The Signal Clone Mike Waltz Was Caught Using Has Direct Access to User Chats

A new analysis of TM Signal’s source code appears to show that the app sends users’ message logs in plaintext. At least one top Trump administration official used the app...

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...

What Really Happened With the DDoS Attacks That Took Down X

Elon Musk said a “massive cyberattack” disrupted X on Monday and pointed to “IP addresses originating in the Ukraine area” as the source of the attack. Security experts say that's not how it works...

DOGE Now Has Access to the Top US Cybersecurity Agency

DOGE technologists Edward Coristine—the 19-year-old known online as “Big Balls”—and Kyle Schutt are now listed as staff at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency...

The Paper Passport Is Dying

Smartphones and face recognition are being combined to create new digital travel documents. The paper passport’s days are numbered—despite new privacy risks...

Meet ZachXBT, the Masked Vigilante Tracking Down Billions in Crypto Scams and Thefts

He just untangled a $243 million bitcoin theft, what may be the biggest-ever crypto heist to target a single victim. And he has never shown his face...

GPS Jamming Is Screwing With Norwegian Planes

So much jamming is taking place in northeastern Norway, regulators no longer want to know...

A Mysterious Hacking Group Has 2 New Tools to Steal Data From Air-Gapped Machines

It's hard enough creating one air-gap-jumping tool. Researchers say the group GoldenJackal did it twice in five years...

Millions of Vehicles Could Be Hacked and Tracked Thanks to a Simple Website Bug

Researchers found a flaw in a Kia web portal that let them track millions of cars, unlock doors, and start engines at will—the latest in a plague of web bugs that’s affected a dozen carmakers...

Did a Chinese University Hacking Competition Target a Real Victim?

Participants in a hacking competition with ties to China’s military were, unusually, required to keep their activities secret, but security researchers say the mystery only gets stranger from there...

We Hunted Hidden Police Signals at the DNC

Using special software, WIRED investigated police surveillance at the DNC. We collected signals from nearly 300,000 devices, revealing vulnerabilities for both law enforcement and everyday citizens alike...

Powerful Spyware Exploits Enable a New String of ‘Watering Hole’ Attacks

Suspected Russian hackers have compromised a series of websites to utilize sophisticated spyware exploits that are eerily similar to those created by NSO Group and Intellexa...

A Single Iranian Hacker Group Targeted Both Presidential Campaigns, Google Says

APT42, which is believed to work for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, targeted about a dozen people associated with both Trump’s and Biden’s campaigns this spring, according to Google’s Threat Analysis Group...

A Senate Bill Would Radically Improve Voting Machine Security

This year’s Intelligence Authorization Act would mandate penetration testing for federally certified voting machines and allow independent researchers to work on exposing vulnerabilities...

Huge Microsoft Outage Linked to CrowdStrike Takes Down Computers Around the World

A software update from cybersecurity company CrowdStrike appears to have inadvertently disrupted IT systems globally...

The $11 Billion Marketplace Enabling the Crypto Scam Economy

Deepfake scam services. Victim data. Electrified shackles for human trafficking. Crypto tracing firm Elliptic found all were available for sale on an online marketplace linked to Cambodia’s ruling family...

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...

The Lords of Silicon Valley Are Thrilled to Present a ‘Handheld Iron Dome’

ZeroMark wants to build a system that will let soldiers easily shoot a drone out of the sky with the weapons they’re already carrying—and venture capital firm a16z is betting the startup can pull it off...

The Unusual Espionage Act Case Against a Drone Photographer

In seemingly the first case of its kind, the US Justice Department has charged a Chinese national with using a drone to photograph a Virginia shipyard where the US Navy was assembling nuclear submarines...

Top FBI Official Urges Agents to Use Warrantless Wiretaps on US Soil

An internal email from FBI deputy director Paul Abbate, obtained by WIRED, tells employees to search for “US persons” in a controversial spy program's database that investigators have repeatedly misused...

The Alleged LockBit Ransomware Mastermind Has Been Identified

Law enforcement officials say they’ve identified, sanctioned, and indicted the person behind LockBitSupp, the administrator at the heart of LockBit’s $500 million hacking rampage...

A New Surveillance Tool Invades Border Towns

Plus: An assassination plot, an AI security bill, a Project Nimbus revelation, and more of the week’s top security news...

Inside Ukraine’s Killer-Drone Startup Industry

Ukraine needs small drones to combat Russian forces—and is bootstrapping its own industry at home...

The White House Has a New Master Plan to Stop Worst-Case Scenarios

President Joe Biden has updated the directives to protect US critical infrastructure against major threats, from cyberattacks to terrorism to climate change...

North Koreans Secretly Animated Amazon and Max Shows, Researchers Say

Thousands of exposed files on a misconfigured North Korean server hint at one way the reclusive country may evade international sanctions...

Trump Loyalists Kill Vote on US Wiretap Program

An attempt to reauthorize Section 702, the so-called crown jewel of US spy powers, failed for a third time in the House of Representatives after former president Donald Trump criticized the law...

The Incognito Mode Myth Has Fully Unraveled

To settle a years-long lawsuit, Google has agreed to delete “billions of data records” collected from users of “Incognito mode,” illuminating the pitfalls of relying on Chrome to protect your privacy...

Apple Chip Flaw Leaks Secret Encryption Keys

Plus: The Biden administration warns of nationwide attacks on US water systems, a new Russian wiper malware emerges, and China-linked hackers wage a global attack spree...

Some of the Most Popular Websites Share Your Data With Over 1,500 Companies

Cookie pop-ups now show the number of “partners” that websites may share data with. Here's how many of these third-party companies may get your data from some of the most popular sites online...

The ‘Emergency Powers’ Risk of a Second Trump Presidency

Every US president has the ability to invoke “emergency powers” that could give an authoritarian leader the ability to censor the internet, restrict travel, and more...

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...

The Privacy Danger Lurking in Push Notifications

Plus: Apple warns about sideloading apps, a court orders NSO group to turn over the code of its Pegasus spyware, and an investigation finds widely available security cams are wildly insecure...

Biden Executive Order Bans Sale of US Data to China, Russia. Good Luck

The White House issued an executive order on Wednesday that aims to prevent the sale of Americans' data to “countries of concern,” including China and Russia. Its effectiveness may vary...

Section 702 Surveillance Fight Pits the White House Opposite Reproductive Rights

Prominent advocates for the rights of pregnant people are urging members of Congress to support legislation that would ban warrantless access to sensitive data as the White House fights against it...

A Celebrated Cryptography-Breaking Algorithm Just Got an Upgrade

Two researchers have improved a well-known technique for lattice basis reduction, opening up new avenues for practical experiments in cryptography and mathematics...

How 3 Million ‘Hacked’ Toothbrushes Became a Cyber Urban Legend

Plus: China’s Volt Typhoon hackers lurked in US systems for years, the Biden administration’s crackdown on spyware vendors ramps up, and a new pro-Beijing disinformation campaign gets exposed...

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...

23andMe Blames Users for Recent Data Breach as It's Hit With Dozens of Lawsuits

Plus: Russia hacks surveillance cameras as new details emerge of its attack on a Ukrainian telecom, a Google contractor pays for videos of kids to train AI, and more...

How to Be More Anonymous Online

Being fully anonymous is next to impossible—but you can significantly limit what the internet knows about you by sticking to a few basic rules...

Congress Sure Made a Lot of Noise About Kids’ Privacy in 2023—and Not Much Else

Members of the US Congress touted improvements to children’s privacy protections as an urgent priority. So why didn’t they do anything about it?...

McDonald’s Ice Cream Machine Hackers Say They Found the ‘Smoking Gun’ That Killed Their Startup

Kytch, the company that tried to fix McDonald’s broken ice cream machines, has unearthed a 3-year-old email it says proves claims of an alleged plot to undermine their business...

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...

Section 702 Surveillance Reauthorization May Get Slipped Into ‘Must-Pass’ NDAA

Congressional leaders are discussing ways to reauthorize Section 702 surveillance, including by attaching it to the National Defense Authorization Act, Capitol Hill sources tell WIRED...

The Destruction of Gaza’s Internet Is Complete

As Israel increases its ground operation in Gaza, the last remaining internet and mobile connections have gone dark...

The Team Helping Women Fight Digital Domestic Abuse

Location-enabled tech designed to make our lives easier is often exploited by domestic abusers. Refuge, a UK nonprofit, helps women to leave abusive relationships, secure their devices, and stay safe...

How China Demands Tech Firms Reveal Hackable Flaws in Their Products

Some foreign companies may be complying—potentially offering China’s spies hints for hacking their customers...

Apple, Google, and MOVEit Just Patched Serious Security Flaws

Plus: Microsoft fixes 78 vulnerabilities, VMWare plugs a flaw already used in attacks, and more critical updates from June...

Humans Aren’t Mentally Ready for an AI-Saturated ‘Post-Truth World’

The AI era promises a flood of disinformation, deepfakes, and hallucinated “facts.” Psychologists are only beginning to grapple with the implications...

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...