Android May Soon Warn You About Fake Cell Towers

Plus: Iran-linked hackers threaten to release Trump campaign emails, Chinese hackers still in US telecoms networks, and an abusive deepfake website plans an expansion...

A Group of Young Cybercriminals Poses the ‘Most Imminent Threat’ of Cyberattacks Right Now

The Scattered Spider hacking group has caused chaos among retailers, insurers, and airlines in recent months. Researchers warn that its flexible structure poses challenges for defense...

Minnesota Shooting Suspect Allegedly Used Data Broker Sites to Find Targets’ Addresses

The shooter allegedly researched several “people search” sites in an attempt to target his victims, highlighting the potential dangers of widely available personal data...

How Waymo Handles Footage From Events Like the LA Immigration Protests

Waymo driverless taxis capture troves of video footage in order to operate, but the company reveals very little about how much data is stored—and for how long...

The Dangerous Truth About the ‘Nonlethal’ Weapons Used Against LA Protesters

While they can cause serious injuries, “nonlethal” weapons are regularly used in the United States to disperse public demonstrations, including at the recent ICE protests in Los Angeles...

Ross Ulbricht Got a $31 Million Donation From a Dark Web Dealer, Crypto Tracers Suspect

Crypto-tracing firm Chainalysis says the mysterious 300-bitcoin donation to the pardoned Silk Road creator appears to have come from someone associated with a different defunct black market: AlphaBay...

For Tech Whistleblowers, There’s Safety in Numbers

Amber Scorah and Psst are building a “digital safe” to help people shine a light on the bad things their bosses are doing, without getting found out...

US Border Agents Are Asking for Help Taking Photos of Everyone Entering the Country by Car

Customs and Border Protection has called for tech companies to pitch real-time face recognition technology that can capture everyone in a vehicle—not just those in the front seats...

Gmail’s New Encrypted Messages Feature Opens a Door for Scams

Google is rolling out an end-to-end encrypted email feature for business customers, but it could spawn phishing attacks, particularly in non-Gmail inboxes...

TraderTraitor: The Kings of the Crypto Heist

Allegedly responsible for the theft of $1.5 billion in cryptocurrency from a single exchange, North Korea’s TraderTraitor is one of the most sophisticated cybercrime groups in the world...

Smishing Triad: The Scam Group Stealing the World’s Riches

Millions of scam text messages are sent every month. The Chinese cybercriminals behind many of them are expanding their operations—and quickly innovating...

Top Trump Officials’ Passwords and Personal Phone Numbers Discovered Online

Plus: Alleged Snowflake hacker will be extradited to US, internet restrictions create an information vacuum in Myanmar, and London gets its first permanent face recognition cameras...

SignalGate Isn’t About Signal

The Trump cabinet’s shocking leak of its plans to bomb Yemen raises myriad confidentiality and legal issues. The security of the encrypted messaging app Signal is not one of them...

Cybercriminals Allegedly Used a StubHub Backdoor to Steal Taylor Swift Tickets

Plus: The world’s “largest illicit online marketplace” gets hit by regulators, police seize the Garantex crypto exchange, and scammers trick targets by making up ransomware attacks...

Trump’s Spy Chief Urged to Declassify Details of Secret Surveillance Program

Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, has long held anti-surveillance views. Now she oversees a key surveillance program she once tried to dismantle...

The Trump Administration Is Deprioritizing Russia as a Cyber Threat

Plus: The FBI pins that ByBit theft on North Korea, a malicious app download breaches Disney, spyware targets a priest close to the pope, and more...

‘OpenAI’ Job Scam Targeted International Workers Through Telegram

An alleged job scam, led by “Aiden” from “OpenAI,” recruited workers in Bangladesh for months before disappearing overnight, according to FTC complaints obtained by WIRED...

TVs at HUD Played an AI-Generated Video of Donald Trump Kissing Elon Musk’s Feet

On Monday morning, TV sets at the headquarters of the Department of Housing and Urban Development played the seemingly AI-generated video on loop, along with the words “LONG LIVE THE REAL KING.”...

ACLU Warns DOGE’s ‘Unchecked’ Access Could Violate Federal Law

The ACLU says it stands ready to sue for access to government records that detail DOGE’s access to sensitive personnel data...

DOGE Teen Owns ‘Tesla.Sexy LLC’ and Worked at Startup That Has Hired Convicted Hackers

Experts question whether Edward Coristine, a DOGE staffer who has gone by “Big Balls” online, would pass the background check typically required for access to sensitive US government systems...

The Collapse of USAID Is Already Fueling Human Trafficking and Slavery at Scammer Compounds

The dismantling of USAID by Elon Musk's DOGE and a State Department funding freeze have severely disrupted efforts to help people escape forced labor camps run by criminal scammers...

Subaru Security Flaws Exposed Its System for Tracking Millions of Cars

Now-fixed web bugs allowed hackers to remotely unlock and start any of millions of Subarus. More disturbingly, they could also access at least a year of cars’ location histories—and Subaru employees still can...

How to Get Around the US TikTok Ban

TikTok is now unavailable in the United States—and getting around the ban isn’t as simple as using a VPN. Here’s what you need to know...

A New Jam-Packed Biden Executive Order Tackles Cybersecurity, AI, and More

US president Joe Biden just issued a 40-page executive order that aims to bolster federal cybersecurity protections, directs government use of AI—and takes a swipe at Microsoft’s dominance...

License Plate Readers Are Leaking Real-Time Video Feeds and Vehicle Data

Misconfigured license-plate-recognition systems reveal the livestreams of individual cameras and the wealth of data they collect about every vehicle that passes by them...

The Top Cybersecurity Agency in the US Is Bracing for Donald Trump

Staffers at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency tell WIRED they fear the new administration will cut programs that keep the US safe—and “persecution.”...

The New Jersey Drone Mystery May Not Actually Be That Mysterious

A flurry of drone sightings across New Jersey and New York has sparked national intrigue and US government responses. But experts are pouring cold water on America’s hottest new conspiracy theory...

The Real Story of “The Order”

The new film about an FBI agent chasing a white supremacist terror cell is based on a true story—and one that connects the headlines of 40 years ago to those of today...

The US Is Calling Out Foreign Influence Campaigns Faster Than Ever

The 2024 elections were a high-water mark for naming and shaming threat actors from foreign governments. There’s still work to be done, though, on how to attribute disinformation campaigns most effectively...

Man Arrested for Snowflake Hacking Spree Faces US Extradition

Alexander “Connor” Moucka was arrested this week by Canadian authorities for allegedly carrying out a series of hacks that targeted Snowflake’s cloud customers. His next stop may be a US jail...

Inside the Massive Crime Industry That’s Hacking Billion-Dollar Companies

When you download a piece of pirated software, you might also be getting a piece of infostealer malware, and entering a highly complex hacking ecosystem that’s fueling some of the biggest breaches on the planet...

‘We’re a Fortress Now’: The Militarization of US Elections Is Here

From bulletproof glass, drones, and snipers to boulders blocking election offices, the US democratic system is bracing for violent attacks in 2024...

Cybercriminals Pose a Greater Threat of Disruptive US Election Hacks Than Russia or China

A report distributed by the US Department of Homeland Security warned that financially motivated cybercriminals are more likely to attack US election infrastructure than state-backed hackers...

Microsoft Warns Foreign Disinformation Is Hitting the US Election From All Directions

Russia, Iran, and China are targeting the US election with an evolving array of influence operations in the last days of campaign season...

Nigeria Drops Charges Against Tigran Gambaryan, Jailed Binance Exec and Former IRS Agent

After eight months, one of the US’s most prominent crypto-crime investigators may finally be coming home...

Hacker Charged With Seeking to Kill Using Cyberattacks on Hospitals

The US has accused two brothers of being part of the hacker group Anonymous Sudan, which allegedly went on a wild cyberattack spree that hit hundreds of targets—and, for one of the two men, even put lives at risk...

The War on Passwords Is One Step Closer to Being Over

“Passkeys,” the secure authentication mechanism built to replace passwords, are getting more portable and easier for organizations to implement thanks to new initiatives the FIDO Alliance announced on Monday...

Pig Butchering Scams Are Going High Tech

Scammers in Southeast Asia are increasingly turning to AI, deepfakes, and dangerous malware in a way that makes their pig butchering operations even more convincing...

What Google's U-Turn on Third-Party Cookies Means for Chrome Privacy

Earlier this year, Google ditched its plans to abolish support for third-party cookies in its Chrome browser. While privacy advocates called foul, the implications for users is not so clear cut...

ICE Signs $2 Million Contract With Spyware Maker Paragon Solutions

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s one-year contract with Paragon’s US subsidiary comes amid the Biden administration’s years-long crackdown on commercial spyware vendors...

Tesla’s Cybertruck Goes, Inevitably, to War

A handful of Tesla’s electric pickup trucks are armed and ready for battle in the hands of Chechen forces fighting in Ukraine as part of Russia’s ongoing invasion. Can the EV take the heat?...

Elon Musk Is a National Security Risk

Musk’s now-deleted post questioning why no one has attempted to assassinate Joe Biden and Kamala Harris renews concerns over his work for the US government—and potential to inspire extremist violence...

Why It's So Hard to Fully Block X in Brazil

With 20,000 internet providers across the country, the technical challenges of blocking X in Brazil mean some connections are slipping through the cracks...

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov’s Arrest Linked to Sweeping Criminal Investigation

French authorities detained Durov to question him as part of a probe into a wide range of alleged violations—including money laundering and CSAM—but it remains unclear if he will face charges...

The US Government Wants You—Yes, You—to Hunt Down Generative AI Flaws

The AI ethics nonprofit Humane Intelligence and the US National Institute of Standards and Technology are launching a series of contests to get more people probing for problems in generative AI systems...

How Project 2025 Would Put US Elections at Risk

Experts say the “nonsensical” policy proposal, which largely aligns with Donald Trump’s agenda, would weaken the US agency tasked with protecting election integrity, critical infrastructure, and more...

A Hacker ‘Ghost’ Network Is Quietly Spreading Malware on GitHub

Cybersecurity researchers have spotted a 3,000-account network on GitHub that is manipulating the platform and spreading ransomware and info stealers...

The Feds Say These Are the Russian Hackers Who Attacked US Water Utilities

Plus: The FBI unlocks the Trump shooter’s phone, a security researcher gets legal threats for exposing hackable traffic lights, and more...

Hackers Leaking Taylor Swift Tickets? Don’t Get Your Hopes Up

Plus: Researchers uncover a new way to expose CSAM peddlers, OpenAI suffered a secret cyberattack, cryptocurrency thefts jump in 2024, and Twilio confirms hackers stole 33 million phone numbers...

The World’s Most Popular 3D-Printed Gun Was Designed by an Aspiring Terrorist

Growing numbers of insurgents and extremists use the FGC-9. Forensic analysis of online platforms reveals the dark world of the man who created it—a self-described incel who supported the German far right...