I am a security researcher and three letter agencies have talked to me more than a couple times about their interest in my work.
I got a used manual transmission easy to repair vehicle with no internet, no cell phone, I only use cash IRL, and the only device I travel with is a QubesOS laptop.
If the CIA wants to track me, they are going to have to work for it. I hope to waste as much of their time as possible.
No worries, the current administration is taking care of any federal government competence. With heads of lettuce at the top, these kinds of capacities (and many other, less necrotic ones) will wither and die.
> 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, web browsers including Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, and Opera, the operating systems of most smartphones including Apple's iOS and Google's Android, and computer operating systems including Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux.
> In July 2022, former CIA software engineer Joshua Schulte was convicted of leaking the documents to WikiLeaks, and in February 2024 sentenced to 40 years' imprisonment.
Just a reminder they can car accident anyone anywhere from anywhere and having an old car will not save anyone when a Tesla with AI enabled cloud cameras is approaching head on.
that's like the every 6 months proposed new revelation that everyone around cats is supposedly schizophrenic from toxoplasmosis gondii, which a day or two later is debunked. then "goto 10" and the cycle starts anew.
2. While I don't even dislike the guy, let alone hate him, Kiriakou tends to make grandiose and controversial claims that get discredited.
3. Kiriakou hasn't been privvy to CIA tech since roughly 2004. Yes, before the era of modern smartphones, all devices were pwned. He's been doing the rounds on any podcast that will take him where he elaborates on these claims further and it's pretty clear that he doesn't have decent subject matter knowledge.
Can a lot of phones and TVs and cars be exploited? Yes. Keep your devices patched. And, don't do things that attract the CIA's attention enough that they're putting in the significant effort it takes to pwn your TV or car.
tl;dr: If you're in a position where the CIA is targeting you, worry.
These three agencies are opposed to the public having access to appropriate cybersecurity: NSA, NIST, CIA. The goal of government should have been to boost the citizen's cybersecurity, but it is the opposite. Americans are worse off as a result.
He shows up on Youtube a lot, and is always a great watch, but is he full of shit or what?
I got a used manual transmission easy to repair vehicle with no internet, no cell phone, I only use cash IRL, and the only device I travel with is a QubesOS laptop.
If the CIA wants to track me, they are going to have to work for it. I hope to waste as much of their time as possible.
I'm only, like, half being facetious.
> In July 2022, former CIA software engineer Joshua Schulte was convicted of leaking the documents to WikiLeaks, and in February 2024 sentenced to 40 years' imprisonment.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vault_7
Trial for leaker https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22226066
2. While I don't even dislike the guy, let alone hate him, Kiriakou tends to make grandiose and controversial claims that get discredited.
3. Kiriakou hasn't been privvy to CIA tech since roughly 2004. Yes, before the era of modern smartphones, all devices were pwned. He's been doing the rounds on any podcast that will take him where he elaborates on these claims further and it's pretty clear that he doesn't have decent subject matter knowledge.
Can a lot of phones and TVs and cars be exploited? Yes. Keep your devices patched. And, don't do things that attract the CIA's attention enough that they're putting in the significant effort it takes to pwn your TV or car.
tl;dr: If you're in a position where the CIA is targeting you, worry.