WikiLeaks: The CIA is using popular TVs, smartphones and cars to spy on their owners - The Washington Post

Also see With WikiLeaks Claims of C.I.A. Hacking, How Vulnerable Is Your Smartphone? (NYT)

"While many of the attack technologies had been previously discussed at cybersecurity conferences, experts were startled to see evidence that the CIA had turned so many theoretical vulnerabilities into functioning attack tools against staples of modern life. These include widely used Internet routers, smartphones, and Mac and Windows computers.

In the case of a tool called “Weeping Angel” for attacking Samsung SmartTVs, WikiLeaks wrote, “After infestation, Weeping Angel places the target TV in a ‘Fake-Off’ mode, so that the owner falsely believes the TV is off when it is on, In ‘Fake-Off’ mode the TV operates as a bug, recording conversations in the room and sending them over the Internet to a covert CIA server.”

The CIA reportedly also has studied whether it could infect vehicle control systems for cars and trucks, which WikiLeaks alleged could be used to conduct “nearly undetectable assassinations.”"

WikiLeaks: The CIA is using popular TVs, smartphones and cars to spy on their owners - The Washington Post