WikiLeaks Refuses to Show Tech Companies How to Patch CIA Zero-Day Exploits Until Demands Are Met

WikiLeaks has reached out to tech companies including Apple, Google, and Microsoft to assist them in patching the zero-day exploits revealed in the CIA Vault 7 leaks, but are insisting that their demands are met before they provide further information.

Motherboard reports that following WikiLeaks promise to share the information they found relating to the CIA’s zero-day exploits with tech companies, WikiLeaks has finally contacted Apple, Google, and Microsoft. However, WikiLeaks has not been entirely forthcoming with the information required to fix the exploits found within the tech companies software.

“Beyond making the initial contact, no information has been shared,” said a Motherboard source with knowledge of the matter. Apple, Google and Microsoft all received emails from Assange which included a document listing the criteria that the companies must meet for WikiLeaks provide them with the leaked CIA hacks. These demands reportedly included a 90-day disclosure deadline which would force the companies to commit to publishing a fix for the exploits within three months.

The tech companies are reportedly wary of signing the contract provided by Assange due to the uncertainty surrounding the legality of how the Vault 7 documents were obtained. “WikiLeaks and the government hold all the cards here, there’s not much the tech companies can do on their own besides rabidly looking through their code to look for any issues that might be related,” a source told Motherboard.

A Microsoft spokesperson told Motherboard, “WikiLeaks has made initial contact with us via secure@microsoft.com,” while Google, Apple, and WikiLeaks reportedly did not respond to a request for comment. The CIA declined to comment on the Vault 7 documents stating, “no comment on the authenticity of purported intelligence documents released by Wikileaks or on the status of any investigation into the source of the documents.”

A spokesperson for the CIA did comment on the character of Julian Assange saying, “As we’ve said previously, Julian Assange is not exactly a bastion of truth and integrity,” the spokesperson wrote. “The American public should be deeply troubled by any Wikileaks disclosure designed to damage the Intelligence Community’s ability to protect America against terrorists and other adversaries. Such disclosures not only jeopardize US personnel and operations, but also equip our adversaries with tools and information to do us harm.”