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| FBI's James Comey: 'There is no such thing as absolute privacy in America' | FBI's James Comey: 'There is no such thing as absolute privacy in America' |
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| “There is no such thing as absolute privacy in America,” FBI director James Comey has declared after the disclosure of a range of hacking tools used by the CIA. | “There is no such thing as absolute privacy in America,” FBI director James Comey has declared after the disclosure of a range of hacking tools used by the CIA. |
| Comey was delivering prepared remarks at a cybersecurity conference in Boston, but his assessment has deepened privacy concerns already raised by the details of CIA tools to hack consumer electronics for espionage published by WikiLeaks on Tuesday. | Comey was delivering prepared remarks at a cybersecurity conference in Boston, but his assessment has deepened privacy concerns already raised by the details of CIA tools to hack consumer electronics for espionage published by WikiLeaks on Tuesday. |
| “All of us have a reasonable expectation of privacy in our homes, in our cars, and in our devices. But it also means with good reason, in court, government through law enforcement can invade our private spaces,” Comey said at the conference on Wednesday. “Even our memories aren’t private. Any of us can be compelled to say what we saw … In appropriate circumstances, a judge can compel any of us to testify in court on those private communications.” | “All of us have a reasonable expectation of privacy in our homes, in our cars, and in our devices. But it also means with good reason, in court, government through law enforcement can invade our private spaces,” Comey said at the conference on Wednesday. “Even our memories aren’t private. Any of us can be compelled to say what we saw … In appropriate circumstances, a judge can compel any of us to testify in court on those private communications.” |
| Fresh concerns over personal privacy arose after WikiLeaks published what it called the first tranche of a larger body of data about CIA hacking, which it says was provided to the organisation by a whistleblower seeking to trigger a debate on the issue. | Fresh concerns over personal privacy arose after WikiLeaks published what it called the first tranche of a larger body of data about CIA hacking, which it says was provided to the organisation by a whistleblower seeking to trigger a debate on the issue. |
| Experts pointed out that the CIA would need warrants to use the tools described –some of which would need physical access to the targeted device – so that the implications for privacy of the revelations were equivalent to traditional law enforcement wire taps. | Experts pointed out that the CIA would need warrants to use the tools described –some of which would need physical access to the targeted device – so that the implications for privacy of the revelations were equivalent to traditional law enforcement wire taps. |
| There is anxiety in Washington, however, that the WikiLeaks release of what it called its “Vault 7” trove of data would make available the hacking tools to criminal or terrorist organisations, or foreign government. | There is anxiety in Washington, however, that the WikiLeaks release of what it called its “Vault 7” trove of data would make available the hacking tools to criminal or terrorist organisations, or foreign government. |
| Democratic congressman Ted Lieu called for a congressional investigation into how the data came to be stolen and the wisdom of the intelligence agencies of withholding knowledge about vulnerabilities in consumer software from manufacturers. | Democratic congressman Ted Lieu called for a congressional investigation into how the data came to be stolen and the wisdom of the intelligence agencies of withholding knowledge about vulnerabilities in consumer software from manufacturers. |
| You can’t just give encryption keys to the good guys and hope they don’t get to the bad guys | You can’t just give encryption keys to the good guys and hope they don’t get to the bad guys |
| “If these documents are true, it means the CIA arsenal of cyber weapons is now out there in the public domain, and who knows who now has access to some very intrusive hacking tools,” Lieu told the Guardian. “It is very disturbing to anyone who cares about privacy ... It should also put to rest any argument about encryption back doors. You can’t just give encryption keys to the good guys and hope they don’t get to the bad guys. Our best protection is to have no security defects in the products we use.” | “If these documents are true, it means the CIA arsenal of cyber weapons is now out there in the public domain, and who knows who now has access to some very intrusive hacking tools,” Lieu told the Guardian. “It is very disturbing to anyone who cares about privacy ... It should also put to rest any argument about encryption back doors. You can’t just give encryption keys to the good guys and hope they don’t get to the bad guys. Our best protection is to have no security defects in the products we use.” |
| Security experts said that the “Vault 7” data released so far consisted mainly of summaries of the capabilities of some hacking tools rather than the tools themselves and the material appeared to have been edited so as not to give away hacking capabilities. | Security experts said that the “Vault 7” data released so far consisted mainly of summaries of the capabilities of some hacking tools rather than the tools themselves and the material appeared to have been edited so as not to give away hacking capabilities. |
| The CIA had no comment yesterday on the disclosures or any investigation into the leak, but cybersecurity analysts said it would not be hard to find how the more than 500 Mb of data was stolen. The data covers the period from 2013 to February 2013, it was mostly secret, with a couple of top secret documents, indicating it had either been taken from a top secret server or that top secret documents had been carelessly left on a server with lower classification. | The CIA had no comment yesterday on the disclosures or any investigation into the leak, but cybersecurity analysts said it would not be hard to find how the more than 500 Mb of data was stolen. The data covers the period from 2013 to February 2013, it was mostly secret, with a couple of top secret documents, indicating it had either been taken from a top secret server or that top secret documents had been carelessly left on a server with lower classification. |
| “By doing this dump in such detail, whoever has released this data has basically given the CIA a road map about how to find this data was taken in the first place because now they know where it was taken from and what time it was taken - probably the single day if not hour and that leads you to how it got taken and who took it,” said Nicholas Weaver, a senior staff researcher on cybersecurity at the International Computer Science Institute in Berkeley, California. | “By doing this dump in such detail, whoever has released this data has basically given the CIA a road map about how to find this data was taken in the first place because now they know where it was taken from and what time it was taken - probably the single day if not hour and that leads you to how it got taken and who took it,” said Nicholas Weaver, a senior staff researcher on cybersecurity at the International Computer Science Institute in Berkeley, California. |
| Malcolm Nance, a former naval cryptologist, said: “I don’t think this came from software. I think this came from screen grabs that were done on a non-secure computer – thats why I think it was a low level guy.” | |
| Both Weaver and Nance questioned the role of WikiLeaks played, in terms of the timing of the release and the analysis the organisation provided alongside the data. | Both Weaver and Nance questioned the role of WikiLeaks played, in terms of the timing of the release and the analysis the organisation provided alongside the data. |
| “WikiLeaks came out with this 48 hours after Donald Trump was ranting about Barack Obama was wiretapping him,” Nance said, adding that it appeared timed to give Trump ammunition in his feud with the intelligence agencies who are investigating Russian intervention in the election in his favour. | “WikiLeaks came out with this 48 hours after Donald Trump was ranting about Barack Obama was wiretapping him,” Nance said, adding that it appeared timed to give Trump ammunition in his feud with the intelligence agencies who are investigating Russian intervention in the election in his favour. |
| “It appears to be a hit operation on the CIA by Julian Assange [the WikiLeaks founder]. Why would it come out in such a precision release? Wikileaks have done many releases like this in Donald Trump’s favour during the election campaign,” said Nance, who is the author of a book on the Russian role in the campaign, The Plot to Hack America. | “It appears to be a hit operation on the CIA by Julian Assange [the WikiLeaks founder]. Why would it come out in such a precision release? Wikileaks have done many releases like this in Donald Trump’s favour during the election campaign,” said Nance, who is the author of a book on the Russian role in the campaign, The Plot to Hack America. |
| “I don’t believe they have anything to do with global transparency ... [Assange] never seems to be able to get anything on the Russians, or the conservatives.” | “I don’t believe they have anything to do with global transparency ... [Assange] never seems to be able to get anything on the Russians, or the conservatives.” |