Ex CIA Programmer Convicted of Leaking ‘Vault 7’ Hacking Tools to WikiLeaks

It has been found that Joshua Schulte, a former programmer for the United States Central Security Agency (CIA), is guilty of leaking top secrets to WikiLeaks by leaking Vault 7.

Hacking tools and exploits can be found in vault 7 as part of this collection of classified information. In the history of the CIA, this theft has been deemed to be one of the largest thefts ever perpetrated.

At the retrial held in New York City, the convict, Joshua Schulte, decided to defend himself. A trove of CIA secrets was leaked by WikiLeaks in 2017 and Joshua claims the CIA and FBI used him as a scapegoat.

Vault 7 Leak

There have been some recent revelations regarding the CIA’s Apple and Android smartphone hacks to spy on foreign citizens. In addition to that, there are also attempts being made to turn internet-connected TVs into listening devices as well. 

At the agency’s Langley headquarter in Virginia, Schulte worked as a coder before he was arrested and he was responsible for creating the hacking tools.

The documents that were published by WikiLeaks on March 7, 2017, were criticized by many for being the largest publication of private documents of the CIA ever published.

The OSB of an elite hacker group is believed to have developed 91 tools that were compromised as a result of this breach. 

In a statement, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams stated:-

“There is nothing more brazen or damaging than Joshua Schulte’s horrific crime of espionage which left millions of Americans devastated.”

Conviction

Since Schulte is still awaiting trial for charges related to the governance and conveyance of child pornography, a court date was not immediately set. As a result of his plea of not guilty, he has been released from custody.

The CIA’s tools could be rendered completely useless as a result of the leak, which Schulte knew well in advance. A brief summary of what this will mean is that the US Intelligence community will suffer a devastating blow as a result of it.

Prior to his trial, Schulte has been incarcerated at the Metropolitan Detention Center, where he has been residing since his arrest. In the year 2018, Schulte was detained without bail and has since been held in prison.

He continued his crimes while incarcerated awaiting trial by leaking further classified information as he waited for a trial to be held. During this period, he waged a war against the government through an “information war.”

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