WikiLeaks Vault 7: Julian Assange Says Site Will Give CIA Hacking Tools To Tech Firms

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange announced Thursday that his organization will provide tech companies access to more detailed information regarding the CIA hacking tools published by WikiLeaks so the companies can develop fixes for the exploits.

The decision to provide the more detailed specifications came after tech firms began reaching out to WikiLeaks in hopes of learning more about the government's hacking techniques. Assange said his organization will grant access to companies—including Apple, Google and Samsung—so they can see vulnerabilities discovered in their operating systems.

"We have decided to work with them, to give them some exclusive access to some of the technical details we have, so that fixes can be pushed out," Assange said.

Assange explained WikiLeaks decided not to publish said details because it didn't want "journalists and people of the world, our sources, being hacked using these weapons."

Apple addressed the reported security flaws documented in the data dump on Wednesday, stating the vulnerabilities had already been fixed. Likewise, Google said it had reviewed the documents and believed that its operating systems were secure and not at risk of attack from the leaked hacks.

International Business Times reached out to Google, Apple and Samsung to learn if the companies had been in touch with WikiLeaks or had received any additional documents from the organization. The companies have yet to provide an answer.

It is unclear just how much detail WikiLeaks left out of its cache of information gathered from the CIA's hacking operations, which it released on Tuesday. Dubbed Vault 7, the data dump contained 8,761 files that detailed the CIA's hacking arsenal.

Revealed within the documents is a dedicated team of hackers who produce malware and other malicious programs designed to infect mobiles devices, including developers working to infect iOS and Android phones and tablets. The leak also included details as to how the CIA is able to spy on conversations through a hacked smart TV.

"The Central Intelligence Agency lost control of its entire cyberweapons arsenal," Assange said at his press conference, held at the Embassy of Ecuador in London. "This is an historic act of devastating incompetence to have created such an arsenal and stored it all in one place and not secured it."