
Dumbo: CIA system to take over webcams, microphones - givan
https://wikileaks.org/vault7/#Dumbo
======
scolson
"...is run by the field agent directly from an USB stick; it requires
administrator privileges..."

So?

This just in - people with physical and administrative access to a machine can
install monitoring software - news at 11. Be sure to tell every MSP or
Enterprise IT group to tune in.

~~~
theEXTORTCIST
Just because a threat vector is well known and not cutting edge does not make
the SPECIFIC information of its existence, implementation, and capability
completely worthless

~~~
CalChris
Just very very close to worthless. Other than CIA and security cams, I'm
straining to figure out what is worthful about this story. Can you help us
out?

~~~
gutnor
Confirmation that this is something real and not a theoretical risk. Similarly
to Snowden, it wasn't newsworthy because it was possible and probably done, it
was newsworthy because it existed and was currently done. (obviously the scope
of this news is much more reduced)

If you are a US citizen, that tells you how you tax money is being spent. If
you are a foreigner, you may have a few more ammunitions to get the funding
for whatever security project you are working on.

Even on HN very few front page items are really worthy of anything more than
procrastination material and it succeeded perfectly well at that: both you and
I had better things to do than comment on this article.

That's a very blasé attitude btw, reminds me of the first time I have seen a
wild tortoise, my family just commented: "yeah I see them all the time on TV,
what's the interest?"

~~~
CalChris
Here's an article about hacking security cameras from 2012. It was the first
hit on my google search.

[https://www.wired.com/2012/05/cctv-hack/](https://www.wired.com/2012/05/cctv-
hack/)

This was public then and you can expect the black hats knew this years before.
So again, what is new about this other than CIA? Yes, the CIA does these
things; they wear black hats and that's also something we've known for quite
some time.

Perhaps a more enlightening article would have been a wiki dump of
manufacturers and distributors of these 'security' cameras not giving a shit
about this problem.

But hey, Snowden.

------
hannibalhorn
I don't have a real problem with this - physically accessing target systems to
install spyware is exactly the way they should be doing things, as opposed to
finding exploits that affect us all and keeping quiet about it.

~~~
trendia
With a warrant, oversight, and a lack of coordination with foreign
governments.

~~~
tristor
Frankly, I think this is an unrealistic expectation. The whole point of
spying/intelligence is that you operate in foreign environments without their
knowledge with the assumption they may have a hostile response if you're
discovered. The point is to get the unvarnished truth, not the information
filtered through a foreign government which has its own objectives.

You also don't need a warrant for breaking into the systems of a non-citizen
outside the borders of country initiating the hack.

As long as the various intelligence agencies are not operating within the
borders of their own countries, targeting their own citizens or sharing
information in totality with foreign agencies as quid-pro-quo to achieve the
same (Five Eyes), I have no moral issue with intelligence agencies doing what
they're supposed to do.

~~~
balabaster
> As long as the various intelligence agencies are not operating within the
> borders of their own countries, targeting their own citizens or sharing
> information in totality with foreign agencies as quid-pro-quo to achieve the
> same (Five Eyes)

You mean the U.S. wholesale spying on the British _for_ the British to
circumvent British privacy laws and the British doing the same for the U.S.?

In a situation like this, there's little point in saying that intelligence
agencies can't spy on Americans, because they're doing it anyway, they're just
using a proxy to do so to bypass American laws.

~~~
lern_too_spel
There remains no evidence of this happening, despite countless leaks from the
intelligence communities of all involved countries. The members of Five Eyes,
formerly BRUSA, explicitly _don 't_ spy on each other according to the
agreement. [http://www.bbc.com/news/world-
europe-24715168](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-24715168)

~~~
willstrafach
Everyone believes this myth now apparently, it is best not to bother pointing
out the fact that there is no proof.

------
dovdovdov
I fancy these sophisticated spy tools which only require physical and admin
access to a target machine...

~~~
devdoomari
...maybe these are just 'decoys' to make everyone else think "their tools are
pathetic"?

maybe they have stuff like james bond watches that can burn stuff with lasers
& stuff.

~~~
jannes
I would assume they have their ways of obtaining admin access. Probably those
auth-bypass tools have a separate codename.

Dumbo itself needs admin access, but nobody said they don't use multiple tools
in combination.

~~~
Bartweiss
With the various NSA leaks, we've seen that this is exactly the process. One
suite of tools to compromise different types of hardware, and another suite of
tools to be loaded depending on what outcomes are desired.

------
exabrial
If the CIA didn't have this they really wouldn't be doing their job... The
question, of course, is whether they have proper oversight.

------
owaislone
We really need more companies like Purism.
[https://puri.sm/](https://puri.sm/)

~~~
computerex
What's so interesting/secure about this hardware? How is this more secure than
me installing linux myself?

~~~
dessant
It has hardware switches for the camera and microphone, and it comes with an
unfused CPU, allowing to disable Intel ME.

[https://puri.sm/learn/hardware-kill-
switches/](https://puri.sm/learn/hardware-kill-switches/)

[https://puri.sm/learn/intel-me/](https://puri.sm/learn/intel-me/)

------
smrtinsert
Can we get a wikileaks reveal on Julian Assanges finances?

~~~
rhcom2
Or Putin's finances, now that would be a bombshell.

~~~
52-6F-62
As a supplement, I highly recommend (to anyone) watching William Browder's
testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

[https://www.c-span.org/video/?431852-1/william-browder-
overt...](https://www.c-span.org/video/?431852-1/william-browder-overturning-
magnitsky-act-putins-top-priority)

edit: I was having trouble with the C-Span player recently, so here's a
youtube cap.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-RsAGjUXtg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-RsAGjUXtg)

One of the senators put it well when they said something like 'it plays out
like a novel nobody would buy'.

------
chefandy
You know, the CIA could probably avoid a little public push-back simply by not
naming their system penetration components like the demented 1984 creeps that
they are.

"The Brutal Kangaroo project consists of the following components: Drifting
Deadline is the thumbdrive infection tool, Shattered Assurance is a server
tool that handles automated infection of thumbdrives (as the primary mode of
propagation for the Brutal Kangaroo suite), Broken Promise is the Brutal
Kangaroo postprocessor (to evaluate collected information) and Shadow is the
primary persistence mechanism [...]"

~~~
wbl
They use a perl script for naming. In WWII some nazi radar systems had badly
picked codenames.

------
lin0tune
The title is misleading. This tool is to mute all the speakers, disable all
the cameras and network adapter. I think it's required for a meeting etc. A
better program maybe just pull the power off.

------
lightedman
64-bit XP is MOST CERTAINLY supported by this attack - it's the same
kernel/codebase as Server 2K3 and Server 2K3 is indeed attackable with Dumbo
since it's the same Vista kernel and codebase.

And if 32-bit XP is supported, you can almost guarantee that Windows 2000 is
supported by this attack as well, since XP is literally built on the 2K
kernel.

Well, never could say I trusted Wikileaks with 100% accurate information.

------
dagaci
Since the purpose of the software is to "disable webcams, microphones" (the
"takeover" part is not implied in the text) using a USB stick one my assume it
more efficient to use the power switch instead...

------
chrramirez
With every new publication Wikileaks just confirms it's now just an agency of
the Russian Goverment whose purpose it's to undermine the confidence of the
american people in their institutions.

------
sn9
Can webcams and microphones be turned on without turning on the hardware
indicator lights by someone who doesn't have physical access to the device in
question?

------
nunez
seems like it requires admin access to be useful.

~~~
falcolas
And none of their other leaked tools have the ability to grant elevated
permissions? Getting elevated permissions is one of the easier things to do.

~~~
nunez
Not on Windows 7+ it isn't.

------
RobLach
It's a shame that when I see "Wikileaks reveals CIA" I'm thinking "Hmm, I
wonder what's happening today RE Russia" instead of being concerned with the
actual release.

~~~
ArchReaper
It's really sad that this is what Wikileaks has turned into.

Regardless of the authenticity of the information, they clearly only release
information when it is politically beneficial for their(?) motives.

~~~
tehwebguy
Right - it seemed like they supported "the people" in the early days. They
exposed Bush and Obama when they had things worth exposing.

Then came the promises of damning Bank of America leaks that never
materialized, holding on to Guantanamo docs until NYT scooped them, the 2010
insurance file that was never cracked, the 2016 insurance file that was never
cracked, ...

~~~
xienze
> Right - it seemed like they supported "the people" in the early days. They
> exposed Bush and Obama when they had things worth exposing.

Well they're still supporting "the people", just not the ones you align with.
Which of course means they've lost all credibility and we should ignore them
now, right?

~~~
ArchReaper
That's a really dishonest argument.

How are they supporting the people? How does this benefit society? All this
does is attempt to take away the spotlight from other shit happening in our
country. Every major country develops hacking software. This isn't news. This
isn't even surprising or ground-breaking. It's not even that invasive, it
requires physical access AND an admin account!

This is just a distraction. Society is no better off with this information
being public.

------
api
Spy agency has spy tools. I am shocked.

------
abritinthebay
Requires admin access and physically inserting a USB drive.

Wikileaks will next reveal water is wet. Why does anyone pay attention to
these charlatans?

------
dmead
russialeaks

------
rwoodley
Wikileaks is a tool of the KGB. Why are we sharing their disinformation here?

