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posted by n1 on Tuesday April 11 2017, @05:04AM   Printer-friendly
from the [redacted] dept.

The hacking tools used by the Central Intelligence Agency may have been involved in at least 40 cyberattacks in 16 countries, according to security firm Symantec.

The company, which issued its report on Monday, based its conclusion on the disclosure of those tools by WikiLeaks last month. The documents showed how the spy agency was able to hack into phones, computers and even televisions to snoop on people. Reuters was the first to write about the report.

Symantec didn't directly blame the CIA for the hacks, which occurred at unspecified dates, according to Reuters. The company also told Reuters that the targets were all government entities or had legitimate national security value, and were based in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

[...] A CIA spokesman declined to comment on the Symantec report. The agency had previously declined to comment on the leaks themselves, only noting that "the American public should be deeply troubled by any WikiLeaks disclosure designed to damage the Intelligence Community's ability to protect America against terrorists and other adversaries. Such disclosures not only jeopardize US personnel and operations, but also equip our adversaries with tools and information to do us harm."

CNET is unable to verify whether the WikiLeaks documents are real or have been altered.

-- submitted from IRC

Also covered at Ars Technica.


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  • (Score: 2, Funny) by khallow on Tuesday April 11 2017, @05:14PM

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday April 11 2017, @05:14PM (#492364) Journal

    one day this apparatus may fall into the hands of an insane madman

    That almost never happens. /s

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