While the waves are still being felt from Tuesday's huge document dump by WikiLeaks focusing on CIA hacking techniques, we now know what Edward Snowden, the world's most famous whistleblower, thinks of the information held inside.
SEE ALSO:WikiLeaks document dump alleges the CIA can hack almost everythingPosting on Twitter Tuesday morning, Snowden said that the leak "looks authentic" and is "generally a big deal."
He went on to elaborate why he believed the information - which centred around allegations that the CIA's covert program allowed it to crack into iPhones, Androids and even Samsung TVs - was credible.
Still working through the publication, but what @Wikileaks has here is genuinely a big deal. Looks authentic.
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) March 7, 2017
What makes this look real?
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) March 7, 2017
Program & office names, such as the JQJ (IOC) crypt series, are real. Only a cleared insider could know them.
Snowden also addressed how the government might be making software vulnerable on purpose, by "developing vulnerabilities in US products then intentionally keeping the holes open." He slammed that alleged practise as "reckless beyond words."
If you're writing about the CIA/@Wikileaks story, here's the big deal: first public evidence USG secretly paying to keep US software unsafe. pic.twitter.com/kYi0NC2mOp
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) March 7, 2017
The CIA reports show the USG developing vulnerabilities in US products, then intentionally keeping the holes open. Reckless beyond words.
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) March 7, 2017
On Tuesday morning, WikiLeaks published "Year Zero," the first release in a series that it's calling "Vault 7." Tuesday's release contains 8,761 documents that allegedly come from "an isolated, high-security network situated inside the CIA's Center for Cyber Intelligence" at its headquarters in Langley, Virginia.
Among the more notable allegations from the "Year Zero" release were that the CIA was exploring the idea of infecting the vehicle control systems used by modern cars and trucks and also that the CIA loves memes.
There's also been panic around whether or not the CIA had figured out how to hack encrypted messaging apps like WhatsApp and Signal but Snowden offered a word of clarity on that front.
Tweet may have been deleted
He then retweeted a Buzzfeedcorrespondent who echoed his point.
Tweet may have been deleted
The press release paints a picture of bureaucratic rivalry between the CIA and the NSA, both known for covert spying operations of one kind or another. Snowden worked directly for the CIA and, later, with NSA contractor Booz Allen Hamilton.
WikiLeaks alleges the CIA has achieved "political and budgetary preeminence" over its rival and built a world-class hacking team so it no longer has to rely on the NSA.
Mashablehas not yet confirmed the allegations in WikiLeaks' press release but will continue to follow this story as it develops.
Additional reporting by Colin Daileda and Gianluca Mezzofiore.
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