On Tuesday morning, 7 March 2017, WikiLeaks released what it called Vault 7 which was an exceptional assortment of in-house CIA files. These files showed the attempt by the CIA to hack into mobile phones targeting Android and iOS to advanced PC-compromise. This included the research on hacking cars as a means of counterterrorism work.
The report continues and states that “Targeting Android, for instance, the leak references eight remote-access exploits—meaning they require no physical contact with the device—including two that target Samsung Galaxy and Nexus phones and Samsung Tab tablets.” The CIA apparently purchased two other iOS tools from a contractor listed as “Baitshop,” while the Android tools are attributed to sellers codenamed Fangtooth and Anglerfish.
In a tweet, NSA leaker Edward Snowden pointed to those references as “the first public evidence [the US government] is paying to keep US software unsafe.”
The most surprising and detailed hack described in the CIA leak, however, targets neither smartphones nor PCs, but televisions using a program called Weeping Angel. This enables the Samsung’s smart TVs to become a listening devices which includes a “Fake Off” switch mode that disables the television’s LEDs to make it look convincingly powered down while still capturing audio.
The Atlantic Council’s Healey said that “The fact that the CIA mixes this sort of digital espionage with its more traditional human intelligence shouldn’t come as a surprise”. The invasion of privacy is nothing new in ancient or modern times. However, the tools used for such practice have changed through enhancement. In 1984 the hit single by Motown singer Rockwell entitled “Somebody’s watching me” highlighted this sense of privacy being invaded. An extracted from the lyrics is:
“I always feel like somebody’s watching me.
And I have no privacy.
Woh, I always feel like somebody’s watching me.
Tell me is it just a dream?
When I come home at night.
I bolt the door real tight.
People call me on the phone I’m trying to avoid.
Well, can the people on T.V. see me.
Or am I just paranoid?”
We are reminded through scripture of God’s providential care towards mankind and how he watches over us; Proverbs 15:3 reads ‘The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good’.
While most folk may experience a sudden feel of invasion of their private space, let us remember that from the beginning, God has always been watching over us not to invade our privacy but to protect us to his glory.
Pray this week that God’s eyes will keep watch over us and protect us from the sinister prying eyes rather than the love and care.