Security News > 2020 > March > Alleged Vault 7 leaker trial finale: Want to know the CIA's password for its top-secret hacking tools? 123ABCdef

The fate of the man accused of leaking top-secret CIA hacking tools - software that gave the American spy agency access to targets' phones and computer across the world - is now in the hands of a jury.

Joshua Schulte stands accused of stealing the highly valuable materials directly from the CIA's innermost sanctum and slipping them to WikiLeaks to share with the rest of the planet.

All the way up to Schulte's boss's boss's boss, testified Josh was a royal pain in the ASCII. But let's let his own lawyer Shroff tell you in literally her closing words: "They proved to you that, yes, you can properly call him Voldemort or Vault Asshole or Asshole or Jason Bourne or John Galt. They have given you evidence of all of that. But one thing that you cannot call him, after four full weeks, because the evidence isn't there, you cannot call him guilty. Please acquit."

The handle KingJosh3000 proved critical in the case because it was the one username the government found that, allegedly, connected Schulte to the theft of the hacking tools.

All this raises a question, though: just how bad is the CIA's security that it wasn't able to keep Schulte out, even accounting for the fact that he is a hacking and computer specialist? And the answer is: absolutely terrible.

News URL

https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/03/05/cia_leak_trial/