Sri Lanka, Feb. 2 -- Former CIA officer Joshua Schulte has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for leaking a vast collection of classified hacking tools to WikiLeaks. Schulte, aged 35, was found guilty of sharing around 8,761 documents, constituting the largest data breach in CIA history. The leaked tools, known as "Vault 7," enabled intelligence officers to hack smartphones for surveillance purposes. In addition to charges related to espionage and computer hacking, Schulte was also convicted of possessing child abuse images. The leak, which occurred in 2017, significantly damaged the CIA's ability to collect foreign intelligence and jeopardized personnel and assets.

He denied the allegations, but was convicted on the various counts at ...