VAULT 7: WikiLeaks releases ‘Year Zero’

Posted on March 7, 2017 by State of the Nation

What is Vault 7? WikiLeaks releases ‘Year Zero’ files as part of ‘largest ever’ CIA leak

WIKILEAKS says its new series of leaked documents, mysteriously known as Vault 7, will be “largest intelligence publication in history”. But what is Vault 7 and what does the Year Zero part of the series reveal?

By ALICE FOSTER
EXPRESS


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What is Vault7? WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange releases ‘Year Zero’ leaked documents

In the build-up to the bombshell announcement today, WikiLeaks’ Twitter account posted a cryptic question: “What is Vault 7?”A statement from WikiLeaks announced: “Today, Tuesday 7 March 2017, WikiLeaks begins its new series of leaks on the US Central Intelligence Agency.“Code-named ‘Vault 7’ by WikiLeaks, it is the largest ever publication of confidential documents on the agency.

“The first full part of the series, ‘Year Zero’, comprises 8,761 documents and files from an isolated, high-security network situated inside the CIA’s Center for Cyber Intelligence in Langley, Virgina.”WikiLeaks said: “‘Year Zero’ introduces the scope and direction of the CIA’s global covert hacking program, its malware arsenal and dozens of ‘zero day’ weaponized exploits against a wide range of US and European company products.”It added that the products included Apple’s iPhone, Google’s Android and Microsoft’s Windows and even Samsung TVs, “which are turned into covert microphones”.

In a statement, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said: “There is an extreme proliferation risk in the development of cyber ‘weapons’.“Comparisons can be drawn between the uncontrolled proliferation of such ‘weapons’, which results from the inability to contain them combined with their high market value, and the global arms trade.“But the significance of ‘Year Zero’ goes well beyond the choice between cyberwar and cyberpeace. The disclosure is also exceptional from a political, legal and forensic perspective.”

Internet users around the world are now able to download the Year Zero documents after the passphrase was made public earlier today.

Mr Assange was not able reveal the contents of Vault 7 during a online press conference because the live stream fell victim to a cyber attack.

WikiLeaks tweeted: “As Mr Assange’s Perscipe+Facebook video stream links are under attack, his video press conference will be rescheduled.”

Ahead of the pubilcation, WikiLeaks said: “Today’s pending publication contains elements that will be of interest to all tech journalists.”WikiLeaks said: “Recently, the CIA lost control of the majority of its hacking arsenal including malware, viruses, trojans, weaponized “zero day” exploits, malware remote control systems and associated documentation.

“This extraordinary collection, which amounts to more than several hundred million lines of code, gives its possessor the entire hacking capacity of the CIA.

“The archive appears to have been circulated among former US government hackers and contractors in an unauthorized manner, one of whom has provided WikiLeaks with portions of the archive.”

“Such is the scale of the CIA’s undertaking that by 2016, its hackers had utilized more code than that used to run Facebook,” it added.

“The source wishes to initiate a public debate about the security, creation, use, proliferation and democratic control of cyberweapons.

“Once a single cyber ‘weapon’ is ‘loose’ it can spread around the world in seconds, to be used by rival states, cyber mafia and teenage hackers alike.”

Things you may not know about Julian Assange

Tue, March 7, 2017

WikiLeaks Founder, Julian Assange has led a very interesting and controversial life which has been at the centre of global debate

It is believed that Julian Assange chooses to live in Sweden because the country's media laws are among the world's most protective for journalistsGETTY IMAGES

Here are a series of questions and answers given by the WikiLeaks statement today:What time period is covered?

“The years 2013 to 2016. The sort order of the pages within each level is determined by date (oldest first).”

What is Vault 7?

“Vault 7 is a substantial collection of material about CIA activities obtained by WikiLeaks.”

When was each part of Vault 7 obtained?

“Part one was obtained recently and covers through 2016. Details on the other parts will be available at the time of publication.”

What is the total size of Vault 7?

“The series is the largest intelligence publication in history.”

WikiLeaks noted: “The quantity of published pages in Vault 7 part one (Year Zero) already eclipses the total number of pages published over the first three years of the Edward Snowden NSA leaks.”

How did WikiLeaks obtain each part of Vault 7?

“Sources trust WikiLeaks to not reveal information that might help identify them.”

Isn’t WikiLeaks worried that the CIA will act against its staff to stop the series?

“No. That would be certainly counter-productive.”

Why are the Vault 7 files being released now? 

“WikiLeaks published as soon as its verification and analysis were ready.

“In February the Trump administration has issued an Executive Order calling for a ‘Cyberwar’ review to be prepared within 30 days.

“While the review increases the timeliness and relevance of the publication it did not play a role in setting the publication date.”

Assange: Source for the emails was not Russian government

What has WikiLeaks released before?

WikiLeak has recently posted a set of US Government ‘wanted’ posters for Mr Assange, WikiLeaks’ source Chelsea Manning and National Security Agency (NSA) mole Edward Snowden.

At the start of the year, WikiLeaks vowed to drop a huge bombshell that would blow the world away in 2017.

“If you thought 2016 was a big WikiLeaks year, 2017 will blow you away,” WikiLeaks tweeted in January, adding that a “showdown” was coming.

WikiLeaks’ last significant release was the publication of thousands of emails from the gmail account of Hillary Clinton’s account manager John Podesta in the run up to the US election.

The constant stream of WikiLeaks emails hit Mrs Clinton’s campaign hard and helped turn public opinion against her, paving the way for Donald Trump’s victory.

Mr Assange has repeatedly said that the Russian Government was not its source for leaks during the US election campaign.

He remains under political asylum in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.

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http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/776066/Vault-7-what-is-Year-Zero-release-latest-WikiLeaks-Julian-Assange-announcement

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