WikiLeaks Vault 7 Dump: How to Prevent Yourself from Being Spied on Anthony Cuthbertson - Newsweek
go to original March 8, 2017

WikiLeaks reports 'largest ever' leak of CIA (USA Today)

The CIA is allegedly using “weaponized” hacking tools to break into phones, televisions and other devices, according to documents released by WikiLeaks, once again raising major concerns about privacy.

WikiLeaks said that part one of the documents “already eclipses the total number of pages published over the first three years of the Edward Snowden NSA leaks.” Despite the extraordinary scale, post-Snowden, the Vault 7 revelations serve mainly as a reminder of the difficulty in ensuring security across a hyper-connected world.

“Of course the CIA, and probably most of the world’s spy agencies, are looking for vulnerabilities and attempting to exploit them,” Vince Steckler, CEO of security firm Avast, said in an emailed comment to Newsweek . “This news…merely confirms nation-state capabilities. The latest set of leaks actually serves to bring to our attention the very real challenge of securing targeted platforms,” he added.

While security experts have called for industry collaboration and open platforms between security vendors and mobile operating systems, they also have advice for people concerned that they might be being spied on. In order to avoid giving hackers easy access to spy on you, security experts provided the following advice to Newsweek:

1. Always update your devices to the latest version of firmware, especially if the update lists security fixes.

2. Do not root or jailbreak your phone, ie., don’t remove software restrictions imposed by the manufacturer’s operating system.

3. Only download apps from legitimate stores—iTunes or Google Play.

4. Be careful when opening attachments or clicking on links in email messages.

5. If you are a business then make sure that your organization has solid email security solutions in place, including advanced threat protection capabilities. More than 90 percent of attacks start with the email.

6. Do not browse websites you are not familiar with and assure that they are secured with the valid certificate—look for the padlock icon/ green bar in the browser.

Read the rest at Newsweek

Related: Who Was Behind the CIA Vault 7 WikiLeaks Dump? (Newsweek)

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