The Rise of Rust, the ‘Viral’ Secure Programming Language That’s Taking Over Tech

Rust makes it impossible to introduce some of the most common security vulnerabilities. And its adoption can’t come soon enough...

When Your Neighbor Turns You In

Authoritarian societies depend on people ratting each other out for activities that were recently legal—and it's already happening in the US...

If Musk Starts Firing Twitter's Security Team, Run

What's next for the social network is anyone's guess—but here's what to watch as you wade through the privacy and security morass...

Your Microsoft Exchange Server Is a Security Liability

Endless vulnerabilities. Massive hacking campaigns. Slow and technically tough patching. It's time to say goodbye to on-premise Exchange...

The $1 Billion Alex Jones Effect

The Infowars host now knows the cost of “free speech”—but does the landmark judgment signal a crackdown on disinformation?...

Meta Says It Has Busted More Than 400 Login-Stealing Apps This Year

The company plans to alert 1 million Facebook users that their account credentials may have been compromised by malicious software...

The Twitter Whistleblower’s Testimony Has Senators Out for Blood

Peiter “Mudge” Zatko’s allegations about the social media platform renewed a sense of urgency for lawmakers to rein in Big Tech...

iOS 16 Has 2 New Security Features for Worst-Case Scenarios

Safety Check and Lockdown Mode give people in vulnerable situations ways to quarantine themselves from acute risks...

Apple’s Killing the Password. Here’s Everything You Need to Know

With iOS 16 and macOS Ventura, Apple is introducing passkeys—a more convenient and secure alternative to passwords...

Here’s What Trump’s ‘Nuclear Documents’ Could Be

FBI agents reportedly searched Mar-a-Lago for “nuclear documents.” That can fall into one of these four categories...

This Anti-Tracking Tool Checks If You’re Being Followed

The Raspberry Pi-powered device can scan for phones around you. If it keeps spotting the same one, it’ll send you an alert...

Congress Might Pass an Actually Good Privacy Bill

A bill with bipartisan support might finally give the US a strong federal data protection law...

The Most Popular Period-Tracking Apps, Ranked by Data Privacy

Under increased scrutiny, certain period-tracking apps are seeing a surge of new users. Which are as safe as they claim to be?...

A New Attack Can Unmask Anonymous Users on Any Major Browser

Researchers have found a way to use the web's basic functions to identify who visits a site—without the user detecting the hack...

New ‘Retbleed’ Attack Can Swipe Key Data From Intel and AMD CPUs

The exploit can leak password information and other sensitive material, but the chipmakers are rolling out mitigations...

Will These Algorithms Save You From Quantum Threats?

Quantum-proof encryption is here—decades before it can be put to the test...

How to Avoid the Worst Instagram Scams

Fake sellers. Competitions. Crypto cons. There are plenty of grifts on the platform, but you don’t have to get sucked in...

‘Supercookies’ Have Privacy Experts Sounding the Alarm

A German ad-tech trial features what Vodafone calls “digital tokens.” Should you be worried?...

Google Warns of New Spyware Targeting iOS and Android Users

The spyware has been used to target people in Italy, Kazakhstan, and Syria, researchers at Google and Lookout have found...

Russia Is Taking Over Ukraine’s Internet

In occupied Ukraine, people’s internet is being routed to Russia—and subjected to its powerful censorship and surveillance machine...

The Case for War Crimes Charges Against Russia’s Sandworm Hackers

A group of human rights lawyers and investigators has called on the Hague to bring the first-ever “cyber war crimes” charges against Russia’s most dangerous hackers...

Android 13 Tries to Make Privacy and Security a No-Brainer

With its latest mobile OS update, Google aims to simplify the adoption of Android’s protective features for users and developers alike...

The Bitcoin Bust That Took Down the Web’s Biggest Child Abuse Site

They thought their payments were untraceable. They couldn’t have been more wrong. The untold story of the case that shredded the myth of Bitcoin’s anonymity...

Blockchains Have a ‘Bridge’ Problem, and Hackers Know It

Blockchain bridges are a crucial piece of the cryptocurrency ecosystem, which makes them prime targets for attacks...

Putin and Biden Must Choose: How Does Russia Want to Lose?

As Russia's failures mount in its war against Ukraine, can Biden prevent an isolated Putin from doing the unthinkable?...

The Lapsus$ Hacking Group Is Off to a Chaotic Start

Telegram polls. Unusual demands. The latest extortion gang is on an unorthodox rampage...

The Alt-Right on Facebook Are Hijacking Canada’s Trucker Blockade

In Ottawa, a protest against vaccine mandates has become an international sensation. American far-right personalities are behind its online rise...

How Apple's iCloud Private Relay Can Keep You Safe

The newest security measure is still in beta. But if you want to make use of it, here's what you need to know...

How to Guard Against Smishing Attacks on Your Phone

“Smishing" is an attempt to collect logins or other sensitive information with a malicious text message—and it's on the rise...

Microsoft Seizes Domains Used by a Chinese Hacking Group

The move delivers a blow to the hackers behind sophisticated attacks on government agencies, think tanks, and other organizations...

A Planned Parenthood LA Hack Affects 400,000 Patients

Plus: A Ubiquiti hack revelation, predictive policing, and more of the week's top security news...

Malicious Google Play Apps Stole User Banking Info

Using tricks to sidestep the app store's restrictions, malware operators pillaged passwords, keystrokes, and other data...

‘Ghostwriter’ Looks Like a Purely Russian Op—Except It's Not

Security researchers have found signs that the pervasive hacking and misinformation campaign comes not from Moscow but from Minsk...

The US Puts a $10M Bounty on DarkSide Ransomware Hackers

Plus: a “Trojan Source” bug, Russian hackers exposed, and more of the week's top security news...

The Demise of White House Market Will Shake Up the Dark Web

The popular marketplace’s closing leaves a big hole in the billion-dollar industry of illegal drugs, credit card and bank fraud, forged documents, and more...

The SolarWinds Hackers Are Looking for Their Next Big Score

Plus: Gas station hacks in Iran, ransomware arrests in Europe, and more of the week's top security news...

How to Switch From Google Authenticator to Another 2FA App

Yes, you can choose another two-factor authentication app without getting locked out of your accounts...

Why Ransomware Hackers Love a Holiday Weekend

Looking forward to Labor Day? So are ruthless gangs of cybercriminals...

Ransomware Hits Dozens of Hospitals in an Unprecedented Wave

As Covid-19 infections spike in many parts of the US, malware gangs are wreaking havoc on the health care system...

Google and Apple Change Tactics on Contact Tracing Tech

The companies will handle more of the technology for notifying people who may have been exposed to the coronavirus. Privacy won't be affected, they say...

Looks Like Russian Hackers Are on an Email Scam Spree

A group dubbed Cosmic Lynx uses surprisingly sophisticated methods—and targets big game...

Meta Deletes Face-Recognition System From Its Smart Glasses App After WIRED Report

The code WIRED identified is gone from the latest version of Meta AI, the companion app for the company’s smart glasses. Meta won’t say why or whether it’s coming back...

All the Ways Europe Is Ditching American Technology

A WIRED timeline shows how dozens of governments, companies, and other organizations across Europe are moving, or planning to shift, away from US Big Tech...

Crypto-Funded Chinese Peptide Labs Are Booming

Plus: Hackers use Meta’s AI bots to hack Instagram accounts, Anthropic helps NSA hackers, a decades-long GPS satellite mystery may have been solved, and more...

A GPS Blackout Would Shut Down the World

GPS jamming and spoofing attacks are on the rise. If the global navigation system the US relies on were to go down entirely, it would send the world into unprecedented chaos...

Google Is Using On-Device AI to Spot Scam Texts and Investment Fraud

Android’s “Scam Detection” protection in Google Messages will now be able to flag even more types of digital fraud...

Think Twice Before Creating That ChatGPT Action Figure

People are using ChatGPT’s new image generator to take part in viral social media trends. But using it also puts your privacy at risk—unless you take a few simple steps to protect yourself...

The Murky Ad-Tech World Powering Surveillance of US Military Personnel

A Florida data broker told a US senator it obtained sensitive data on US military members in Germany from a Lithuanian firm, which denies involvement—revealing the opaque nature of online ad surveillance...

Inside the Booming ‘AI Pimping’ Industry

AI-generated influencers based on stolen images of real-life adult content creators are flooding social media...

Russia’s Most Notorious Special Forces Unit Now Has Its Own Cyber Warfare Team

Unit 29155 of Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency—a team responsible for coup attempts, assassinations, and bombings—has branched out into brazen hacking operations with targets across the world...