Tech

CIA Sought Out To Hack Cars, Leaked Docs Say

REUTERS/Jason Reed JIR - RTR3VKE

Alex Pfeiffer White House Correspondent
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The Central Intelligence Agency tried to figure out how to hack motor vehicle systems, according to documents released Tuesday by WikiLeaks.

The documents are part of a massive leak titled “Vault 7” and are allegedly from the CIA’s center for cyber operations. These documents detail CIA cyber operations, which include hacking a television so that it pretends to be off while recording targets.

The documents have not been confirmed as authentic by the CIA.

One document detailing notes of an October 2014 meeting of the “embedded development branch” says a potential target is “vehicle systems.” WikiLeaks wrote in a press release, “the purpose of such control is not specified, but it would permit the CIA to engage in nearly undetectable assassinations.”

Wired has previously reported on how hackers were able to take control of a car’s controls and disable the brakes. The CIA has not confirmed nor denied the validity of the documents released by WikiLeaks.