WikiLeaks released what it claims is the 31-page user guide for a CIA device code-named “Weeping Angel.” It can turn some Samsung TVs into surveillance tools with an implant for recording audio from a TV’s built-in microphone.
Posted online Friday, the release is the latest dump of classified documents stolen from U.S. government agencies. Those thefts include thousands of pages taken by Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange — currently living at the Ecuadorian embassy in London — has all but dared U.S. officials to come after him. The Obama Justice Department decided not to, but new Attorney General Jeff Sessions says he has re-opened the case.
“We’ve seen too many breaches, and hopefully we’ll be able to strike back against those who violate our systems,” Sessions said.
CBS News has learned the CIA and the FBI believe the recent theft at the CIA was an inside job. Investigators say the materials were stolen from a highly secure section of the intelligence agency where it takes two people to access information.
But even that security measure was apparently not enough to stop the leaks.
“We can’t keep all of the information in one place. We need to spread it out. We have to have better rules about need-to-know, and if you don’t have a need to know you don’t get access to the information,” said Michael Morrell, a former acting director of the CIA.
A former top Justice Department official told CBS News Assange could be prosecuted under a number of statutes, but any case will be “messy.”
WikiLeaks argues it is like a media organization and its activities are protected by the First Amendment.
