Wikileaks claims MI5 and CIA developed spyware to turn televisions and smart phones into bugs

 

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Wikileaks claims MI5 and CIA developed spyware to turn televisions and smart phones into bugs


British spy agencies worked with the CIA to turn televisions and smart phones into bugging devices that can record conversations and even take photographs, according to leaked intelligence documents.
The CIA is accused of running a secret computer hacking programme giving its agents access to everyday items including mobile phones, TVs and iPads.

The CIA is also alleged to be targeting cars that contain onboard computers linked to the internet, amid unsubstantiated allegations that once in control of vehicles it could stage assassinations and make them look like accidents.

The catastrophic leak of data was obtained by WikiLeaks and published online yesterday, causing embarrassment to the American intelligence community at a time when it is at loggerheads with President Donald Trump.

In total, WikiLeaks published 8,761 documents, claiming it to be the largest ever release of CIA files in its history. The CIA declined to comment while experts said the documents, generated by the agency’s Engineering Development Group, between 2013 and 2016, seemed genuine.

The British intelligence agencies - MI5 and GCHQ - were dragged into the row with files showing how the UK held workshops with the CIA to find ways to ‘hack’ into household devices.



One exotically named programme dubbed Weeping Angel allowed spies to gain control of the Samsung F8000 range of internet-connected televisions. It was developed in a ‘joint workshop’ held in June 2014 involving MI5 and the CIA and enabled the agencies to gain control of  the TV, according to the documents.

It is alleged that MI5 created a ‘fake-off’ mode that meant television users thought sets were  switched off. In fact users can be secretly recorded by them and conversations transmitted to a CIA operative listening in. The smart televisions come with a microphone that is normally used for voice-activated controls.

The leaked files also appeared to show evidence that GCHQ had collaborated with the CIA in hacking into Apple’s iPhones as well as smartphones run using Google’s rival Android software. The phones can even take photographs when owners thought them switched off.

According to the documents, GCHQ, the Government’s listening agency based in Cheltenham, worked on six different methods for targeting the iOS operating system used on iPhones, iPods and iPads  and one for spying on Android phones.

In total the CIA developed 14 applications targeting iPhones and 24 aimed at Android phone users.
In so doing, WikiLeaks claimed the CIA was able to circumvent encryption codes used in such messaging groups as WhatsApp.

The CIA is alleged to have exploited glitches in the technology that the original manufacturer or designer isn’t yet aware of - called ‘zero days’ - to hack into the devices.

Another document suggests the CIA’s cyber directorate is developing ways to infect control computer systems in cars and lorries.

“The purpose of such control is not specified, but it would permit the CIA to engage in nearly undetectable assassinations,” said WikiLeaks.

In all, the documents suggest the agency created more than 1,000 viruses and other types of malware to gain access to everyday items.

WikiLeaks also accused the US government of failing to abide by a commitment to tell technology companies of any identified vulnerabilities, instead “hoarding” weaknesses for use by spy agencies.

The deal was put in place to allow the tech giants to plug weaknesses in operating systems and prevent leaks to foreign intelligence agencies, especially Russia and China.

WikiLeaks claimed the archive had been circulated among former American government hackers and contractors, one of whom had passed on parts of the cache in order to start a wider debate. It is promising to release more documents in the future.

Julian Assange, WikiLeaks’ founder who remains inside the Ecuadorean embassy in London where he is evading arrest, said: “There is an extreme proliferation risk in the development of cyber ‘weapons’.”

WikiLeaks made headlines during last year’s US presidential election when it released the personal emails of Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman and other Democratic figures, data which intelligence officials believe was originally stolen by Russian hackers.

Heather Fritz Hornial, a CIA spokeswoman, said: “We do not comment on the authenticity or content of purported intelligence documents.”

UK security services declined to comment but Whitehall sources stressed that spies have to act within a strict legal framework in the fight against hostile states,  terrorists and organised criminals.