Released NSA Hacking Kits Unleashed New Generation Of Cyber Criminals

When the group called Shadow Brokers released clumps of data last week, which they supposedly got by stealing them from the NSA, they also provided a new generation of hackers with the tools to up their game. Now, anyone who has the experience and curiosity to use these tools are already hard at work putting them to the test.

The group responsible for the leaks says that they are not done yet and have even more clumps of data that they can release, Wired reports. However, even the current tools already out in the open are enough to give hackers of all kinds the ability to do some significant damage.

Just to see how far the tools have spread, a security researcher at NYU named Brendan Dolan-Gavitt set up a bait for hackers, featuring the exact vulnerabilities that the kit was meant to target. Within 24 hours, he got a bite and kept getting them for days after.

Dolan-Gavitt said that he wasn’t surprised that someone actually used the tools, particularly with resources like Shodan giving them access to whichever platform was vulnerable.

“People maybe read the blog post about how to use the particular tool that carries out the exploit, and then either scanned the Internet themselves or just looked for vulnerable systems on Shodan and started trying to exploit them that way,” he said.

Vox notes that the security breach at the NSA proves just how vulnerable the government agency has made Americans. By hoarding the vulnerabilities that are supposed to be fixed, the agency could potentially hack any one of the entities afflicted by the security issue.

Now that the information has been spread far and wide, companies are now more vulnerable than ever to hacking. Many of those who have listed vulnerabilities have already taken steps to cover the holes, but there are also those who have yet to even realize that they now have an open back door.