CIA EXPOSED: The Embedded Devices Branch (EDB) and the Automated Implanted Branch (AIB)

CIA's Embedded Devices Branch (EDB), which infests smart TVs, transforming them into covert microphones, is surely its most emblematic realization.

SUMMARY:

The CIA develops and utilizes a range of hacking tools and malware through the Engineering Development Group (EDG), a software development unit within the Center for Cyber Intelligence (CCI). The CCI operates under the Directorate for Digital Innovation (DDI), one of the CIA's major divisions.

The EDG is responsible for creating, testing, and supporting covert tools such as backdoors, exploits, trojans, viruses, and other malware employed worldwide by the CIA.

One notable attack involved cooperation between the CIA and the United Kingdom's MI5/BTSS to target Samsung smart TVs. Using a tool called Weeping Angel, the TV is placed in a deceptive 'Fake-Off' mode, secretly recording conversations in the room and transmitting them to a hidden CIA server via the internet.

The CIA's Mobile Devices Branch (MDB) has developed multiple methods to remotely hack and control popular smartphones. Infected phones can be instructed to send the CIA the user's geolocation, audio and text communications, and even activate the device's camera and microphone covertly.

Despite the iPhone's relatively small market share in 2016, the CIA's Mobile Development Branch focuses on developing malware specifically for iPhones and other Apple products running iOS. The CIA's arsenal includes both locally developed and externally sourced vulnerabilities ("zero days") obtained from organizations like GCHQ, NSA, and FBI, or purchased from cyber arms contractors such as Baitshop. The emphasis on iOS may be attributed to the iPhone's popularity among influential individuals in social, political, diplomatic, and business circles.

It's worth noting that the CIA has the ability to bypass the encryption of popular messaging apps like WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, Wiebo, Confide, and Cloackman by hacking the underlying smartphones. By accessing the devices before encryption is applied, the CIA can intercept and collect audio and message traffic.

CIA ORGANIZATIONAL CHART: