Vault 7

Logo for documents collectively labeled Vault 7.

Vault 7 is a series of documents that WikiLeaks began to publish on 7 March 2017, detailing the activities and capabilities of the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to perform electronic surveillance and cyber warfare. The files, dating from 2013 to 2016, include details on the agency's software capabilities, such as the ability to compromise cars, smart TVs,[1] web browsers including Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, and Opera,[2][3] the operating systems of most smartphones including Apple's iOS and Google's Android, and computer operating systems including Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux.[4][5] A CIA internal audit identified 91 malware tools out of more than 500 tools in use in 2016 being compromised by the release.[6] The tools were developed by the Operations Support Branch of the CIA.[7]

The Vault 7 release led the CIA to redefine WikiLeaks as a "non-state hostile intelligence service."[8] In July 2022, former CIA software engineer Joshua Schulte was convicted of leaking the documents to WikiLeaks,[9] and in February 2024 sentenced to 40 years' imprisonment, on espionage counts and separately to 80 months for child pornography counts.[10]

  1. ^ Shane, Scott; Mazzetti, Mark; Rosenberg, Matthew (7 March 2017). "WikiLeaks Releases Trove of Alleged C.I.A. Hacking Documents". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 7 March 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  2. ^ Greenberg, Andy (7 March 2017). "How the CIA Can Hack Your Phone, PC, and TV (Says WikiLeaks)". WIRED. Archived from the original on 20 March 2019. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  3. ^ "WikiLeaks posts trove of CIA documents detailing mass hacking". CBS News. 7 March 2017. Archived from the original on 19 March 2017. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  4. ^ Miller, Greg (7 March 2017). "WikiLeaks says it has obtained trove of CIA hacking tools". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 16 May 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  5. ^ "Vault7 - Home". wikileaks.org. Archived from the original on 16 June 2017. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  6. ^ Goretti (10 February 2020). "US v. Joshua Schulte Trial Transcript 2020-0206". United States District Court Southern District of New York. Archived from the original on 12 February 2020. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  7. ^ Patrick Radden Keefe (6 June 2022). "The Surreal Case of a C.I.A. Hacker's Revenge". The New Yorker. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference dorfman was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference alj was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference graun240201 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).