NSA Hacking Tools Released: The Shadow Brokers Reveal Password For Encrypted Folder

Short Bytes: Hacking group The Shadow Brokers has revealed the password for an encrypted file that contained many NSA hacking tools. In 2016, The Shadow Brokers tried to sell these cyberweapons, but they weren’t successful. Along with the latest password reveal, they’ve blamed Donald Trump for turning his back on the people who voted for him.

Back in August 2016, we told you about a hacking group named The Shadow Brokers that claimed to hack tons of NSA hacking tools and files. The hackers asked for 1 million in an auction to reveal more files. Well, as nobody showed much interested in buying those tools, they’re now giving it away for free.

In a long blog post on Medium, the hacking group has revealed the password for unlocking the encrypted folder of files that was previously being sold in the auction. In the post, the group has said that it’s a protest against the United States President Donald Trump.

In the grammatically poor post, The Shadow Brokers ask:

Respectfully, what the fuck are you doing? TheShadowBrokers voted for you. TheShadowBrokers supports you. TheShadowBrokers is losing faith in you. Mr. Trump helping theshadowbrokers, helping you. Is appearing you are abandoning “your base”, “the movement”, and the peoples who getting you elected.

After the reveal, the security researchers have started looking into the files. The exploits mainly focus on Linux-based operating systems; many of them even date back to the 1990s.

Today's #ShadowBrokers NSA dump shows hacking attacks on EU states, LatAm, Russia, China, Japan & South East Asia https://t.co/Gtz4JFst8O

— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) April 8, 2017

NSA whistleblower has also joined the conversation, saying that the files fall short of the fully hacking catalog of NSA.

…much here that NSA should be able to instantly identify where this set came from and how they lost it. If they can't, it's a scandal.

— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) April 8, 2017

Snowden has also expressed concerns that the leak might backfire. He said that NSA can identify where and how the hacking kit leaked.

Are these hacking tools going to create a stir? At the moment, it’s hard to say. In the future, we can also expect to witness more leaks.

Also Read: Linux-based Tizen OS Is Easily Hackable — Samsung’s Open Source Android Replacement