The Weird, Dark History of 8chan and Its Founder Fredrick Brennan

Fredrick Brennan is appalled by the notorious chat site’s links to right-wing extremism and mass shootings. Inside his tortured journey through the web’s cesspool and his attempt at redemption...

A Top Voting-Machine Firm Calls for Paper Ballots

The long-awaited shift from paperless ballots could make elections more secure...

On the Trail of the Robocall King

An investigator set out to discover the source of one scammy robocall. Turns out, his target made them by the millions...

Email Scammers Ditch Wire Transfers for iTunes Gift Cards

Business email compromise attacks are increasingly targeting nonprofits, and bilking them for iTunes gift cards...

How Instagram Became the Russian IRA's Go-To Social Network

A Senate report finds that Russia's Internet Research Agency was far more active, and more successful, on Instagram in 2017 than on Facebook or Twitter...

How Would NYC's Anti-AirDrop Dick Pic Law Even Work?

The bill's sponsors want cyber flashers to face the same consequences as their offline counterparts, but there are technical and legal hurdles...

Sue Gordon: Silicon Valley Should Work With the Government

In an expansive on-the-record interview with WIRED, the principal deputy director of national intelligence made her pitch for public-private partnerships...

How Russian Spies Infiltrated Hotel Wi-Fi to Hack Their Victims Up Close

A new indictment details how Russian agents camped outside hotels when remote hacking efforts weren't enough...

Malware Has a New Way to Hide on Your Mac

By only checking a file's code signature when you install it—and never again—macOS gives malware a chance to evade detection indefinitely...

The Facebook Hack Is an Internet-Wide Failure

Major sites using Facebook's Single Sign-On don't implement basic security features, potentially making the fallout of last week's hack much worse...

OpenAI Launches Full-Scale Effort to Patch Open-Source Bugs as It Takes on Anthropic’s Mythos

Amid concerns about AI models’ cybersecurity capabilities, OpenAI revealed an improved version of GPT-5.5-Cyber and its “Patch the Planet” initiative to fix open-source software bugs...

A Graphic Hamas Video Donald Trump Jr. Shared on X Is Actually Real, Research Confirms

A video posted by Donald Trump Jr. showing Hamas militants attacking Israelis was falsely flagged in a Community Note as being years old, thus making X's disinformation problem worse, not better...

Hackers Got Past Windows Hello by Tricking a Webcam

The security researchers used infrared photos and third-party hardware to best Microsoft’s facial-recognition tech...

The FBI’s Director Compares Ransomware Threat to 9/11

Plus, a Supreme Court decision on a controversial anti-hacking law, a WhatsApp walk-back, and more of the week’s top security news...

Blurred Satellite Images Make Rebuilding Palestine Harder

Digital researchers and aid groups say free mapping tools like Google Earth are too imprecise...

Microsoft Will Soon Kill Flash on Windows 10 for Good

Plus: A Peloton data leak, Russian hacker details, and more of the week’s top security news...

2034, Part I: Peril in the South China Sea

“We've got a ship in duress that hasn't sent out a distress signal. Something doesn't add up.”...

The Worst Hacks of 2020, a Surreal Pandemic Year

From ransomware schemes to supply chain attacks, this year melded classic hacks with extraordinary circumstances...

The Law Comes for John McAfee

Plus: A buggy chastity lock, Iranian disinformation, and more of the week’s top security news...

How to Opt Out of the Sites That Sell Your Personal Data

It's much harder than it should be to get your name off of data broker and people-search sites, but it's possible...

Kostya and Me: How Sam Patten Got Ensnared in Mueller’s Probe

A political consultant crosses paths with Konstantin Kilimnik, Paul Manafort, and Cambridge Analytica, then becomes part of the Russia investigation...

Google Will Replace Titan Security Key Over a Bluetooth Flaw

Google will replace any Titan BLE branded security key, after disclosing that a nearby attacker could use it to compromise your accounts...

The CIA Sets Up Shop on Tor, the Anonymous Internet

Even the Central Intelligence Agency has a so-called onion service now...

A Hacking Spree, a Fight for Open Internet, and More News

Catch up on the most important news today in 2 minutes or less...

How To Make Your Amazon Echo and Google Home as Private as Possible

With news that Amazon lets human employees listen to Alexa recordings, you might want to tighten up your smart assistant ship...

Huawei's Problem Isn't Chinese Backdoors. It's Buggy Software

A British report finds that Huawei equipment, suspected of including backdoors for China's government, suffers from a lack of "basic engineering competence."...

How Zello Became a Lifeline for Venezuelans Under Maduro

A dedicated community of Zello moderators uses the voice-chat app to bring news and coordinate aid amid the country's political and economic crisis...

9 Questions for Facebook After Zuckerberg’s Privacy Manifesto

On Wednesday, Mark Zuckerberg laid out a vision for a very different Facebook—with a lot of unknowns about how to get there...

New Scam Apps Take Advantage of iPhone Touch ID

Touch ID is seamless, which makes it great for unlocking your phone—and for App Store scammers...

The US Leans on Private Firms to Expose Foreign Hackers

Opinion: The government needs to step up in calling out cyber-attackers. Otherwise, we risk playing into their hands...

DOJ Indicts 2 Iranian Hackers for Harmful SamSam Ransomware

A string of attacks hobbled the city of Atlanta, multiple hospitals, and more. The feds now think they know who did it...

Paper and the Case for Going Low-Tech in the Voting Booth

When considered as a form of tech, paper has a killer feature set: It’s intuitive, it doesn’t crash, and it doesn’t need a power source...

Pentagon Weapons Systems Are Easy Cyberattack Targets, New Report Finds

A new report says the Department of Defense "likely has an entire generation of systems that were designed and built without adequately considering cybersecurity."...

The Best Personal Safety Devices, Apps, and Wearables (2024)

Your smartphone or wearable could help you out in a truly dangerous situation. Here are some options to consider...

Microsoft Edge’s ‘Super Duper Secure Mode’ Does What It Says

Plus: Facebook account hacks, Instagram-ban scammers, and more of the week’s top security news...

Amazon Echo Dots Store a Wealth of Data—Even After a Reset

Thinking about selling your smart speaker? Be aware that you can't completely delete personal content from the device...

The Full Story of the Stunning RSA Hack Can Finally Be Told

In 2011, Chinese spies stole the crown jewels of cybersecurity—stripping protections from firms and government agencies worldwide. Here’s how it happened...

How Your Digital Trails Wind Up in the Police’s Hands

Phone calls. Web searches. Location tracks. Smart speaker requests. They’ve become crucial tools for law enforcement, while users often are unaware...

China and Iran Tried to Hack the Biden and Trump Campaigns

Plus: An iOS zero day, surveillance planes, and more of the week's top security news...

The DHS Prepares for Attacks Fueled by 5G Conspiracy Theories

The claim that 5G can spread the coronavirus has led to dozens of cell-tower burnings in Europe. Now, the US telecom industry is on alert as well...

Twitter Now Has Better Two-Factor Authentication, So Use It

A hacking bounty, right to repair, and more of the week's top security news...

Russia’s Cozy Bear Hackers Resurface With Clever New Tricks

Largely out of the spotlight since 2016, Cozy Bear hackers have been caught perpetrating a years-long campaign...

Michael Cohen's Credibility Has Never Been More Certain

In his testimony before Congress Wednesday, Trump's former fixer gave the most convincing narrative yet about Trump's presidential run...

Manafort and Cohen Sentencing Documents Put Donald Trump in Spotlight

The Mueller investigation has a long way to go, but the worst case scenario seems increasingly likely...

Russia's Fancy Bear and Cozy Bear Hackers May Have New Phishing Tricks

Two new reports show an uptick in sophisticated phishing attacks originating from—where else—Russia...

Hackers Can Stealthily Avoid Traps Set to Defend Amazon's Cloud

In the cat and mouse game of protecting cloud services, attackers find a sneaky advantage...

Why Cops Can Use Face ID to Unlock Your iPhone

For the first publicly documented time, law enforcement has used Face ID to forcibly unlock someone's iPhone. It won't be the last...

All the Ways Spotify Tracks You—and How to Stop It

Whether you're listening to workout music or a "cooking dinner" playlist, the app can show you ads based on your mood and what you're doing right now...

How to Make Sure Your Browser Extensions Are Safe

As useful as all those add-ons can be, don't get complacent when it comes to making sure they're also secure...

How Amazon Sidewalk Works—and Why You May Want to Turn It Off

The premise is convenient. But the ecommerce giant’s record on privacy isn't exactly inspiring...