Wikileaks’ released of the CIA’s secret online surveillance programme may have people worried about their privacy. However, Apple and Google have both issued statements saying that the vulnerabilities in the documents have already been fixed.
According to the Vault 7 documents, the CIA has a long list of exploits that allow it to spy on people through their electronic devices. This covers just about everything from smartphones, tablets, laptops, and even smart TVs.
That said, the Wikileaks documents date back to 2013. Which means there was plenty of time to track down and close most of these security holes. For the most part, both Apple and Google are saying that their customers have nothing to worry about as most of the vulnerabilities are already known to them and have been fixed. On the same note, the companies are working on examining the leaked documents to patch any new vulnerabilities.
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Android’s fragmentation may work against it in this situation. While the most recent version of Android happens to be 7.1, there are still many devices still running on older versions of the operating system. Irregular update schedules from the various manufacturers and carriers have also resulted in an uneven distribution of security patches.
In this situation, Apple’s more closed and controlled eco-system has likely worked in its favour.
Other technology companies like Samsung and Microsoft are current still looking into the documents. Samsung Smart TVs in particular were mentioned in the announcement of the leaks.
[Source: Techcrunch, CNET]
