The documents also detail how the government has allegedly hacked into smart TV's, in particular those made by Samsung. This includes the open-source Signal protocol as well as Facebook's WhatsApp, the two leading apps for secure, end-to-end encrypted communication. In fact, the documents published by WikiLeaks suggest that the hacking tools allow the government to bypass the apps entirely, "collecting audio and message traffic before encryption is applied." In a statement Tuesday, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange likened the CIA's amassing of spying tools to the global arms trade. A CIA spokeswoman declined to comment on the documents, issuing a statement to news organizations that the agency does not "comment on the authenticity or content of purported intelligence documents."

Source: Forbes March 07, 2017 18:46 UTC