We reported earlier today that WikiLeaks has published a trove of documents that allegedly detail the hacking tools that the United States Central Intelligence Agency uses. One of the tools mentioned in the documents is called “Weeping Angel” which the agency is believed to have created in partnership with the United Kingdom's MI5. The CIA apparently used this tool to hack into Samsung smart TVs and record conversations using the TV's microphone.
The documents show that Weeping Angel allows the agency to put Samsung TVs into a “fake-off mode” which enables it to continue to record conversations even though the TV appears to be switched off. However, this vulnerability is believed to exist only in models that are several years old and it's not known whether this can be done with newer models as well.
Samsung has now responded to the report, saying that “Protecting consumers' privacy and the security of our devices is a top priority at Samsung,” adding that “We are aware of the report in question and are urgently looking into the matter.”
We'll have to wait and see how long it takes for Samsung to come up with a detailed explanation of this matter.
