CIA Tools in the WikiLeaks Vault 7 Report Assignment (Case Study Sample)

CIA Tools in the WikiLeaks ‘Vault 7’ ReportName:Institutional Affiliation:Date:
CIA Tools in the WikiLeaks ‘Vault 7’ Report
The recent divulgence of questionable covert surveillance methodology within the United States government has created tension between her and many of her allies. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), and National Security Agency (NSA) have come under criticism due to damning exposes by the WikiLeaks initiative. One such recent exposition divulged the tools that the CIA had been using on the citizens of the United States and other people. This paper investigates these tools from the perspectives of the WikiLeaks expose.
Malicious software
The CIA has been on the limelight for decades over the use and abuse of certain software to acquire information, gain access and even control certain digital and physical infrastructure. However, none of these actions can compare with what the most recent WikiLeaks expositions divulge about the organization’s use of malicious software. The CIA’s Engineering Development Group (EDG) is tasked with the creation, testing and deployment of such software which vary from viruses and Trojans, to worms and other deadly coded exploits.
While the CIA’s use of such methods to gain access and even control remote infrastructure is not in any way different from other countries’ covert intelligence activities, the use of such resources on Americans is another matter altogether. The CIA has come under immense fire after WikiLeaks divulged evidence of it spying on Americans, other governments such as France (WikiLeaks, 2017). These acts only served to remind the American people about the infractions of the NSA and bolster remedial actions from enemies of the United States such as North Korea and Russia.
The creation of such powerful software exploits also creates a national security issue as demonstrated by the reported loss of a large portion of CIA intelligence-gathering software. Such mishandling could provide powerful intelligence enemies of the United States such as China and Russia with immense capacity to execute serious damage on the country’s security.
Digital devices and communication gadgetry
Another aspect of the CIA’s misgivings in terms of intelligence gatherings as divulged by WikiLeaks’s ‘Vault 7’ report is the appropriation of digital devices and communication gadgetry. The report demonstrated evidence of the CIA using special software to appropriate normal household appliances such as television sets into remote bugs. The CIA’s branch responsible for placement of remote information collection systems, aptly named the Embedded Devices Branch (EDB) reportedly had the capability and software to turn the normal television into a remote bug that fed audio and even video recordings into remote agency servers (WikiLeaks, 2017). These systems had even targeted the modern computer-based controls of cars such that the CIA could wrestle control from the system and execute the occupants with little evidence of external involvement.
Smart phones, tablets and other hand-held computing or communication devices have not escaped the grip of the CIA. According to the WikiLeaks report, the CIA’s Directorate for Digital Innovation (DDI) has been busy formulating malware and other code-based exploits that target the IPhone and Android-based smart phones. These two groups form the bulk of all hand-held communications devices through companies such as Samsung, Sony, LG, Apple and Nokia. Therefore, the CIA has been carrying out secret spying missions on billions of users of the mentioned gadgets without their knowledge. More so, the report demonstrated the CIA’s ability to by-pass the strong security measures multinationals such as Google and Apple have built into their systems to prevent spying. Therefore, Whatsapp and Twitter also fell victim to the CIA’s incessant desire to not only gain access, but also control when need arose.
Manufacturer/Designer vulnerabilities
The last tool that the CIA has been exploiting in its unsanctioned intelligence gathering exercises is the set of vulnerabilities that exist in digital and electronic systems. These vulnerabilities are referred to in the report as ‘Zero Days’. When large electronic or digital systems suffer from innate vulnerabil...