Former CIA Engineer Convicted of Leaking 'Vault 7' Hacking Secrets to WikiLeaks
Jul 14, 2022
Joshua Schulte, a former programmer with the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), has been found guilty of leaking a trove of classified hacking tools and exploits dubbed Vault 7 to WikiLeaks. The 33-year-old engineer had been charged in June 2018 with unauthorized disclosure of classified information and theft of classified material. Schulte also faces a separate trial on charges related to possession of child pornographic photos and videos, for which he was arrested on August 24, 2017. U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement that Schulte was convicted for "one of the most brazen and damaging acts of espionage in American history," adding his actions had a "devastating effect on our intelligence community by providing critical intelligence to those who wish to do us harm." WikiLeaks would go on to release the documents on March 7, 2017, calling it the "largest ever publication of confidential documents on the...