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The CIA Built a Fake Software Update System To Spy On Intel Partners (theverge.com)
Documents published by Wikileaks reveal a secret project to siphon out data through its technical liaison service, dating back to 2009. The Verge reports: The program, called ExpressLane, is designed to be deployed alongside a biometric collection system that the CIA provides to partner agencies. In theory, those partners are agreeing to provide the CIA with access to specific biometric data -- but on the off-chance those partners are holding out on them, ExpressLane gives the agency a way to take it without anyone knowing. ExpressLane masquerades as a software update, delivered in-person by CIA technicians -- but the documents make clear that the program itself will remain unchanged. Instead, the program siphons the system's data to a thumb drive, where agents can examine it to see if there's anything the partner system is holding back. If the partners refuse the phony update, there's a hidden kill-switch that lets agents shut down the entire system after a set period of time, requiring an in-person visit to restore the system.
"Spying on everybody and doing things they aren't supposed to" is not their job, the same way that "shooting everybody and doing things they aren't supposed to" is not the army's job. The CIA is an intelligence agency - that naturally involves plenty of spying, but two things they specifically should not be doing are: "spying on everybody" and "things they aren't supposed to".
"why's the CIA spying on Intel and its partners?"
So they can use Intel's Management Engine to spy on the rest of us.
"National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law