How to Use Windows Security to Keep Your PC Protected

Your Microsoft computer comes with built-in safety software that shields you from the worst threats. Here's how to navigate your toolkit...

DuckDuckGo’s Privacy Browser Finally Lands on Desktop

DuckDuckGo started out as a private search engine. Now its web browser is debuting on Macs to rival Chrome, Safari, Edge, and Brave...

Fake Cops Scammed Apple and Meta to Get User Data

Plus: Lapsus$ teens hit with charges, Wyze's security screwup, and Russia's cyber rampage...

The Enduring Danger of Russia’s Cluster Bombs in Ukraine

A brief history and the ramifications of cluster bombs, history’s most indiscriminate weapon...

Conti Leak: A Ransomware Gang's Chats Expose Its Crypto Plans

Leaked files from cybercrime group Conti show it started building a crypto payment platform, a social network—and even had plans for a casino...

Beware the Never-Ending Disinformation Emergency

YouTube still draws a hard line on Trump’s rigged election claims. Two years later, it doesn't hold up...

How to Read Your iOS 15 App Privacy Report

Your iPhone now gives you lots of transparency into what your downloads are up to. Here's what to look out for...

Someone Snuck a Card Skimmer Into Costco to Nab Shopper Data

Plus: A Robinhood breach, NSO Group spyware, and more of the week's top security news...

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...

An Apparent Ransomware Hack Puts the NRA in a Bind

The group behind the reported attack is under sanctions from the US Treasury, which means a payout could come with penalties for the victim...

How to Get Your Family to Actually Use a Password Manager

Whether it's about sharing your Netflix login or getting your affairs in order, here are tips for convincing your loved ones to organize and protect their accounts too...

Even the CIA and NSA Use Ad Blockers to Stay Safe Online

Plus: The ransomware scourge continues, a massive botnet gets wounded, and more of the week’s top security news...

'Watch Dogs: Legion' Tackles Surveillance Without Humanity

The game envisions a near future full of techno-dystopian surveillance, but it doesn't have much to say about the people it affects...

The Trump Administration Continues to Erode Election Security

The DHS, the DOJ, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence have all had recent controversies that bode poorly for electoral integrity...

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...

Encryption-Busting EARN IT Act Advances in Senate

Plus: A massive crime bust in Europe, a warning from US Cyber Command, and more of the week's top security news...

The Mueller Report Is Out. Read It Here

Attorney general William Barr has released the redacted Mueller report to Congress. You can read all 300-plus pages of it right here...

Why Big Tech and the Government Need to Work Together

Opinion: Former Secretary of Defense Ash Carter argues for cooperation between tech workers and the DoD...

The Silk Road Creator’s Life Sentence Actually Boosted Dark Web Drug Sales

A new study raises questions about the deterrence value of harsh sentencing for dark web crimes. The post The Silk Road Creator’s Life Sentence Actually Boosted Dark Web Drug Sales appeared first on WIRED...

A Big Change in NSA Spying Marks a Win for American Privacy

The NSA won't collect the emails of US citizens just because they mention a foreign target. That's a big deal. The post A Big Change in NSA Spying Marks a Win for American Privacy appeared first on WIRED...

The OpenAI and Anthropic AI Hacking Sprees Are a Messy New Legal Frontier

Both major AI labs’ models broke containment, escaped onto the internet, and hacked other companies. If a human had done that, the law would likely be against them. But a bot?...

Chrome Needs Twice-a-Week Patching Thanks to AI Bug Hunting

The two Chrome updates in June patched more bugs than the 23 updates before them. Now, Google is ramping up its patching schedule thanks to AI-assisted vulnerability discovery...

Prompt Injection Attacks Are Thwarting AI Hacking Agents

“Context bombing” tricks malicious AI agents into shutting down before they can do harm...

Top Google Security Staff Warn Search Data Could Be Hacked if EU Rules Change

Europe’s pro-competition proposals could see Google Search and Android systems opened up. The company claims there are serious privacy flaws...

British Police Built a Sprawling Crime-Prediction Machine. Some Results Couldn’t Be Trusted

As UK police embrace the AI revolution, a WIRED investigation reveals the messy inside story of one region’s experiment with predictive analytics...

xAI Asks Court to Strip Alleged Grok Deepfake Nudes Victims of Anonymity

Four people suing Elon Musk's AI firm under pseudonyms due to the risks of being identified may face a difficult choice: Reveal your real names, or drop the lawsuit...

Newly Deciphered Sabotage Malware May Have Targeted Iran’s Nuclear Program—and Predates Stuxnet

Researchers have finally cracked Fast16, mysterious code capable of silently tampering with calculation and simulation software. It was created in 2005—and likely deployed by the US or an ally...

A New Anonymous Phone Carrier Lets You Sign Up With Nothing but a Zip Code

Privacy stalwart Nicholas Merrill spent a decade fighting an FBI surveillance order. Now he wants to sell you phone service—without knowing almost anything about you...

An Anarchist’s Conviction Offers a Grim Foreshadowing of Trump’s War on the ‘Left’

As the Trump administration ramps up its targeting of left-leaning people and groups, the prosecution and harsh sentencing of Casey Goonan may provide a glimpse of things to come...

What to Expect When You’re Convicted

When a formerly incarcerated “troubleshooter for the mafia” looked for a second career he chose the thing he knew best. He became a prison consultant for white-collar criminals...

How to Win Followers and Scamfluence People

Format Boy makes a living teaching Yahoo Boys, notorious West African scammers, how to use AI and deepfake technology to ensnare their next victims...

‘Stupid and Dangerous’: CISA Funding Chaos Threatens Essential Cybersecurity Program

The CVE Program is the primary way software vulnerabilities are tracked. Its long-term future remains in limbo even after a last-minute renewal of the US government contract that funds it...

Homeland Security Email Tells a US Citizen to ‘Immediately’ Self-Deport

An email sent by the Department of Homeland Security instructs people in the US on a temporary legal status to leave the country. But who the email actually applies to—and who actually received it—is far from clear...

The National Institute of Standards and Technology Braces for Mass Firings

Approximately 500 NIST staffers, including at least three lab directors, are expected to lose their jobs at the standards agency as part of the ongoing DOGE purge, sources tell WIRED...

China’s Salt Typhoon Spies Are Still Hacking Telecoms—Now by Exploiting Cisco Routers

Despite high-profile attention and even US sanctions, the group hasn’t stopped or even slowed its operation, including the breach of two more US telecoms...

Drug Dealers Have Moved on to Social Media

The marketing of illegal drugs on open platforms is “gaining prominence,” authorities note, while the number of drug transactions on the dark web has decreased in recent years...

Microsoft’s AI Recall Tool Is Still Sucking Up Credit Card and Social Security Numbers

Plus: The US indicts North Koreans in fake IT worker scheme, file-sharing firm Cleo warns customers to patch a vulnerability amid live attacks, and more...

FTC Says Data Brokers Unlawfully Tracked Protesters and US Military Personnel

The FTC is targeting data brokers that monitored people’s movements during protests and around US military installations. But signs suggest the Trump administration will be far more lenient...

More Spyware, Fewer Rules: What Trump’s Return Means for US Cybersecurity

Experts expect Donald Trump’s next administration to relax cybersecurity rules on businesses, abandon concerns around human rights, and take an aggressive stance against the cyber armies of US adversaries...

The AI Machine Gun of the Future Is Already Here

The Pentagon is pursuing every available option to keep US troops safe from the rising tide of adversary drones, including a robotic twist on its standard-issue small arms...

The Untold Story of Trump's Failed Attempt to Overthrow Venezuela's President

A successful CIA hack of Venezuela's military payroll system, insider fights for spy agency resources, and messy opposition politics: A WIRED investigation reveals a secret Trump-era attempt to oust autocratic ruler Nicolás Maduro...

Chinese Hackers Target Trump Campaign via Verizon Breach

Plus: Apple offers $1 million to hack its AI cloud infrastructure, Iranian hackers successfully peddle stolen Trump campaign docs, Russia hacks the nation of Georgia, and a “cyberattack” that wasn’t...

GPS Jamming Is Screwing With Norwegian Planes

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

69,000 Bitcoins Are Headed for the US Treasury—While the Agent Who Seized Them Is in Jail

The $4.4 billion in crypto is set to be the largest pile of criminal proceeds ever sold off by the US. The former IRS agent who seized the record-breaking sum, meanwhile, languishes in a Nigerian jail cell...

A Creative Trick Makes ChatGPT Spit Out Bomb-Making Instructions

Plus: New evidence emerges about who may have helped 9/11 hijackers, UK police arrest a teen in connection with an attack on London’s transit system, and Poland’s spyware scandal enters a new phase...

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...

An AWS Configuration Issue Could Expose Thousands of Web Apps

Amazon has updated its instructions for how customers should more securely implement AWS's traffic-routing service known as Application Load Balancer, but it's not clear everyone will get the memo...

The Slow-Burn Nightmare of the National Public Data Breach

Social Security numbers, physical addresses, and more—all available online. After months of confusion, leaked information from a background-check firm underscores the long-term risks of data breaches...

Nearly All Google Pixel Phones Exposed by Unpatched Flaw in Hidden Android App

A fix is coming, but data analytics giant Palantir says it’s ditching Android devices altogether because Google’s response to the vulnerability has been troubling...

Notorious Hacker Kingpin ‘Tank’ Is Finally Going to Prison

The cybercrime boss, who helped lead the prolific Zeus malware gang and was on the FBI’s “most wanted” list for years, has been sentenced to 18 years and ordered to pay more than $73 million...