Greg's Corner

Wikileaks shares massive CIA hacking tricks. Does it affect you?

Yesterday, whistle blowing website Wikileaks released a treasure trove of supposedly leaked information from the CIA dubbed Vault 7. Within the information are alleged plans the CIA uses to hack into virtually any internet connected device and use it as a monitoring device. Purportedly, the CIA can use malware to circumvent any operating system from Windows to MacOS to Linux and mobile OSes Android and iOS. iOs seems to be a favorite target of the CIA due to the number of high-ranking and powerful people who use iPhones.

The good news is, if any good news can be taken from this, is that the CIA’s actions do not appear to be targeting every device held by everyday citizens. Instead, the CIA appears to be using their malware to target specific individuals rather than entire swaths of the population. So the average American citizen probably has nothing to worry about. However, with this supposed CIA code now in the open it potentially could be used by black hat hackers to compromise just about any device they may see fit.

That’s not to say that there isn’t any protection against this malware. Usual defense tactics can go a long way in keeping you protected such as keeping your devices operating system up to date and patched, and not clicking on unknown attachments or downloading shady programs and apps.