A 35-year-old former CIA officer, Joshua Schulte, has been handed a 40-year prison sentence for his involvement in one of the most audacious leaks in US history. Schulte was found guilty of disseminating classified hacking tools, known as "Vault 7," to the whistleblowing platform Wikileaks. These tools, capable of turning smartphones into eavesdropping devices, were a significant breach for the CIA.
Schulte, who served as a software developer in the Center for Cyber Intelligence, engaged in cyber espionage against terrorist organizations and foreign governments. The leak, comprising 8,761 documents shared with Wikileaks in 2017, marked the largest data breach in the CIA's history. The disclosure severely compromised the agency's ability to collect foreign intelligence, jeopardizing personnel, programs, and assets, with estimated costs running into hundreds of millions of dollars.
During the trial, prosecutors revealed that Schulte, motivated by workplace disputes and a perceived injustice, transmitted the stolen information to Wikileaks in 2016. His actions were described as acts of revenge that inflicted enormous damage on national security. Despite Schulte's denial of the allegations, evidence presented during federal trials in New York in 2020, 2022, and 2023 led to convictions on charges including espionage, computer hacking, contempt of court, making false statements to the FBI, and possession of child abuse images.
In addition to the espionage-related charges, Schulte was found in possession of child abuse images. Authorities discovered tens of thousands of such materials during a search of his apartment, revealing disturbing facets of his personal life. Following the Wikileaks publication, Schulte was interviewed multiple times by the FBI, during which he consistently denied his involvement.
After his arrest in 2018, Schulte attempted to transmit more classified information from behind bars. He smuggled a phone into jail, using it to reach out to a reporter with details about CIA cyber groups. He also drafted tweets under the alias Jason Bourne, a fictional intelligence operative, sharing information about CIA cyber tools.
In sentencing Schulte, US Attorney Damian Williams emphasized the gravity of his actions, stating that he had "betrayed his country by committing some of the most brazen, heinous crimes of espionage in American history." Schulte has been in custody since 2018, and the 40-year sentence reflects the severe consequences of his betrayal and the damage caused to national security.
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