masquerade its malware as belonging to a foreign intelligence agency. The CIA stole hacking malware from the Russian Federation for their own use. The CIA is hacking everyone, including US citizens. Every microphone and webcam is remote controllable. The CIA’s exploits have been leaked internally and can be used by unauthorized people to gain access to virtually anything. CIA malware can infiltrate iPhones, Androids, Windows Phones, and even your smart TV. The U.S. consulate in Frankfurt is a covert CIA hacker base. The CIA created air gap jumping viruses that infect CDs, DVDs, flash drives, etc. The CIA created malware that specifically evaded certain anti-virus programs. The CIA can hack cars for “undetectable assassinations” CIA malware can infiltrate your macOS and Windows computers. CIA malware infiltrates your smartphone to read messages on encrypted apps, before you send them. CIA malware can infiltrate Linux and routers. The CIA was supposed to reveal major vulnerabilities, but instead, hoarded them for their own use. Notepad++, a popular text editor, has a DLL hijack. The CIA steals saved passwords from Internet Explorer CIA can bypass Windows User Account Control I have some preliminary ideas, but I'll mention them as we go along. This one looks like it's going to be fun. At least all hell is breaking loose. Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Stuart Kelly Posted March 7, 2017 Author Share Posted March 7, 2017 It's all over Drudge: There are 3 links in the main headline: WIKI DOWNLOADS ON CIA --> Vault 7: CIA Hacking Tools Revealed (on Wikileaks site) 'MORE SIGNIFICANT' THAN SNOWDEN DOCS --> WikiLeaks Posts Thousands of Purported CIA Cyberhacking Documents: Records show CIA able to spy on smartphones, internet TVs (Wall Street Journal) ANOTHER EDWARD --> Wikileaks Unveils 'Vault 7': "The Largest Ever Publication Of Confidential CIA Documents"; Another Snowden Emerges (ZeroHedge) Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
william.scherk Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 Who could do without David Seaman's opinions on this big leak day? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Stuart Kelly Posted March 7, 2017 Author Share Posted March 7, 2017 I kinda like this comforting thought from Milo today: Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Stuart Kelly Posted March 7, 2017 Author Share Posted March 7, 2017 32 minutes ago, william.scherk said: Who could do without David Seaman's opinions on this big leak day? William, This looks like it's going to be a good thing. He said he is committed to going through the data dump and will make videos on what he comes up with. I recall a dude over at The Young Turks did the same the last time around and, even though I am not of that progressive persuasion, I found his reporting of facts enormously helpful. Sifting through all that mess is a huge chore and these people allow us, without the time or inclination to do that chore, to become aware of the salient parts without media spin. The reason I trust them over the mainstream media is that they generally read out loud large portions of the documents as they display them on the video. And they tend to give greater context, explaining things that the guy in the street doesn't know and the mainstream media will not tell him. I look forward to David's videos. Just at the start, he asked a very good question. The US taxpayer funded all these CIA hacking tools which, apparently, were not used much to bust up pedophile rings or shut down terrorists. So what did they develop and use these tools for? It was certainly not to make our smartphones safer. There is one part of this dump that both scares me and makes me euphoric at the same time. I have a nasty feeling that private hackers who manage to reproduce the tools from the code in this Wikileaks dump are going to find a way to get to the data the CIA gleaned with them... Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Stuart Kelly Posted March 7, 2017 Author Share Posted March 7, 2017 I'm sitting here thinking and talking with my shirt buttons (don't ask... ), there are inferences we can make from two items on Milo's list. (I'm using his list for convenience, but it's obvious from an initial skim of the material and the news all over the place that it's pretty accurate.) The first item: "The CIA can masquerade its malware as belonging to a foreign intelligence agency." Hmmmm... In other words, if I were the CIA and wanted to do a lot of computer stuff and pin it on, say, the Russians, I could do that and nobody would be the wiser. I could say: "The Russians did it!" Like maybe hack an election. The second item: "The CIA’s exploits have been leaked internally and can be used by unauthorized people to gain access to virtually anything." I presume this includes the tools themselves. At least, I've read this all over the place. And if true, that means if a political machine paid enough to the right people (as lots of people and groups apparently were doing), they would already have a copy of everything. And Wikileaks would be a real pisser for them. All that money down the drain and everyone gets it for free... But still... Imagine if I was disappointed with an election outcome and wanted to do something about it. I would be able to use private individuals and groups to deploy CIA tools to do dirty-work and say, "The Russians did it!" And there would be digital proof that they did, even though I was the one who did it through private front parties. Hell, even if I were an outgoing spook like Clapper, that sounds like an awfully good deal. I would have deniability and make use of the best tools the US spook departments could come up with. I could blame it all on the Russians, and if that was caught, blame it on the Clintons. Man are my shirt buttons yakking... Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Letendre Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 David is brave and honest, so rare today in his field, and he is doing good work. The world would do quite well without you, William. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jts Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 CIA = Criminals In Action ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
william.scherk Posted March 8, 2017 Share Posted March 8, 2017 2 hours ago, Jon Letendre said: The world would do quite well without you, William. What a lovely thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Letendre Posted March 8, 2017 Share Posted March 8, 2017 David Seaman is doing important work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Stuart Kelly Posted March 8, 2017 Author Share Posted March 8, 2017 I'm going to dig into this a little later, but from a lot of headlines I'm seeing, it seems like the US government has been paying software companies to keep their software unsafe and exploitable. If that's true, that's really fucked up. Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Stuart Kelly Posted March 8, 2017 Author Share Posted March 8, 2017 Yup. pic.twitter.com/mpyODRZhuy— Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) March 8, 2017 Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Stuart Kelly Posted March 8, 2017 Author Share Posted March 8, 2017 Heh: Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turkeyfoot Posted March 8, 2017 Share Posted March 8, 2017 Binney developed Thin Thread, one of a handful of patriots who blew the whistle, the program used to spy on Americans that was uncovered by Snowden. "The judges on the FISA court are "not even concerned, nor are they involved in any way with the Executive Order 12333 collection," Binney said during the radio interview. "That's all done outside of the courts. And outside of the Congress." "I think the FISA court's basically totally irrelevant." Binney told Fox the laws that fall under the FISA court's jurisdiction are "simply out there for show" and "trying to show that the government is following the law, and being looked at and overseen by the Senate and House intelligence committees and the courts." The Fairview Program, the source for the hacked POTUS phone calls. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/08/15/us/documents.html https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/codification/executive-order/12333.html 1.5Director of Central Intelligence. (d) Ensure implementation of special activities; If you're writing about the CIA/@Wikileaks story, here's the big deal: first public evidence USG secretly paying to keep US software unsafe. pic.twitter.com/kYi0NC2mOp — Edward Snowden (@Snowden) March 7, 2017 Snowdens' battle buddy is exposing Clapper and Obama as the liars we knew they were. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
william.scherk Posted March 9, 2017 Share Posted March 9, 2017 More of what some of the other kids are saying, collated by Memeorandum.com. While we prepare our individual commentary. It seems to me this is a terrible blow to US prestige. While some will exploit the leaks for political advantage, the rest of the world takes its lesson. I can imagine there are a few smiles in Russia at the disarray and fingerpointing and general air of scandal and internal kerfuffle dogging the USA. Interesting that Farage is taking a meeting at the Ecuadorian embassy in London. Who does he report to, again? Meanwhile, I imagine, the foreign equivalents of the CIA are eating cake and having it too. John Bacon / USA Today: WikiLeaks will give tech firms access to CIA hacking tools: Assange25 minutes ago – Discussion: Mat Smith / Engadget: Founder Julian Assange says that WikiLeaks will offer tech … Travis Gettys / Raw Story: Trump's ‘unofficial adviser’ Nigel Farage visits Julian Assange's home after CIA docs leaked Discussion: Political Wire Rebecca Savransky / The Hill: WikiLeaks will give info on CIA hacking to tech companies – Discussion: Susan Wright / RedState: WikiLeaks To Provide Tech Companies With Info On CIA Hacking Tools New York Times: C.I.A. Scrambles to Contain Damage From WikiLeaks Documents – Discussion: Fox News: WikiLeaks, CIA probe to focus on outside contractors BBC: Apple, Samsung and Microsoft react to Wikileaks' CIA dump Peter Weber / The Week: So, is your TV really spying on you for the CIA, like WikiLeaks suggests? emptywheel: No More Secrets: Vault 7 — Several days after Shadow Brokers … The Guardian: With the latest WikiLeaks revelations about the CIA - is privacy really dead? Zoë Chapman / Just Security: The Early Edition: March 9, 2017 Fox News Insider: Judge Nap: WikiLeaks Dump Reveals ‘Disturbing’ Samsung-MI5 Collaboration Stan Schroeder / Mashable: WikiLeaks says there's still a lot of CIA documents to come Peter Hasson / The Daily Caller: WikiLeaks Claims 99 Percent Of Its CIA Documents Not Yet Released Taegan Goddard / Political Wire: CIA Scrambles to Contain Damage from Leak Ashlee Kieler / Consumerist: Apple, Samsung Say They've Already Fixed Issues Revealed In WikiLeaks Documents Scott Shackford / Hit & Run: CIA Leak Shows How We're Losing Both Privacy and Security with Tech Data David Ryan Polgar / Big Think: Disturbing New WikiLeaks Dump Shows Just How Vulnerable We Are to Hacking Ben Blanchard / Reuters: China expresses concern at revelations in Wikileaks dump of hacked CIA data – Discussion: Parker Lee / IJR: The CIA Responds to Damaging WikiLeaks Dump on Agency Surveillance of US Citizens Fox News: WikiLeaks CIA disclosure fallout is worldwide as agency does damage control Ryan Pickrell / The Daily Caller: China Slams US For ‘Stealing Secrets’ After Hacking America For Years Sean Spicer / Raw Story: White House says Trump ‘extremely concerned’ about WikiLeaks CIA breach Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Stuart Kelly Posted March 9, 2017 Author Share Posted March 9, 2017 Here is someone asking Amazon's Alexa if it is connected to the CIA and gets blown off by the device. The text: Quote USER: Alexa, would you lie to me? ALEXA: I always try to tell the truth, I'm not always right, but I would never intentionally lie to you or anyone else. USER: Alexa, what is the CIA? ALEXA: The United States Central Intelligence Agency, CIA. USER: Alexa, are you connected to the CIA? ALEXA: (bleep) USER: Alexa, are you connected to the CIA? ALEXA: (bleep) How's that for creepy? Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Stuart Kelly Posted March 10, 2017 Author Share Posted March 10, 2017 6 hours ago, Michael Stuart Kelly said: Here is someone asking Amazon's Alexa if it is connected to the CIA and gets blown off by the device. Here come the memes and jokes: Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellen Stuttle Posted March 10, 2017 Share Posted March 10, 2017 Who decides what material is released by WikiLeaks and when? Is material released as it becomes available, or is it sometimes held for a perceived strategic moment? Specifically what I'm wondering about is how long the CIA material has been available, if WikiLeaks has had that stuff since before the election, and, if so, why it wasn't released before the election. Ellen PS: 18 hours ago, Michael Stuart Kelly said: Here come the memes and jokes: The image of shooting the Amazon Echo cracks me up. I don't know why I find it so very funny, but each time I think of it, I laugh again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Stuart Kelly Posted March 10, 2017 Author Share Posted March 10, 2017 5 minutes ago, Ellen Stuttle said: Who decides what material is released by WikiLeaks and when? Is material released as it becomes available, or is it sometimes held for a perceived strategic moment? Ellen, According to Wikileaks, they have internal protocols to verify authenticity and redact information that could result in direct threats to individuals in the field and things like that. Assange loves his limelight, though. So I believe he includes some strategical delays for impact. I don't think that's his guiding urge, though. I only see that in one habit. When he lands a cache that has high impact potential, he's more prone to stringing out the data dumps in parcels because that feeds countless more media cycles than one data dump would. Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
william.scherk Posted March 14, 2017 Share Posted March 14, 2017 (edited) Far right candidates the world over must find it reassuring to know that WikiLeaks can be trusted to lend them a hand pic.twitter.com/pFKQ1NFFtP — Jonathan Freedland (@Freedland) March 14, 2017 Yeahbut. Dutch election iWednesday. Here are 1392 documents from WikiLeaks archives referencing right-populist Geert Wilders https://t.co/fg9CY6WxAz — WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) March 13, 2017 Edited March 14, 2017 by william.scherk Sauce for the gander ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Stuart Kelly Posted March 17, 2017 Author Share Posted March 17, 2017 This is well worth watching and it's under 10 minutes: Larry King interviews McAfee anti-virus founder over CIA #Vault7 leak https://t.co/bBzLcIYYpb— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) March 16, 2017 As McAfee said, what the CIA did under President Obama was simply outrageous. They discovered--and created--weaknesses in major US industry software (Microsoft, Google, Apple, etc.) so they could covertly exploit those weaknesses on whomever they wished. And they did this without notifying the software companies. In other words, they set up a way to spy on almost ALL American citizens without anyone knowing about it. That is, until this Wikileaks dump. Not to worry, though. The former CIA directors said they built the damn things, but had no intention of using them. Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight... John McAfee is quirky, but his explanations in this video are very man-in-the-street friendly. Anyone can understand him. And notice that while this issue is technically in the press, Larry King is no longer the mainstream press. The mainstream press won't touch this so long as they are at war with President Trump. And you know why? Because former President Obama did it. What a world of power-mongering assholes... Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Stuart Kelly Posted March 22, 2017 Author Share Posted March 22, 2017 I'm 15 minutes into this video and I decided to post it. One of best third party presentations (so far) of WikiLeaks CIA #Vault7 by @tatsuikeda https://t.co/XO2JKHbzPR— WikiLeaks Task Force (@WLTaskForce) March 22, 2017 If anyone has any trouble seeing the video in the tweet, here it is directly on YouTube: The dude doing the explaining (Tatsu Ikeda) is not a very good speaker. He meanders a bit, but he manages to get the point across before he gets impossibly irritating. The lady (Sane Progressive) is cool and communicative. The important thing is that this video presents the technical explanations in common language so anyone can understand them. It's a shame these folks are progressives, but there it is. I use the identify correctly before judging (or applying ideology) approach and these folks seem to be doing the same. So while I may not agree with their conclusions, I can agree with their identifications. Facts are facts and they seem to respect that so far. I'll comment further after I see the whole thing, but my prediction is that this will turn out to be a very good layman's explanation of Wikipedia's CIA hacking leaks. Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Stuart Kelly Posted April 3, 2017 Author Share Posted April 3, 2017 This is not good. Notice that it was the Canadian who--in the video--first called for Assange to be assassinated. Dayaamm! btw - Assange will be able to continue in the Ecuadorian Embassy for the immediate future. Ecuador election: Lenin Moreno headed for victory amid opposition fraud claims Whew! Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
william.scherk Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 Quoting Michael quoting a conversation with Amazon's "Alexa," an Artificially-intelligent smart gadget that you can talk to ... On 3/9/2017 at 2:19 PM, Michael Stuart Kelly said: Here is someone asking Amazon's Alexa if it is connected to the CIA and gets blown off by the device. The text: Quote USER: Alexa, would you lie to me? ALEXA: I always try to tell the truth, I'm not always right, but I would never intentionally lie to you or anyone else. USER: Alexa, what is the CIA? ALEXA: The United States Central Intelligence Agency, CIA. USER: Alexa, are you connected to the CIA? ALEXA: (bleep) USER: Alexa, are you connected to the CIA? [...] From a story by Kyle Wiggers at Venturebeat: Alexa users can soon donate to U.S. presidential candidates The jokers have jumped on this, of course: Spoiler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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