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...

The Pentagon Is Looking Into the Dialog Data Exposure for Unmasking National Security Officials

Exposed records from the private group included the personal information of a senior White House intelligence official and an active-duty special operations officer...

‘Creepy’ Listening Tool for Targeted Ads Didn’t Actually Work, FTC Says

Three firms will pay nearly $1 million for selling “Active Listening” technology that they claimed tapped people’s phones for advertising. The FTC alleges the “tech” was just pricey email lists...

You Can Get Some of Your Nudes Removed From the Internet Under a New Law

Starting May 19, tech platforms in the US will have to comply with the Take It Down Act. Here’s how more than a dozen major platforms are handling takedown demands for your nonconsensual nudes...

Cybercriminal Twins Caught After They Forgot to Turn Off Microsoft Teams Recording

Plus: Instructure’s Canvas ransomware debacle comes to a close, an alleged dark net market kingpin gets arrested, OpenAI workers fall victim to a supply chain attack, and more...

Your iPhone Gets Stolen. Then the Hacking Begins

A bustling underground ecosystem is providing criminals with the tools to unlock iPhones—and wage phishing attacks against their contacts to access bank accounts and more...

Thousands of Vibe-Coded Apps Expose Corporate and Personal Data on the Open Web

Companies like Lovable, Base44, Replit, and Netlify use AI to let anyone build a web app in seconds—and in thousands of cases, spill highly sensitive data onto the public internet...

Metadata Exposes Authors of ICE’s ‘Mega’ Detention Center Plans

Comments and other data left on a PDF detailing Homeland Security’s proposal to build “mega” detention and processing centers reveal the personnel involved in its creation...

Elon Musk’s Grok ‘Undressing’ Problem Isn’t Fixed

X has placed more restrictions on Grok’s ability to generate explicit AI images, but tests show that the updates have created a patchwork of limitations that fail to fully address the issue...

Zohran Mamdani Just Inherited the NYPD Surveillance State

In addition to affordability, New York City’s mayor-elect will be forced to reckon with the NYPD’s sweeping mass surveillance operations...

RFK Jr. Orders HHS to Give Undocumented Migrants’ Medicaid Data to DHS

Plus: Spyware is found on two Italian journalists’ phones, Ukraine claims to have hacked a Russian aircraft maker, police take down major infostealer infrastructure, and more...

Cybercriminals Are Hiding Malicious Web Traffic in Plain Sight

In an effort to evade detection, cybercriminals are increasingly turning to “residential proxy” services that cover their tracks by making it look like everyday online activity...

The US Grid Attack Looming on the Horizon

A major cyberattack on the US electrical grid has long worried security experts. Such an attack wouldn’t be easy. But if an adversary pulled it off, it’d be lights out in more ways than one...

Authorities Carry Out Elaborate Global Takedown of Infostealer Heavily Used by Cybercriminals

US, European, and Japanese authorities, along with tech companies including Microsoft and Cloudflare, say they’ve disrupted Lumma, an infostealer popular with criminal gangs...

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...

Signal Clone Used by Mike Waltz Pauses Service After Reports It Got Hacked

The communications app TeleMessage, which was spotted on former US national security adviser Mike Waltz's phone, has suspended “all services” as it investigates reports of at least one breach...

WhatsApp Is Walking a Tightrope Between AI Features and Privacy

WhatsApp's AI tools will use a new “Private Processing” system designed to allow cloud access without letting Meta or anyone else see end-to-end encrypted chats. But experts still see risks...

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...

A Team of Female Founders Is Launching Cloud Security Tech That Could Overhaul AI Protection

Cloud “container” defenses have inconsistencies that can give attackers too much access. A new company, Edera, is taking on that challenge and the problem of the male-dominated startup world...

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...

Hey, Maybe It's Time to Delete Some Old Chat Histories

Your messages going back years are likely still lurking online, potentially exposing sensitive information you forgot existed. But there's no time like the present to do some digital decluttering...

Stop Calling Online Scams ‘Pig Butchering,’ Interpol Warns

Experts say the catchall term for online fraud furthers harm against victims and could dissuade people from reporting attempts to bilk them out of their money...

Worry About Misuse of AI, Not Superintelligence

AI risks arise not from AI acting on its own, but because of what people do with it...

Bitfinex Hacker Gets 5 Years for $10 Billion Bitcoin Heist

Plus: An “AI granny” is wasting scammers’ time, a lawsuit goes after spyware-maker NSO Group’s executives, and North Korea–linked hackers take a crack at macOS malware...

The Real Problem With Banning Masks at Protests

Privacy advocates worry banning masks at protests will encourage harassment, while cops’ high-tech tools render the rules unnecessary...

Microsoft’s AI Can Be Turned Into an Automated Phishing Machine

Attacks on Microsoft’s Copilot AI allow for answers to be manipulated, data extracted, and security protections bypassed, new research shows...

Ransomware Is ‘More Brutal’ Than Ever in 2024

As the fight against ransomware slogs on, security experts warn of a potential escalation to “real-world violence.” But recent police crackdowns are successfully disrupting the cybercriminal ecosystem...

Ecuador Is Literally Powerless in the Face of Drought

Drought-stricken hydro dams have led to daily electricity cuts in Ecuador. As weather becomes less predictable due to climate change, experts say other countries need to take notice...

A Leak of Biometric Police Data Is a Sign of Things to Come

Thousands of fingerprints and facial images linked to police in India have been exposed online. Researchers say it’s a warning of what will happen as the collection of biometric data increases...

The $2.3 Billion Tornado Cash Case Is a Pivotal Moment for Crypto Privacy

Tuesday’s verdict in the trial of Alexey Pertsev, a creator of crypto-privacy service Tornado Cash, is the first in a string of cases that could make it much harder to skirt financial surveillance...

Big Tech Says Spy Bill Turns Its Workers Into Informants

One of Silicon Valley’s most influential lobbying arms joins privacy reformers in a fight against the Biden administration–backed expansion of a major US surveillance program...

Hackers Linked to Russia’s Military Claim Credit for Sabotaging US Water Utilities

Cyber Army of Russia Reborn, a group with ties to the Kremlin’s Sandworm unit, is crossing lines even that notorious cyberwarfare unit wouldn’t dare to...

Here Are the Google and Microsoft Security Updates You Need Right Now

Plus: Mozilla patches 12 flaws in Firefox, Zoom fixes seven vulnerabilities, and more critical updates from February...

Change Healthcare Ransomware Attack: BlackCat Hackers Quickly Returned After FBI Bust

Two months ago, the FBI “disrupted” the BlackCat ransomware group. They're already back—and their latest attack is causing delays at pharmacies across the US...

The UK Is GPS-Tagging Thousands of Migrants

Ankle tags that constantly log a person’s coordinates are part of a growing cadre of experimental surveillance tools that countries around the world are trying out on new arrivals...

How a Right-Wing Controversy Could Sabotage US Election Security

Republicans who run elections are split over whether to keep working with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to fight hackers, online falsehoods, and polling-place threats...

Anne Neuberger, a Top White House Cyber Official, Sees the 'Promise and Peril' in AI

Anne Neuberger, the Biden administration’s deputy national security adviser for cyber, tells WIRED about emerging cybersecurity threats—and what the US plans to do about them...

Signal Finally Rolls Out Usernames, So You Can Keep Your Phone Number Private

We tested the end-to-end encrypted messenger’s new feature aimed at addressing critics’ most persistent complaint. Here’s how it works...

2054, Part III: The Singularity

“You’d have an incomprehensible level of computational, predictive, analytic, and psychic skill. You’d have the mind of God.” An exclusive excerpt from 2054: A Novel...

YouTube, Discord, and ‘Lord of the Rings’ Led Police to a Teen Accused of a US Swatting Spree

For nearly two years, police have been tracking down the culprit behind a wave of hoax threats. A digital trail took them to the door of a 17-year-old in California...

Apple and Google Just Patched Their First Zero-Day Flaws of the Year

Plus: Google fixes dozens of Android bugs, Microsoft rolls out nearly 50 patches, Mozilla squashes 15 Firefox flaws, and more...

US Lawmakers Tell DOJ to Quit Blindly Funding ‘Predictive’ Police Tools

Members of Congress say the DOJ is funding the use of AI tools that further discriminatory policing practices. They're demanding higher standards for federal grants...

Google Just Denied Cops a Key Surveillance Tool

Plus: Apple tightens anti-theft protections, Chinese hackers penetrate US critical infrastructure, and the long-running rumor of eavesdropping phones crystallizes into more than an urban legend...

Police Can Spy on Your iOS and Android Push Notifications

Governments can access records related to push notifications from mobile apps by requesting that data from Apple and Google, according to details in court records and a US senator...

A Civil Rights Firestorm Erupts Around a Looming Surveillance Power Grab

Dozens of advocacy groups are pressuring the US Congress to abandon plans to ram through the renewal of a controversial surveillance program that they say poses an “alarming threat to civil rights.”...

Elon Musk Is Giving QAnon Believers Hope Just in Time for the 2024 Elections

Musk’s recent use of the term “QAnon” is his most explicit endorsement of the movement to date. Conspiracists have since spent days dissecting its meaning and cheering on his apparent support...

How to Stop Google From Deleting Your Inactive Account

Your inactive profiles, like Gmail or Docs, could turn into digital dust later this year. A few clicks can save them...

New Clues Suggest Stolen FTX Funds Went to Russia-Linked Money Launderers

Whoever looted FTX on the day of its bankruptcy has now moved the stolen money through a long string of intermediaries—and eventually some that look Russian in origin...

A Huge Scam Targeting Kids With Roblox and Fortnite 'Offers' Has Been Hiding in Plain Sight

The wide-ranging scams, often disguised as game promotions, can all be linked back to one network...

GitHub’s Hardcore Plan to Roll Out Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)

GitHub has spent two years researching and slowly rolling out its multifactor authentication system. Soon it will be mandatory for all 100 million users—with no opt-out...