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Vault 7
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Vault 7
Vault 7 is a series of documents that WikiLeaks began to publish on 7 March 2017, detailing the activities and capabilities of the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to perform electronic surveillance and cyber warfare. The files, dating from 2013 to 2016, include details on the agency's software capabilities, such as the ability to compromise cars, smart TVs, web browsers including Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, and Opera, the operating systems of most smartphones including Apple's iOS and Google's Android, and computer operating systems including Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux. A CIA internal audit identified 91 malware tools out of more than 500 tools in use in 2016 being compromised by the release. The tools were developed by the Operations Support Branch of the CIA.
The Vault 7 release led the CIA to redefine WikiLeaks as a "non-state hostile intelligence service." In July 2022, former CIA software engineer Joshua Schulte was convicted of leaking the documents to WikiLeaks, and in February 2024 sentenced to 40 years' imprisonment, on espionage counts and separately to 80 months for child pornography counts.
In February 2017, WikiLeaks began teasing the release of "Vault 7" with a series of cryptic messages on Twitter, according to media reports. Later on in February, WikiLeaks released classified documents describing how the CIA monitored the 2012 French presidential election. The press release for the leak stated that it was published "as context for its forthcoming CIA Vault 7 series."
In March 2017, US intelligence and law enforcement officials said to the international wire agency Reuters that they had been aware of the CIA security breach which led to Vault 7 since late 2016. Two officials said they were focusing on "contractors" as the possible source of the leaks.
In 2017, federal law enforcement identified CIA software engineer Joshua Adam Schulte as a suspected source of Vault 7. Schulte plead not guilty and was convicted in July 2022 of leaking the documents to WikiLeaks.
On 13 April 2017, CIA director Mike Pompeo declared WikiLeaks to be a "hostile intelligence service." In September 2021, Yahoo! News reported that in 2017 in the wake of the Vault 7 leaks, the CIA considered kidnapping or assassinating Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks. The CIA also considered spying on associates of WikiLeaks, sowing discord among its members, and stealing their electronic devices. After many months of deliberation, all proposed plans had been scrapped due to a combination of legal and moral objections. Per the 2021 Yahoo News article, a former Trump national security official stated, "We should never act out of a desire for revenge".
The Vault 7 release led the CIA to redefine WikiLeaks as a "non-state hostile intelligence service." In July 2022, former CIA software engineer Joshua Schulte was convicted of leaking the documents to WikiLeaks, and in February 2024 sentenced to 40 years' imprisonment.
The first batch of documents, named "Year Zero", was published by WikiLeaks on 7 March 2017. Purportedly from the Center for Cyber Intelligence, Year Zero consisted of 7,818 web pages with 943 attachments, more pages than former NSA contractor and leaker Edward Snowden's 2013 NSA release. WikiLeaks had placed Year Zero online in a locked archive earlier in the week, and revealed the passphrase on the 7th. The passphrase referred to a President John F. Kennedy quote, stating that he wanted “to splinter the CIA in a thousand pieces and scatter it to the winds”.
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Vault 7
Vault 7 is a series of documents that WikiLeaks began to publish on 7 March 2017, detailing the activities and capabilities of the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to perform electronic surveillance and cyber warfare. The files, dating from 2013 to 2016, include details on the agency's software capabilities, such as the ability to compromise cars, smart TVs, web browsers including Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, and Opera, the operating systems of most smartphones including Apple's iOS and Google's Android, and computer operating systems including Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux. A CIA internal audit identified 91 malware tools out of more than 500 tools in use in 2016 being compromised by the release. The tools were developed by the Operations Support Branch of the CIA.
The Vault 7 release led the CIA to redefine WikiLeaks as a "non-state hostile intelligence service." In July 2022, former CIA software engineer Joshua Schulte was convicted of leaking the documents to WikiLeaks, and in February 2024 sentenced to 40 years' imprisonment, on espionage counts and separately to 80 months for child pornography counts.
In February 2017, WikiLeaks began teasing the release of "Vault 7" with a series of cryptic messages on Twitter, according to media reports. Later on in February, WikiLeaks released classified documents describing how the CIA monitored the 2012 French presidential election. The press release for the leak stated that it was published "as context for its forthcoming CIA Vault 7 series."
In March 2017, US intelligence and law enforcement officials said to the international wire agency Reuters that they had been aware of the CIA security breach which led to Vault 7 since late 2016. Two officials said they were focusing on "contractors" as the possible source of the leaks.
In 2017, federal law enforcement identified CIA software engineer Joshua Adam Schulte as a suspected source of Vault 7. Schulte plead not guilty and was convicted in July 2022 of leaking the documents to WikiLeaks.
On 13 April 2017, CIA director Mike Pompeo declared WikiLeaks to be a "hostile intelligence service." In September 2021, Yahoo! News reported that in 2017 in the wake of the Vault 7 leaks, the CIA considered kidnapping or assassinating Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks. The CIA also considered spying on associates of WikiLeaks, sowing discord among its members, and stealing their electronic devices. After many months of deliberation, all proposed plans had been scrapped due to a combination of legal and moral objections. Per the 2021 Yahoo News article, a former Trump national security official stated, "We should never act out of a desire for revenge".
The Vault 7 release led the CIA to redefine WikiLeaks as a "non-state hostile intelligence service." In July 2022, former CIA software engineer Joshua Schulte was convicted of leaking the documents to WikiLeaks, and in February 2024 sentenced to 40 years' imprisonment.
The first batch of documents, named "Year Zero", was published by WikiLeaks on 7 March 2017. Purportedly from the Center for Cyber Intelligence, Year Zero consisted of 7,818 web pages with 943 attachments, more pages than former NSA contractor and leaker Edward Snowden's 2013 NSA release. WikiLeaks had placed Year Zero online in a locked archive earlier in the week, and revealed the passphrase on the 7th. The passphrase referred to a President John F. Kennedy quote, stating that he wanted “to splinter the CIA in a thousand pieces and scatter it to the winds”.
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