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posted by takyon on Tuesday March 07 2017, @11:43PM   Printer-friendly
from the year-zero dept.

The anti-secrecy organization WikiLeaks said Tuesday that it has obtained a vast portion of the CIA's computer hacking arsenal, and began posting the files online in a breach that may expose some of the U.S. intelligence community's most closely guarded cyber weapons.

A statement from WikiLeaks indicated that it planned to post nearly 9,000 files describing code developed in secret by the CIA to steal data from targets overseas and turn ordinary devices including cellphones, computers and even television sets into surveillance tools.

The hacking organisation made the statement as it announced a huge release of confidential documents from the CIA as part of its mysterious Year Zero series, founder Julian Assange claimed. The group said that from October 2014 the CIA was "looking at infecting the vehicle control systems used by modern cars and trucks" to enable them to "engage in nearly undetectable assassinations."

takyon: WikiLeaks: Vault 7: CIA Hacking Tools Revealed and (selected document) Weeping Angel (Extending) Engineering Notes. Also at NYT, USA Today, BBC, and Reuters. The Hill reports that Democratic Congressman Ted Lieu has called for an investigation... into the leak of the documents and tools.


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  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 08 2017, @12:02AM (12 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 08 2017, @12:02AM (#476231)

    This. This is what I expected.

    Starting Score:    0  points
    Moderation   -1  
       Troll=1, Total=1
    Extra 'Troll' Modifier   0  

    Total Score:   -1  
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 08 2017, @12:04AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 08 2017, @12:04AM (#476233)

    With government, you're forced to continue paying for such horrors—or be be thrown into a cage as retribution for noncompliance.

    Yeah, sure. Protest all you want... as long as you keep writing those checks, amirite?

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by bob_super on Wednesday March 08 2017, @12:07AM (9 children)

    by bob_super (1357) on Wednesday March 08 2017, @12:07AM (#476235)

    All throughout human history, there has always been a violently imposed monopoly. Anywhere, anytime, only the scale varies.
    Can the trolling cease now?

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 08 2017, @12:13AM (6 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 08 2017, @12:13AM (#476239)

      History has shown that civilization is heading towards a market of voluntary trade, based around a cultural appreciation for contract negotiation/enforcement as implemented by competing service providers.

      'Trolling' does not mean 'Making statements with which some people disagree'.

      • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 08 2017, @12:21AM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 08 2017, @12:21AM (#476242)

        Actually it does. Repeating the same thing every time, simplistic statements that continuously fail to account for reality, that is a form of trolling. Government / society must evolve naturally, as you point out that is where we are heading. However, there will always be the large groups that impose the will of a minority/majority of people. How can a series of contracts be enforced? The enforcers can do whatever they want, so what would really happen is some sort of turf war. Or, all enforcement agencies will be members of a greater body, a republic if you will...

        Either mature the fuck up and deal with actual reality or stop trolling with the same crap every day. Individual freedom such as the libertarian fantasy you propose won't be possible until many years into the future when human society has advanced to such a point. Currently we're still trying to get a handle on slavery, murder, massive corruption, and oh ya, potential nuclear holocaust. I'd say we're a little ways off from the libertarian utopia, maybe you should try making a commune and let us know if you have better luck than the hippies.

        • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 08 2017, @02:48AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 08 2017, @02:48AM (#476283)

          With regard to being members of a larger body: I didn't say otherwise, so your rebuttal is essentially a straw man. In fact, you're agreeing with me: The "civilized" world is looking ever more like what I describe. Much of human interaction already occurs through "private" negotiation/enforcement.

          The key that you are missing is that the culture does not yet present a conscious, deliberate appreciation for contract negotiation/enforcement, which is why it still makes sense to people that a government can just ban liquor sales on one day of the week, or lock people in cages for smoking marijuana, or arbitrarily and capriciously raise some one-size-fits-all fee for living in a particular jurisdiction... you know... because... a school needs to give every child an iPad.

      • (Score: 4, Insightful) by bob_super on Wednesday March 08 2017, @12:40AM

        by bob_super (1357) on Wednesday March 08 2017, @12:40AM (#476248)

        > History has shown that civilization is heading towards a market of voluntary trade, based around a cultural appreciation
        > for contract negotiation/enforcement as implemented by competing service providers.

        You either should exit your cave and observe the world, or add a /sarc after this kind of statement.

      • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday March 08 2017, @03:01AM (2 children)

        by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday March 08 2017, @03:01AM (#476290) Journal

        Citations needed. We can make a case that this "free market" nonsense is just an abberation. Fact is, that whole "free market" thing is an elusive concept, which no on in the world today has ever witnessed. Maybe you've missed all the patent cases over the past few decades? And, you're unaware of telco and utility monopolies?

        In a "free market", I could purchase a generator, and supply electricity to all my local neighborhood for an agreed upon price. In reality, I would have busloads of enforcement officers camped on my doorstep within days of starting business.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 08 2017, @04:13AM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 08 2017, @04:13AM (#476316)

          Does it even need to be pointed out?

          • (Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 08 2017, @08:28AM

            by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 08 2017, @08:28AM (#476374)

            That you are a moron? Probably not.

    • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Thexalon on Wednesday March 08 2017, @01:11AM (1 child)

      by Thexalon (636) on Wednesday March 08 2017, @01:11AM (#476252)

      All throughout human history, there has always been a violently imposed monopoly.

      That's not entirely true. There have been times and places where there hasn't been a violently imposed monopoly. Those places have violently imposed competition between competing groups attempting to become the violently imposed monopoly. Also known as "war zones".

      --
      The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
      • (Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday March 08 2017, @01:24AM

        by bob_super (1357) on Wednesday March 08 2017, @01:24AM (#476256)

        "No Man's Land: An Experiment In Libertarian Utopia"
        It's well known that prolonged station results in someone trying to undermine you.

  • (Score: 3, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 08 2017, @01:00AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 08 2017, @01:00AM (#476250)

    Whoa, I get that people can have favorites and everything, but do you really think the same thing wouldn't exist if more people liked emacs?