Ex-CIA engineer convicted of sending confidential data to Wikileaks in 2017

A New York court convicted Joshua Schulte, a former CIA engineer, for sharing information with WikiLeaks about spy programs used by the US intelligence agency. The decision was handed down on Wednesday (13) and incriminates Schulte on nine counts.

In 2017, WikiLeaks published a directory called Vault 7 that exposed a series of tools used by the CIA to intercept messages and search computers, iPhones and even TVs of potential targets. The documents were written between 2013 to 2016.

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“Today’s verdict states that keeping our nation’s cyber capabilities secure is of the utmost importance,” CIA spokeswoman Tammy Thorp told The Verge. “It is critical to the security of the American people and our advantage against adversaries abroad.”

At the CIA, Schulte, now 33, worked at the OSB (Operations Support Branch), where he built hacking tools. According to information from the American magazine New Yorker, he was capable of quickly transforming prototype software into resources for monitoring and stealing target information.

Interestingly, investigators were only able to obtain evidence against Schulte after lapses in personal security. For example, storing passwords on the cell phone to access encrypted storage.

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pedophilia accusations

In addition to his involvement in the Wikileaks case, the former CIA engineer faces yet another lawsuit, in which he is accused of pedophilia. Since 2018, he has been detained at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York.

In 2020, Schulte’s first trial was overturned because a jury convicted him of lying to FBI investigators, but not the rest of the charges. In the retrial, however, he was charged with collection, theft and transmission of confidential information and obstruction of justice.

Schulte now awaits resolution of charges related to possession and transportation of child pornography.

With information from The Verge

*Main information credit: Casimiro PT/Shutterstock

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