WikiLeaks Releases Trove of Alleged C.I.A. Hacking Documents

[kallend 1,647]

www.nytimes.com/2017/03/07/world/europe/wikileaks-cia-hacking.html?_r=0

Candidate Trump was a great supporter of Wikileaks when it was going after HRC.

I wonder how so-called President Trump feels about Wikileaks.

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The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[billvon 2,433]

Interesting - especially since Trump adviser Roger Stone admitted yesterday that he has a "perfectly legal back channel" to Assange.

When another user tweeted that Stone had denied contact with Assange, he replied "you stupid stupid bitch - never denied perfectly legal back channel to Assange" on Twitter.

[quade 3]

To be fair, these are almost certainly documents Wikileaks has had in its possession for several months.

This is almost certainly more about Assange's attempts to "tear it all down" than Trump in particular.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[kallend 1,647]

quade

To be fair, these are almost certainly documents Wikileaks has had in its possession for several months.

This is almost certainly more about Assange's attempts to "tear it all down" than Trump in particular.

Trump spoke about the Wikileaks emails at least 164 times from October 10 to election day, saying the word Wikileaks 124 times. That means, on average, Trump discussed Wikileaks more than five times per day.

Wikileaks, I love Wikileaks. And I said write a couple of them down. Let’s see. During a speech crooked Hillary Clinton, oh she’s crooked folks. She’s crooked as a three-dollar bill. Okay here’s one. Just came out. ‘Lock her up’ is right. TRUMP, 10/10/16

We love Wikileaks. Wikileaks. They have revealed a lot. They’ve revealed that there is a great hostility toward Catholics. They reveal a great hostility toward Evangelicals. TRUMP 10/21/16

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The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[quade 3]

Understood, but consider that from Wikileaks point of view Trump may simply be "useful" and not actually a partner.

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The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[kallend 1,647]

quade

Understood, but consider that from Wikileaks point of view Trump may simply be "useful" and not actually a partner.

I'm sure Wikileaks just took advantage of Trump. But that was not my point.

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The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[yoink 321]

These aren't even morally grey leaks. It's not documentation of the CIA spying on US civilians and a moral obligation to make the public aware of something illegal, it's simply releasing their tools and capability and information into the wild where it WILL be used by far more nefarious people than the CIA.

Looks like treason to me. I wonder if Putin needs another defector?

[quade 3]

yoink

These aren't even morally grey leaks. It's not documentation of the CIA spying on US civilians and a moral obligation to make the public aware of something illegal, it's simply releasing their tools and capability and information into the wild where it WILL be used by far more nefarious people than the CIA.

Looks like treason to me. I wonder if Putin needs another defector?

I disagree.

After the Snowden revelations which proved the CIA was hoovering up data on US citizens, the CIA was supposed to abide by an agreement they had with the tech companies and turn over any Zero Day exploits they happened to find in the course of their work.

The idea is that if the CIA finds an exploit and DOESN'T turn it over to the manufacturers, it makes the entire US less safe because it can then be used against us. This is the generally agreed upon concept of the tech companies, security watchdog groups, and the US government.

The fact the CIA breached the agreement IS a legitimate concern of US citizens. The fact the actual exploits are now in the hands of WikiLeaks is proof.

Any backdoor, any exploit to any system is a threat to everyone. EVERYONE.

Consider if some rogue state got hold of them and decided to deploy against Trump's infamously insecure weapon of choice, his silly Android phone.

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The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[yoink 321]

Well they've certainly got hold of them now.

It's the nature of intelligence agencies to develop these sorts of capabilities and to hoard them for our benefit. I guess it's a gamble - is it potentially more protective to have access to terrorist cell phones at will, or to protect the privacy of the general populace. I'm in the camp where I'd rather have secret weapons against our enemies than spending that capital to protect our population.
That is actually a discussion that I'd happily have. I could be convinced that my position isn't the best there.

Either way, I'm certain that Wikileaks is NOT the right way to disseminate the information. Either it should have been edited to show the CIA's culpability but not technical processes, or the information should not have been made generally available.

Giving technical details of these zero day exploits to wikileaks is effectively giving them to the very people you're trying to protect us from. Hence, treason.

[ryoder 1,398]

yoink

Well they've certainly got hold of them now.

It's the nature of intelligence agencies to develop these sorts of capabilities and to hoard them for our benefit. I guess it's a gamble - is it potentially more protective to have access to terrorist cell phones at will, or to protect the privacy of the general populace. I'm in the camp where I'd rather have secret weapons against our enemies than spending that capital to protect our population.
That is actually a discussion that I'd happily have. I could be convinced that my position isn't the best there.

Either way, I'm certain that Wikileaks is NOT the right way to disseminate the information. Either it should have been edited to show the CIA's culpability but not technical processes, or the information should not have been made generally available.

Giving technical details of these zero day exploits to wikileaks is effectively giving them to the very people you're trying to protect us from. Hence, treason.

Watch this, then consider whether you aren't concerned about your own security: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shut_Up_and_Dance_(Black_Mirror)

Black Mirror is usually set in the near future, but this episode is unique in that it could happen today.

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[quade 3]

yoink

Giving technical details of these zero day exploits to wikileaks is effectively giving them to the very people you're trying to protect us from. Hence, treason.

Is it treason to give details of weapons that are already in the wild?

For instance, would it be treason for me to give WikiLeaks the chemical formula for TNT?

I only ask because the CIA lost control of all of these tools a long time ago. I'm reasonably certain they've been available for quite some time on the black market.

Here's an article from the EFF from September of last year.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2016/09/shadow-brokers-publish-powerful-nsa-spy-tools-demonstrating-flaws-nsas-approach

WaPo article from August of last year.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2016/08/17/nsa-hacking-tools-were-leaked-online-heres-what-you-need-to-know/?utm_term=.bfe44f76131d

Edited to add one more thing. Love or hate WikiLeaks, at least on this go-round they appear to be acting a bit more responsibly than they have in the recent past. In this particular dump it appears as if they've done a considerable amount of responsible redactions. I've criticized them in the past for not doing redactions and thereby hurting innocent individuals who had little to do with the situation. In this case, they look like they're being pretty good about it and removing 3rd party information which could do harm.

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The World's Most Boring Skydiver