CIA can hack your iPhone or turn your smart TV into a bugging device

It seems the CIA has tools for hacking your iPhone or turning your smart TV into a bugging device.

But tech commentator Ian Apperley says people should be more worried about the amount of data being collected about their likes and dislikes, and movement, by the likes of Facebook and Google.

Earlier today, WikiLeaks released a massive trove of documents and files it calls “Vault 7.” The whistle-blowing group claims the files detail how the CIA has created tools for hacking smartphones, computer operating systems, message services like Skype and WhatsApp and internet-connected TVs.

The intelligence agency and the White House have refused to comment on the documents’ authenticity.

But ISIS Group director Mr Apperley says he would be surprised if the CIA did not have that capability. Ditto for equivalent agencies in a laundry list of countries that includes Russia, Israel and the "Five Eyes" alliance that includes New Zealand.

Consumer companies have taken steps to make their products more secure to protect their customer’s privacy. Apple, for example, now encrypts all iMessage traffic.

But according to the Vault 7 files, the CIA has a tool that can lift audio or message traffic before encryption is applied.

Other tricks apparently include the ability to take control of a smart TV and turn it into a listening device when the user thinks it's switched off.

US Congress House intelligence committee chairman Devin Nunes told US media that an investigation into the apparent leak was still in its early stages but potentially “very, very serious.”  The security breach is potentially larger than the Edward Snowden exposé and could halt security operations around the world.

Scared for your privacy yet?
“In terms of frightening, I would find Facebook more frightening,” Mr Apperley says.

“The amount of information that Facebook collects about you is phenomenal, in terms of biometrics and movement. Google are the same.

“They know where you are pretty much all of the time. And then they have some pretty sophisticated algorithms that sit over the top and manipulate the amount of data you get back.

“So I’d be more worked up about Facebook and Google in the future than intelligence agencies.”