The founder of Wikileaks says he will hand over the details of CIA hacking tools to tech companies.
It comes after his group published thousands of documents this week, including some which appear to show that the CIA are able to spy on people using smart TVs and phones.
In an online press conference, Assange acknowledged that some companies had asked for more details about the CIA cyberespionage toolkit whose existence he revealed in a massive leak published on Tuesday.
Mr Assnage said "We have decided to work with them, to give them some exclusive access to some of the technical details we have, so that fixes can be pushed out."
He said once tech firms had patched their products, he would release the full data of the hacking tools to the public.
The CIA hasn't commented directly on the authenticity of the leak, but in a statement issued on Wednesday it suggested that the release had given their adversaries the "tools and information to do us harm."
Assange said during the press conference "This is a historic act of devastating incompetence," adding that "WikiLeaks discovered the material as a result of it being passed around."
Assange said the technology was nearly impossible to keep under wraps or even under control.
"There's absolutely nothing to stop a random CIA officer or even a contractor from using the technology.
"The technology is designed to be unaccountable, untraceable; it's designed to remove traces of its activity."
Snowden's reaction
Edward Snowden recently chimed in on the situation saying in a tweet "One question matters: @CIA realized they lost control of their hacks last year. Did they immediately warn US manufacturers to fix the vulns?
He then followed it up by saying "Critical to investigate if, and for how long, CIA permitted the most popular US smartphones to remain vulnerable after learning of breach."
One question matters: @CIA realized they lost control of their hacks last year. Did they immediately warn US manufacturers to fix the vulns?
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) March 9, 2017
Critical to investigate if, and for how long, CIA permitted the most popular US smartphones to remain vulnerable after learning of breach. https://t.co/Noj8qStoDT
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) March 9, 2017
