Google, Microsoft and Samsung respond to CIA hacking tools revealed by WikiLeaks

Tech majors such as Google, Apple, Microsoft and Samsung, whose products have allegedly been compromised by the CIA hacking tools, have reacted to the disclosures by WikiLeaks.

On Tuesday (7 March) WikiLeaks released a new series of leaks codenamed Vault 7, claiming it to be the largest publication of confidential documents on the CIA.

The first part of the leaks, called Year Zero and comprised of 8,761 documents and files, reveal the direction of the CIA's global hacking programme, malware, exploits against a range of US and European products including Apple's iPhone, Google's Android, Microsoft's Windows and Samsung's smart TVs, which were reportedly turned into covert microphones.

The leaked data suggests Samsung's F8000 smart TV has been compromised through a USB connection-based hack, which was allegedly developed in cooperation with the UK's MI5 spy agency.

Samsung told the BBC: "Protecting consumers' privacy and the security of our devices is a top priority at Samsung. We are aware of the report in question and are urgently looking into the matter."

The leak claims the CIA's "zero day weaponised exploits" target Microsoft's Windows operating system. A Microsoft spokesperson said the company was aware of the report and was looking into it.

The documents suggest that the CIA has also developed an automated multi-platform malware attack and control system for Linux software.

"Linux is a very widely used operating system, with a huge installed base all around the world, so it is not surprising that state agencies from many countries would target Linux along with the many closed source platforms that they have sought to compromise," Nicko van Someren, chief technology officer at Linux Foundation told BBC.

"[But] rapid release cycles enable the open source community to fix vulnerabilities and release those fixes to users faster," added Someren.

According to the leak, the CIA malware revealed in Year Zero is able to penetrate, infest and control Google's Android phones and iPhone software that runs presidential Twitter accounts.

Apple has already said that the vulnerabilities have been patched in the latest version of the iOS operating system.

Google too says it has protected its Android mobile devices and the Chrome operating system against the security flaws disclosed by WikiLeaks, reports the Associated Press. The company says it is analysing the documents disclosed by WikiLeaks and would take additional security measures.