Security News > 2020 > March > Ex-CIA Accused of Leaking Secret Hacking Tools to WikiLeaks Gets Mistrial

A federal judge in New York on Monday declared a mistrial in the case of a former CIA software engineer who was accused of stealing a massive trove of the agency's classified hacking and tools and leaking it to WikiLeaks whistleblower website.

Schulte, who designed hacking tools and malware for both the CIA and NSA to break into adversaries computers, was arrested in August 2017 and initially charged with possession and transportation of child pornography.

Later in 2018, US prosecutors unveiled new charges against Schulte accusing him of stealing and leaking over 8,000 classified CIA documents to WikiLeaks, who then published the classified information under the name "Vault 7" leaks.

In a separate report published just last week, a Chinese cybersecurity company accused the CIA of being behind an 11-year-long hacking campaign that targeted several Chinese industries and government agencies.

Researchers also accused the CIA based upon the similarities between the tools and exploits leaked in the Vault 7 archive and the tools used on the cyberattacks.

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