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How to Enter the US With Your Digital Privacy Intact
Crossing into the United States has become increasingly dangerous for digital privacy. Here are a few steps you can take to minimize the risk of Customs and Border Protection accessing your data...
Under Trump, US Cyberdefense Loses Its Head
Chinese hacks, rampant ransomware, and Donald Trump’s budget cuts all threaten US security. In an exit interview with WIRED, former CISA head Jen Easterly argues for her agency’s survival...
The School Shootings Were Fake. The Terror Was Real
The inside story of the teenager whose “swatting” calls sent armed police racing into hundreds of schools nationwide—and the private detective who tracked him down...
The Most Dangerous People on the Internet in 2024
From Elon Musk and Donald Trump to state-sponsored hackers and crypto scammers, this was the year the online agents of chaos gained ground...
Top US Consumer Watchdog Has a Plan to Fight Predatory Data Brokers
A new proposal by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau would use a 54-year-old privacy law to impose new oversight of the data broker industry. But first, the agency must survive Elon Musk...
Inside a Violent Gang's Ruthless Crypto-Stealing Home Invasion Spree
More than a dozen men threatened, assaulted, tortured, or kidnapped 11 victims in likely the worst-ever crypto-focused serial extortion case of its kind in the US...
Deepfake Creators Are Revictimizing GirlsDoPorn Sex Trafficking Survivors
The most notorious deepfake sexual abuse website is hosting altered videos originally published as part of the GirlsDoPorn operation. Experts say this new low is only the beginning...
Ukrainian Sailors Are Using Telegram to Avoid Being Tricked Into Smuggling Oil for Russia
Contract seafarers in Ukraine are turning to online whisper networks to keep themselves from being hired into Russia’s sanctions-busting shadow fleet...
Medical-Targeted Ransomware Is Breaking Records After Change Healthcare’s $22M Payout
Cybersecurity firm Recorded Future counted 44 health-care-related incidents in the month after Change Healthcare’s payment came to light—the most it’s ever seen in a single month...
House Votes to Extend—and Expand—a Major US Spy Program
The US House of Representatives voted on Friday to extend the Section 702 spy program. It passed without an amendment that would have required the FBI to obtain a warrant to access Americans’ information...
A Vigilante Hacker Took Down North Korea’s Internet. Now He’s Taking Off His Mask
As “P4x,” Alejandro Caceres single-handedly disrupted the internet of an entire country. Then he tried to show the US military how it can—and should—adopt his methods...
The Mystery of ‘Jia Tan,’ the XZ Backdoor Mastermind
The thwarted XZ Utils supply chain attack was years in the making. Now, clues suggest nation-state hackers were behind the persona that inserted the malicious code...
The DOJ Puts Apple's iMessage Encryption in the Antitrust Crosshairs
Privacy and security are an Apple selling point. But the DOJ’s new antitrust lawsuit argues that Apple selectively embraces privacy and security features in ways that hurt competition—and users...
Hackers Behind the Change Healthcare Ransomware Attack Just Received a $22 Million Payment
The transaction, visible on Bitcoin's blockchain, suggests the victim of one of the worst ransomware attacks in years may have paid a very large ransom...
I Stopped Using Passwords. It's Great—and a Total Mess
Passkeys are here to replace passwords. When they work, it’s a seamless vision of the future. But don’t ditch your old logins just yet...
Ransomware Payments Hit a Record $1.1 Billion in 2023
After a slowdown in payments to ransomware gangs in 2022, last year saw total ransom payouts jump to their highest level yet, according to a new report from crypto-tracing firm Chainalysis...
A Bloody Pig Mask Is Just Part of a Wild New Criminal Charge Against eBay
Plus: Chinese officials tracked people using AirDrop, Stuxnet mole’s identity revealed, AI chatbot hacking, and more...
A New Trick Uses AI to Jailbreak AI Models—Including GPT-4
Adversarial algorithms can systematically probe large language models like OpenAI’s GPT-4 for weaknesses that can make them misbehave...
Telegram’s Bans on Extremist Channels Aren't Really Bans
A WIRED analysis of more than 100 restricted channels shows these communities remain active, and content shared within them often spreads to channels accessible to the public...
The Dangerous Mystery of Hamas’ Missing ‘Suicide Drones’
Hamas has long touted its military drones, but little is known about the true scale of the threat. The answer may have consequences for people on both sides of the Israel-Gaza border...
23andMe User Data Stolen in Targeted Attack on Ashkenazi Jews
At least a million data points from 23andMe accounts appear to have been exposed on BreachForums. While the scale of the campaign is unknown, 23andMe says it's working to verify the data...
How to Stop Google Bard From Storing Your Data and Location
Checking out this AI chatbot's new features? Make sure to keep these privacy tips in mind during your interactions...
The Comedy of Errors That Let China-Backed Hackers Steal Microsoft’s Signing Key
After leaving many questions unanswered, Microsoft explains in a new postmortem the series of slipups that allowed attackers to steal and abuse a valuable cryptographic key...
New ‘Downfall’ Flaw Exposes Valuable Data in Generations of Intel Chips
The vulnerability could allow attackers to take advantage of an information leak to steal sensitive details like private messages, passwords, and encryption keys...
What Doctors Wish You Knew About HIPAA and Data Security
Think US health data is automatically kept private? Think again...
The Mystery of Chernobyl’s Post-Invasion Radiation Spikes
Soon after Russian troops invaded Ukraine in February 2022, sensors in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone reported radiation spikes. A researcher now believes he’s found evidence the data was manipulated...
9 Years After the Mt. Gox Hack, Feds Indict Alleged Culprits
Plus: Instagram’s CSAM network gets exposed, Clop hackers claim credit for MOVEit Transfer exploit, and a $35 million crypto heist has North Korean ties...
Meta Moves to Counter New Malware and Repeat Account Takeovers
The company is adding new tools as bad actors use ChatGPT-themed lures and mask their infrastructure in an attempt to trick victims and elude defenders...
The Hacker Who Hijacked Matt Walsh’s Twitter Was Just ‘Bored’
The breach of the right-wing provocateur was simply a way of “stirring up some drama,” the attacker tells WIRED. But the damage could have been much worse...
Massive 3CX Supply-Chain Hack Targeted Cryptocurrency Firms
North Korean hackers appear to have used the corrupted VoIP software to go after just a handful of crypto firms with “surgical precision.”...
What to Do When Your Boss Is Spying on You
Employee monitoring increased with Covid-19’s remote work—and stuck around for back-to-the-office...
Googling for Software Downloads Is Extra Risky Right Now
Plus: The FTC cracks down on GoodRx, Microsoft boots “verified” phishing scammers, researchers disclose EV charger vulnerabilities, and more...
The Biggest US Surveillance Program You Didn’t Know About
Plus: A leaked US “no fly” list, the SCOTUS leaker slips investigators, and PayPal gets stuffed...
Lensa AI and ‘Magic Avatars’: What to Know Before Using the App
Are you thinking about uploading some selfies and buying a pack of ‘Magic Avatars’? Consider these expert tips first...
Russia’s Sway Over Criminal Ransomware Gangs Is Coming Into Focus
Questions about the Kremlin’s relationships with these groups remain. But researchers are finally getting some answers...
The Race to Find the Nord Stream Saboteurs
Damage to the pipeline that runs between Russia and Germany is being treated as deliberate. Finding out what happened may not be straightforward...
Cloudflare Takes a Stab at a Captcha That Doesn’t Suck
The internet infrastructure company has an alternative tool to check whether you’re human—and it doesn’t force you to pick out buses in tiny boxes...
The Ungodly Surveillance of Anti-Porn ‘Shameware’ Apps
Churches are using invasive phone-monitoring tech to discourage “sinful” behavior. Some software is seeing more than congregants realize...
It’s Time to Get Real About TikTok’s Risks
US lawmakers keep warning about the popular app. But until they can explain what makes it uniquely dangerous, it’s difficult to tailor a resolution...
You’re Not Stringer Bell, but You May Still Need a Burner Phone
Prepaid phones are looking good as privacy worries peak...
Scans of Students’ Homes During Tests Are Deemed Unconstitutional
An Ohio judge ruled that such surveillance to prevent cheating could form a slippery slope to more illegal searches...
Will Europe Force a Facebook Blackout?
Regulators are close to stopping Meta from sending EU data to the US, bringing a years-long privacy battle to a head...
You Pay More When Companies Get Hacked
Plus: Google delays the end of cookies again, EU officials were targeted with Pegasus spyware, and more of the top security news...
The 2022 US Midterm Elections' Top Security Issue: Death Threats
While cybersecurity and foreign meddling remain priorities, domestic threats against election workers have risen to the top of the list...
The Post-Roe Privacy Nightmare Has Arrived
Plus: Microsoft details Russia’s Ukraine hacking campaign, Meta’s election integrity efforts dwindle, and more...
How China Hacked US Phone Networks
Plus: Russia rattles its cyber sword, a huge Facebook phishing operation is uncovered, feds take down the SSNDOB marketplace, and more...
How One Company Helps Keep Russia’s TV Propaganda Machine Online
Russia is using satellites controlled by French operator Eutelsat to broadcast state-run programming. A grassroots group is pushing for that to stop...
Small Drones Are Giving Ukraine an Unprecedented Edge
From surveillance to search-and-rescue, consumer drones are having an unprecedented impact on Ukraine’s defense against Russia...