Camilla Jessen
Former CIA spy shares terrifying truth about what our phones and other devices can hear.
Smartphones have become central to everyday life.
Many people rely on them for navigation, communication, work, and entertainment. What is less widely understood is how much access these devices can potentially provide to outside actors.
Former CIA intelligence officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou recently discussed this issue on The Diary of a CEO podcast, where he spoke about digital surveillance and device security.
Kiriakou worked as a CIA intelligence analyst and operations officer at the Counterterrorism Center. In 2012, he became the first CIA employee convicted for exposing the agency’s enhanced interrogation program. He served time in federal prison between 2013 and 2015.
“They’re not secure at all”
During the podcast, host Steven Bartlett asked Kiriakou about how secure personal devices really are.
Bartlett noted that most people assume their phones and computers are protected. Kiriakou disagreed.
“They’re not secure, at all,” he said. “It’s not just the NSA, CIA, or FBI you have to worry about. It’s British, French, German, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand, Russian, Chinese, Israeli, and Iranian intelligence services. Everybody has these capabilities.”
According to Kiriakou, many countries are able to intercept communications through digital devices, meaning phones, computers, and connected technology can be accessed remotely.
Listening through devices
Kiriakou pointed to the 2017 “Vault 7” disclosures as an example. These documents were released by WikiLeaks after a CIA software engineer leaked classified material.
The files detailed tools allegedly used by the CIA to access smart devices, including phones and televisions. Kiriakou said these tools could turn a smart TV into a listening device even when it appeared to be switched off.
“It can still hear everything that’s being said in the room and broadcast it back,” he said.
He added that this type of capability is not new. “When I first got hired in the 1980s, they were able to do that. That’s old technology.”
Kiriakou also said intelligence agencies can remotely interfere with modern vehicles by accessing onboard computer systems.
“They can take control, remotely, of a car’s computer system,” he said, claiming this could be used to disable or crash a vehicle.
Sources: The Diary of a CEO podcast, WikiLeaks Vault 7 disclosures.
