Gadgetory

WikiLeaks is extending an olive branch to big tech companies like Apple Google and Samsung on march seven the site released thousands of alleged CIA documents in an archive called vault 7 that described hacking tools to break into smart phones TVs and computers two days later wikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said he wants to help companies fix vulnerabilities before WikiLeaks releases any more details from the alleged CIA files we have decided to work with them give them some exclusive access to the additional technical details we have so that fixes can be developed and pushed out so people can be secured cnet is currently unable to verify the authenticity of the documents the CIA did not confirm or deny if the documents were real but in a statement said quote it is CIA's job to be innovative cutting-edge and the first line of defense in protecting this country from enemies abroad the American public should be deeply troubled by any WikiLeaks disclosure designed to damage the intelligence community's ability to protect America end quote Assange said that it would take a few days to fix some of the smaller issues but others that targeted connected devices were much more complex and for some systems like Android with many manufacturers there is no automatic update to the system so people have to manually try and pull something in so that means the only people are people aware of it can fix the problem both Apple and Google previously issued statements saying that they had already fixed many of the issues outlined in the documents with the latest ios and android updates Samsung and Microsoft are looking into the claims for more on the WikiLeaks claims as they develop stay tuned to cnet com