If you\u2019ve seen a suspense\/thriller movie lately, a lot of them have to do with government authorities taking control of different private sector systems, and usually with nefarious purposes. Until recently, that\u2019s seemed a little far-fetched, and perhaps a product of the conspiracy theorist groups out there. However, the news this week seems to indicate that it isn\u2019t that far-fetched after all. \u00a0Wikileaks has recently exposed\u00a0a CIA malware project, which, at face value, sounds like a cool project but at the same time might give you goose bumps if you\u2019re one of those using a Windows OS. This CIA malware project Athena is designed for spying and hacking. Athena malware is the brainchild of CIA and Siege Technologies, a company located in New Hampshire, US.<\/p>\n
Apparently<\/a>, the Athena malware can hijack\u00a0Windows versions starting from XP to Windows 10, and everything in between. This malware also consists of an additional module called Hera, which affects PCs running Windows 8 to Windows 10.\u00a0 The capabilities of Athena malware are mind blowing. Once Athena malware is set on the target system, it can decode remote configuration and task handling.\u00a0 It can load or unload memories of NOD Persistence Specification DLLs. In addition, it can deliver and retrieve information to and from any directory.\u00a0 These tools would give control of machines to the CIA completely and they definitely highlight the power of what technology can do. However, at the same time it also gives us a reason to pause and think of the impact of its power.\u00a0 And if you think this level of government control is concerning, here is the most concerning part of all – it lets the operator configure during runtime on the system and thus cannot be detected. The malware can be delivered in a number of different ways including remotely, through a supply chain, through an asset on the ground, or with a program called Windex (which was explained in earlier WikiLeaks releases).<\/p>\n