WikiLeaks is known for starting high impact incidents through its leaks, and it looks like it’s done it again. The latest display of cyber-hacking targeting official US institutions has led to 8,761 documents pertaining to the CIA to be leaked online. While some believe that this is a good thing, because it sheds some light on the institution’s practices, many disagree. Their lack of shared enthusiasm is founded on the principle that letting all that information wander around the internet could have dire consequences.
US officials have went as far as saying that this could potentially end with thousands of people having their lives put in danger, and it’s not just US residents. Countries from all over the world might be impacted by this event, and not in a good way.
All this might have you wandering what it was exactly that was leaked. While there are way too many documents to go over one by one, the basic idea is that WikiLeaks made specific information public that reveals how the CIA hacks digital devices such as phones or computers. This is what is very troubling for US officials, as this could lead to “opponents” from other countries using these techniques against the US.
This isn’t the first time something like this has happened, with one of the most memorable and famous information leaks being attributed to Edward Snowden. It is believed that the Snowden incident is much smaller in comparison to what has just happened, and considering the ramifications of that incident, it wouldn’t be that hard to believe that we might be looking at something bad.
US officials are no doubt trying to find a balance between keeping the populace calm and keeping any more classified information from escaping confidentiality. Public privacy and internal espionage have been constantly debated since the NSA scandal, and despite the fluctuating intensity of the subject, it has always been brought up at one point or another.
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