
Wikileaks Vault 7 Release: Dark Matter - DeusExMachina
https://wikileaks.org/vault7/darkmatter/?cia
======
sanityUnbounded
After the initial Vault 7 release, and even after Snowden in 2013, this is
barely news. Our devices are not secure.

Apple portrayed itself as a guardian angel for keeping the FBI of our devices
for the past two years, while conveniently forgetting to mention that it has
been installing iPhone backdoors for the CIA since 2008. edit: I misread the
release, it is possible that they are installed after the fact, and apple is
not complicit

The fact that to most of us this isn't "news" suggests there is a very deep
and intangible flaw in our society. For the people paying attention,
government hacking is the number one flaw in our democracy. It suggests that
we aren't in a democracy at all.

Right now I am sitting in a classroom with 63 other students. Half of them are
"taking notes" on their laptops while the other half are using a notebook or
sleeping. Each student has a cell phone, each cell phone has a microphone and
two cameras. In this room there are 63 microphones, 126 cameras, and
approximately 30 open laptops, each with their own camera and microphone.

The CIA is collecting data from these devices as I am writing this. But it is
hard to find anyone that actually cares. The narrative that is being pushed by
traditional media and social media is that this is standard.

Just ordinary national security. To keep us safe.

Don't pay attention to wikileaks. They are a threat.

This three letter agency is much different from that three letter agency, so
that three letter government agency can't do this, but this three letter
agency can.

Also, Russia.

~~~
SomeStupidPoint
> The CIA is collecting data from these devices as I am writing this.

Citation needed.

The CIA is almost certainly ignoring all of that data. [Ed: Since this was
unclear, by "ignoring", I meant not interested in and not capturing it. As in,
they're "ignoring" the information stream by not tapping it.]

If anyone is collecting it, which is largely doubtful, it would be Facebook
collecting microphone noise or Google collecting location data (or other apps
doing similarly). Of course, people have volunteered that data themselves, and
you should be annoyed at your classmates for recording you.

The CIA (and other letter boys) can gain access to the data stored by these
commercial companies after the fact, as part of their chartered duties.

You have some kind of voyeuristic fantasy that just because spy tools exist at
a spy agency, they're somehow -- ZOMG! muh democracy! -- breaking their
charter in a massive way by domestically spying on a bunch of students sitting
around in class.

No. That's paranoid fantasy. There are _real_ issues with the CIA, but that
they own computer spy tools (and your fantasy of being watched hundreds of
times _right now_ ) isn't one of them.

~~~
3131s
> _breaking their charter in a massive way by domestically spying on a bunch
> of students sitting around in class._

You are aware that the CIA has done exactly that already, right?

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_RESISTANCE](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_RESISTANCE)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_CHAOS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_CHAOS)

~~~
SomeStupidPoint
Uh, that second link isn't like the first.

Foreign PSYOPs exploiting local minority (or other) groups is a standard way
to undermine a government. It's a tactic at least thousands of years old.

I would say it's literally the CIAs job to keep an eye on that kind of
activity.

Circling back to your first link, which _is_ an issue, Im still not 100%
convinced they acted inappropriately. You notice how it says they compiled a
database of people who might cause property damage using the opinions of
independent people on the ground, and not thay they put bugs in random
student's dorm rooms?

That, given its relation to the appropriate tracking of foreign influence,
might've been okay.

In either case, _neither_ of your links is _anything_ like the allegation
they're massively and indiscriminately spying on random students.

So... Citation needed.

~~~
3131s
> _Foreign PSYOPs exploiting local minority (or other) groups is a standard
> way to undermine a government. It 's a tactic at least thousands of years
> old._

> _I would say it 's literally the CIAs job to keep an eye on that kind of
> activity._

Ok, and they did so by spying on Students for a Democratic Society, which is
mentioned in the second link. I fail to see your point.

------
3131s
Unfortunately this has dropped off the front page already. I hope that's not
because of flagging. Hopefully the discussion of the next Wikileaks release
will be more substantive, and pertain more to the content of the documents
released.

~~~
officelineback
It was on the front page for me.

------
gcr
Oh great, what are they trying to distract us from this time?

------
Synaesthesia
I wonder if any of these work in modern devices with updated OSes

~~~
trendia
OS has nothing to do with it -- they have a UEFI rootkit and (likely) access
to the Intel Management Engine.

So, you can run Windows w/antivirus or even switch to FreeBSD... and it will
protect you from nothing.

------
betafive
holy shit "sonic screwdriver" sounds a lot like
[http://thundergate.io](http://thundergate.io)

------
rasz_pl
Suddenly grinding microcontrollers off of Guardians macbook is not that silly
anymore

[https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jan/31/footage-
rele...](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jan/31/footage-released-
guardian-editors-snowden-hard-drives-gchq)

------
tbirrell
I laugh at all these pop culture code names. Like guys... Don't do that... You
look like you are desperate to stay in touch.

~~~
zo7
They actually serve their purpose pretty well. You won't arouse suspicion or
hint at any details of the project if someone overhears you talking about
sonic screwdrivers or dark matter. It's not like they intended these projects
to be known outside the CIA/IC.

~~~
Chaebixi
That's a good point, but I'd imagine they could do better in that regard by
picking bland corporate project names (e.g. NextGen, Aurora, Cheetah, Phase
2).

------
abhigupta
WIKILEAKS Claims CIA Bugs 'Factory Fresh' iPhones!

