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Top diplomat says Moscow finds data leak on CIA hacking arsenal credible

WikiLeaks earlier reported tha the CIA had been developing malicious software, making it possible to spy on people through their mobile phones

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov Artyom Korotayev/TASS

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov

© Artyom Korotayev/TASS

MOSCOW, March 9. /TASS/. Moscow considers the latest WikiLeaks data release on the CIA’s hacking arsenal to be plausible and must take this information into account, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday following talks with his German counterpart, Sigmar Gabriel.

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CIA chief rejects media reports of hiding intelligence data from Trump

"As for reports on the CIA’s hacking arsenal, of course, we saw them. We also read that consulate general in Frankfurt am Main was used," the minister noted. "I proceed from the assumption that experts consider this information quite plausible."

"Speaking about facts, yes, of course, we have to take into account everything we become aware of," Lavrov stressed.

The top diplomat emphasized that according to the Vault 7 data dump made public by WikiLeaks, the CIA also stole or adapted foreign hackers’ technologies, "that is, the agency gets access to what is called the ‘handwriting’ or ‘fingerprints," which would point back to a "foreign hacker" thus covering the CIA’s tracks. "When we were accused of something, the Russian hackers’ ‘fingerprints’ were cited as evidence," he recalled. "Now, it becomes known that the CIA is capable to getting access to such fingerprints, and the agency consequently must have used it."

WikiLeaks earlier reported that, according to its Vault7 data dump, the CIA had been developing malicious software, making it possible to spy on people through their mobile phones and handheld devices along with technologies which help get access to smartphones all over the world. The agency’s hacking toolbox makes it possible to intercept and read audio traffic and e-mails, including in the popular instant messengers WhatsApp and Telegram. In addition to that, the CIA and the British counterintelligence unlocked a way that allows it to use the Samsung Smart TV as a listening device.

According to WikiLeaks, the CIA has also been using the US consulate in Frankfurt am Main as a covert headquarters for its cyber specialists. According to data provided by WikiLeaks, the so-called CIA hackers carry out various cyber operations in a number of regions - in Europe, in the Middle East and Africa from that post.

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Foreign policy Sergey Lavrov CIA

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