3418 matches found
Secretive White House Surveillance Program Gives Cops Access to Trillions of US Phone Records
A WIRED analysis of leaked police documents verifies that a secretive government program is allowing federal, state, and local law enforcement to access phone records of Americans who are not suspected of a crime...
The UN Hired an AI Company to Untangle the Israeli-Palestinian Crisis
CulturePulse's AI model promises to create a realistic virtual simulation of every Israeli and Palestinian citizen. But don't roll your eyes: It's already been put to the test in other conflict zones...
Security News This Week: US Energy Firm Targeted With Malicious QR Codes in Mass Phishing Attack
New research reveals the strategies hackers use to hide their malware distribution system, and companies are rushing to release mitigations for the “Downfall” processor vulnerability on Intel chips...
Teens Hacked Boston Subway’s CharlieCard to Get Infinite Free Rides—and This Time Nobody Got Sued
In 2008, Boston’s transit authority sued to stop MIT hackers from presenting at the Defcon hacker conference on how to get free subway rides. Today, four teens picked up where they left off...
This Hacker Tool Can Pinpoint a DJI Drone Operator's Exact Location
Every DJI quadcopter broadcasts its operator's position via radio—unencrypted. Now, a group of researchers has learned to decode those coordinates...
California Man Stole 620,000 iCloud Photos in Search of Nudes
Plus: The T-Mobile hacker, another big bad Microsoft bug, and more of the week’s top security news...
Why Insider ‘Zoom Bombs’ Are So Hard to Stop
Researchers have found that most calls to disrupt videoconferences originate with the participants, especially in high schools and colleges...
Apple's App 'Privacy Labels' Are Here—and They're a Big Step Forward
It remains unclear how effective the warnings will be, but the attempt alone is a promising development...
The Christchurch Shooter and YouTube’s Radicalization Trap
The platform has gotten better about stamping out extremist content. But researchers say its policies and algorithms are still too opaque...
The NSA Warns That Russia Is Attacking Remote Work Platforms
A vulnerability in VMWare has prompted a warning that companies—and government agencies—need to patch as soon as possible...
An Engineer Gets 9 Years for Stealing $10M From Microsoft
The defendant tried—and failed—to use bitcoin to cover his tracks...
At Least Election Day Didn't Melt Down
With most polls closed, the worst-case scenarios about ransomware and misinformation meltdowns have seemingly not come to pass...
The US Sanctions Russians for Potentially ‘Fatal’ Malware
The message is meant to deter any similar attack against US infrastructure...
A Deepfake Porn Bot Is Being Used to Abuse Thousands of Women
An AI tool that “removes” items of clothing from photos has targeted more than 100,000 women, some of whom appear to be under the age of 18...
Companies Can Track Your Phone’s Movements to Target Ads
Brands are seeking new ways to customize messages. A startup that gathers data on when you pick up your phone, or when you go out on a run, can help...
Feds Charge Chinese Hackers With Ripping Off Video Game Loot From 9 Companies
A group known as Barium allegedly attacked hundreds of targets around the globe—and manipulated in-game goods and currency...
Voting Machine Makers Are Finally Playing Nice With Hackers
After years of secrecy, one major election tech company is giving more hackers a look under the hood...
Hackers Could Use IoT Botnets to Manipulate Energy Markets
With access to just 50,000 high-wattage smart devices, attackers could make a bundle off of causing minor fluctuations...
Apple’s Hackable iPhones Are Finally Here
Last year, Apple announced a special device just for hackers. The phone—for approved researchers only—will soon go into circulation...
Amazon Says It Didn’t Mean to Ban Employees From Using TikTok
US lawmakers have repeatedly raised security concerns over the app's Chinese ownership. Are US businesses next?...
The Pentagon’s Hand-Me-Downs Helped Militarize Police. Here’s How
Over several decades, the 1033 program has shipped over $7.4 billion of Defense Department property to more than 8,000 law enforcement agencies...
The Nigerian Fraudsters Ripping Off the Unemployment System
Security researchers have spotted the “Scattered Canary” group scamming vital benefits programs amid the Covid-19 pandemic...
The Best and Worst Browsers for Privacy, Ranked
A new study examines how Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Brave, Edge, and Yandex collect user data...
High-Stakes Security Setups Are Making Remote Work Impossible
Staffers at power grids, intelligence agencies, and more often don’t have the option to work from home, even in light of Covid-19...
Toys “R” Us Is Back—Now With More Surveillance\!
Reports about the toy store using cameras to track shoppers caused an uproar, but the companies behind the tech insist their systems are trained to ignore kids...
So Much For the Deep State Plot Against Donald Trump
Inspector general Michael Horowitz's report shows that the FBI's investigation of ties between Russia and the Trump campaign was both justified and without political bias...
Trump's Ukraine Delusion, Tesla's Ford Showdown, and More News
Catch up on the most important news from today in two minutes or less...
After 6 Years in Exile, Edward Snowden Explains Himself
In a new memoir and interview, the world’s most famous whistle-blower elucidates as never before why he stood up to mass surveillance—and his love for an internet that no longer exists...
We’re all Just Starting to Realize the Power of Personal Data
This year revealed consumers have a lot more to learn about what happens to their information online...
This Company Wants to Use the Blockchain to Stop Phishing
MetaCert has classified 10 billion URLs as either safe, a suspected source of phishes, or unknown...
iTunes Doesn't Encrypt Downloads—on Purpose
While HTTPS has made the web at large a much safer place, Apple has chosen to forgo it for iTunes and App Store downloads...
Helm Wants You to Control Your Own Data Again
Helm hopes to make running your own private, encrypted server easy for everyone...
Intra Gives Older Versions of Android Important DNS Protections
Alphabet subsidiary Jigsaw is using a new app to give DNS encryption protections to any Android smartphone from the last seven years...
Palmer Luckey Is Just Getting Started
The Oculus founder on virtual reality, defense tech, biohacking an injured toe...
Sweden Drops Assange’s Rape Case—But He’s Not Walking Free
The Swedish decision only brings into focus Assange's core conflict with the US government. The post Sweden Drops Assange's Rape Case---But He's Not Walking Free appeared first on WIRED...
Suspected 4chan Hack Could Expose Longtime, Anonymous Admins
Though the exact details of the situation have not been confirmed, community infighting seems to have spilled out in a breach of the notorious image board...
This Russian Tech Bro Helped Steal $93 Million and Landed in US Prison. Then Putin Called
In the epic US-Russian prisoner swap last summer, Vladimir Putin brought home an assassin, spies, and another prized ally: the man behind one of the biggest insider trading cases of all time...
Inside the Biggest FBI Sting Operation in History
When a drug kingpin named Microsoft tried to seize control of an encrypted phone company for criminals, he was playing right into its real owners’ hands...
Jeffrey Epstein’s Island Visitors Exposed by Data Broker
A WIRED investigation uncovered coordinates collected by a controversial data broker that reveal sensitive information about visitors to an island once owned by Epstein, the notorious sex offender...
ChatGPT Spit Out Sensitive Data When Told to Repeat ‘Poem’ Forever
Plus: A major ransomware crackdown, the arrest of Ukraine’s cybersecurity chief, and a hack-for-hire entrepreneur charged with attempted murder...
A Spy Agency Leaked People's Data Online—Then the Data Was Stolen
The National Telecommunication Monitoring Center in Bangladesh exposed a database to the open web. The types of data leaked online are extensive...
This Cheap Hacking Device Can Crash Your iPhone With Pop-Ups
Plus: SolarWinds is charged with fraud, New Orleans police face recognition has flaws, and new details about Okta’s October data breach emerge...
Apple Expands Its On-Device Nudity Detection to Combat CSAM
Instead of scanning iCloud for illegal content, Apple’s tech will locally flag inappropriate images for kids. And adults are getting an opt-in nudes filter too...
Amazon Handed Ring Videos to Cops Without Warrants
Plus: A wild Indian cricket scam, an elite CIA hacker is found guilty of passing secrets to WikiLeaks, and more of the week's top security news...
How a Saxophonist Tricked the KGB by Encrypting Secrets in Music
Using a custom encryption scheme within music notation, Merryl Goldberg and three other US musicians slipped information to Soviet performers and activists known as the Phantom Orchestra...
A Devastating Twitch Hack Sends Streamers Reeling
The data breach apparently includes source code, gamer payouts, and more...
Ransomware Isn't Back. It Never Left
A recent wave of attacks belies an apparent lull toward the end of the summer...
LA Police Are Collecting Detainees' Social Media Information
According to new documents, officers ask people they stop for their Facebook and Twitter account details, and then feed the data into Palantir...
China Aims Its Propaganda Firehose at the BBC
The alleged digital operation has deployed hundreds of websites and social media accounts to attack the broadcaster's reporting...
The T-Mobile Breach Is Much Worse Than It Had to Be
The vast majority of victims weren’t even T-Mobile customers. Now their information is for sale on the dark web...