WikiLeaks will give info on CIA hacking to tech companies

by Rebecca Savransky - 03/09/17 10:35 AM ET

WikiLeaks will give technology companies access to information it has about the CIA’s hacking tools, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said Thursday.

Assange said the organization will give details to let technology companies “develop fixes” before the information is published more widely.

“We have decided to work with them,” Assange said during an online press conference on Thursday. “To give them some exclusive access to some of the technical details we have, so that fixes can be pushed out.”

{mosads}His comments come after WikiLeaks on Tuesday published a massive trove of documents purportedly pertaining to the CIA’s hacking programs — the first of many document dumps the site says it has coming on the intelligence agency.

The documents published include descriptions of hacking tools, engineering notes, internal communications and more. The release did not appear to include the tools themselves, and agent names have been redacted.

Assange said Thursday the CIA has “lost control of its entire cyber weapons arsenal.”

“This is an historic act of devastating incompetence to have created such an arsenal and stores it all in one place and not secure it,” he said.

Senate Armed Services Committee member Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) responded to Assange’s press conference with a statement Thursday.

“Julian Assange should spend the rest of his life wearing an orange jumpsuit. He’s an enemy of the American people and an ally to Vladimir Putin.

“Mr. Assange has dedicated his life’s work to endangering innocent lives, abetting despots, and stoking a crisis of confidence in the West.”

– Joe Uchill contributed.