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IPFS News Link • Central Intelligence Agency

CIA tools exposed by Wikileaks linked to hacking across 16 countries

• http://www.zdnet.com, By Danny Palmer

Security researchers have confirmed that the CIA hacking tools exposed by Wikileaks have been used against targets in at least 16 different countries.

Last month, WikiLeaks published over 8,000 documents -- apparently internal CIA files -- detailing the intelligence agency's hacking programmes.

Now, security company Symantec said it has tied the documents to the activities of a sophisticated cyberespionage operation it has been tracking for some time, which it has called 'Longhorn'. It said, for example, the makers of the tools and the Longhorn group share cryptographic protocols specified in the Vault 7 documents published by Wikileaks.

The tools haven't been picked up by attackers following the Vault 7 leak -- which detailed secret CIA files for hacking iPhones, Android, smart TVs, and more -- but rather used as part of longstanding espionage campaigns. Symantec said it "couldn't speculate" as to the real identity of the group, which has advanced capabilities and apparently is not running campaigns against North America targets.


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