WikiLeaks revealed new information regarding how the CIA spy agency has been handling secret software in monitoring Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) device owners. The update being referred to as Vault 7 “Dark Matter,” outlines various programs that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has been using for close to a decade.
Apart from infecting iPhones, the release also describes how the Agency has been interdicting mail orders and other shipments leaving the United States. The most common program was the NightSkies 1.2 bug said to be a “beacon/loader/implant tool” and that it is particularly made for iPhones.
CIA physical access attacks infected targeted organization’s supply chain
WikiLeaks noted, “While CIA assets are sometimes used to physically infect systems in the custody of a target it is likely that many CIA physical access attacks have infected the targeted organization’s supply chain.”
According to TechCruch, NightSkies has been very powerful given that it would go as far as accessing one’s address book, SMS conversations or even call logs. The information collected is then uploaded to the CIA’s servers. WikiLeaks reveals that more often than not the malware would be installed on factory fresh devices as this would make the surveillance easier.
There is also the so-called “Sonic Screwdriver” project
The technique used by CIA is similar to something that the National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden had hinted. However, this was not enough because there is another capability to the second batch of Vault 7 documents.
The CIA claims that there was another mechanism, which would be used to execute code on peripheral devices. This happens when a Mac laptop or desktop is booting and it gives a leeway to an attacker to boot its attack software.
The Dark Matter discloses how electronics have been CIA’s target for several years with Apple having the biggest history. It explains how CIA has been able to implore the use of bugs in Apple’s mobile operating system iOS without the detection of iPhone users.
However, Apple says that a majority of the defects mentioned in the leaks have already been attended to. Meanwhile, Apple’s stock was trading at $140.92 a fall of $0.50 or 0.35%.