New Snowden documents prove the hacked NSA files are real

Newly released documents from former US National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden confirm what many experts had already believed: The 234-megabyte archive of NSA hacker tools, exploits, and implants that leaked online earlier this week is real.

The key to confirming the leaked files, which was uploaded to various file-sharing sites earlier this week by a group called the "Shadow Brokers," came in a top-secret agency manual published on Friday by Sam Biddle of The Intercept. It instructed NSA hackers on how to track their malicious software by using a 16-character string buried in the code.

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"One of the interesting things about the exploits is they are very professional and they clean up after themselves," Dave Aitel, an ex-NSA research scientist who now leads penetration-testing firm Immunity, told Business Insider. "Not only do they turn things off, but they turn things back on. When you're looking at stuff that's written by a lot of hackers, it will backdoor something but it won't 'un-backdoor' something."

Put simply: Your average hacker will build tools that break in, but a sophisticated hacker — such as those employed by the US or some other nation — will build tools that break in, hide all their tracks, and turn everything off once they get what they need.

"These are the type of tools that are really exclusive to governments," a source who worked for NSA's elite hacker unit, Tailored Access Operations, told Business Insider on condition of anonymity in order to discuss sensitive matters.

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http://www.businessinsider.com/snowden-confirm-hacked-nsa-files-2016-8