Will Wikileaks Work With Tech Firms To Defeat CIA Hacking?

The anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks raised the prospect of sharing sensitive details it uncovered about CIA hacking tools with leading technology companies whose flagship products and services were targeted by the government’s hacker-spies.

If that sharing should take place, the unusual cooperation would give companies like Apple, Google, Microsoft, Samsung and others an opportunity to identify and repair any flaws in their software and devices that were being exploited by U.S. spy agencies and some foreign allies, as described in nearly 9,000 pages of secret CIA files WikiLeaks published on Tuesday.

The documents, which the White House declined anew Wednesday to confirm as authentic, describe clandestine methods for bypassing or defeating encryption, antivirus tools and other protective security features for computers, mobile phones and even smart TVs. They include the world’s most popular technology platforms, including Apple’s iPhones and iPads, Google’s Android phones and the Microsoft Windows operating system for desktop computers and laptops.

“This is the kind of disclosure that undermines our security, our country and our well-being,” White House spokesman Sean Spicer said. “This alleged leak should concern every single American.”

Spicer defended then-candidate Donald Trump’s comment in October 2016 - “I love WikiLeaks!” - after it published during the presidential campaign private, politically damaging emails from Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager. Spicer said there was a “massive, massive difference” between WikiLeaks publishing stolen, personal emails of a political figure and files about national security tools used by the CIA.

The CIA has declined to confirm that the documents are authentic. But on Wednesday, the agency said Americans should be “deeply troubled” by the disclosures.