Wikileaks document dump reveals how CIA has been hacking Apple devices for a decade

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How the CIA can hack into your very own tech devices1:22

WikiLeaks has released over 8,000 CIA documents that expose the intelligence agency of developing new technology to hack and extract information from your tech devices.

• March 8th 2017
• 18 days ago
• /video/video.news.com.au/News/

Wikileaks has dumped more CIA files showing how the spies were able to hack iPhones almost from the time it was launched. Picture: AFP/Saul Loeb

WIKILEAKS has dumped more stolen CIA documents revealing how the spy agency has been hacking Apple iPhones almost since the day Steve Jobs did his big reveal.

The Vault 7 “Dark Matter” release today contains details of various projects involving ways the CIA has hacked the iPhone since at least 2008 and Apple Mac computers even earlier than that.

With the first batch of Vault 7 documents revealing the Weeping Angels hack, this new batch proves the ongoing strange connection between the American spy agency and Dr Who.

This time it’s the Sonic Screwdriver project, named in honour of the doctor’s good-for-everything device.

Wikileaks CIA: 500 million people vulnerable to hackers

The CIA’s Sonic Screwdriver has a way of infecting dongles that connect to the Apple Mac, particularly the Apple Thunderbolt-to-Ethernet adaptor.

If someone booted up their Mac with one of these compromised dongles connected, it would infect the computer with malware.

I truly hope it goes without saying, but if not: I have verified that the new release contains nothing of concern. most things are ancient. https://t.co/0JSSc0UgF0

— Will Strafach (@chronic) March 23, 2017

Security researchers, in 2014, identified a similar technique called Thunderstrike.

Another tool unveiled in today’s data leaks is NightSkies, which according to the documents the CIA began using in 2008 to hijack “factory fresh iPhones”.

Unless consumers are still using an original iPhone and haven’t updated their software since they unboxed it, they are safe from this security flaw.

Security researcher Will Strafach today tweeted he had confirmed the hacks detailed in the latest Wikileaks but given “most things are ancient” the latest documents contain “nothing of concern”.

It might just be of historical interest but it is still rather alarming how long the CIA has spent working on cracking the security of the iPhone.

The Assange Agenda51:41

Assange claims that online surveillance is causing a crisis of democracy and a serious threat to civil rights and, as a result, we need greater control of agencies that spy on us. How real is this and what do the experts say?

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