Clop Hacking Rampage Hits US Agencies and Exposes Data of Millions

The ransomware gang Clop exploited a vulnerability in a file transfer service. The flaw is now patched, but the damage is still coming into focus...

The True Cost of a Free Telly TV

Telly TV tracks you and bombards you with ads on a dedicated second screen. It could help normalize smartphone-style surveillance in your living room...

How to Reclaim Your Online Privacy

We talk to the Signal Foundation’s Meredith Whittaker about how the surveillance economy is newer than we all might realize—and what we can do to fight back...

A Mysterious New Hacker Group, Red Stinger, Is Lurking in Ukraine’s Cyberspace

The unidentified attackers have targeted people on both sides of Russia’s war against Ukraine, carrying out espionage operations that suggest state funding...

The Team of Sleuths Quietly Hunting Cyberattack-for-Hire Services

For a decade, a group called Big Pipes has worked behind the scenes with the FBI to target the worst cybercriminal “booter” services plaguing the internet...

A US Bill Would Ban Kids Under 13 From Joining Social Media

The legislation would insert the government into online platforms’ age-verification efforts—a move that makes some US lawmakers queasy...

Apple’s Macs Have Long Escaped Ransomware. That May Be Changing

The discovery of malicious encryptors for Apple computers could herald new risks for macOS users if the malware continues to evolve...

Pinduoduo, a Top Chinese Shopping App, Is Laced With Malware

Plus: 119 arrested during a sting on the Genesis dark-web market, the IRS aims to buy an online mass surveillance tool, and more...

The Small but Mighty Danger of Echo Chamber Extremism

Research shows that relatively few people exist in perfectly sealed-off media bubbles—but they’re still having an outsize impact on US politics...

Google Moves to Block Invasive Spanish Spyware Framework

The Heliconia hacking tool exploited vulnerabilities in Chrome, Windows Defender, and Firefox, according to company security researchers...

The Hunt for the Dark Web’s Biggest Kingpin, Part 4: Face to Face

The team uses a secret technique to locate AlphaBay’s server. But just as the operation heats up, the agents have an unexpected run-in with their target...

The Hunt for the FTX Thieves Has Begun

Mysterious crooks took hundreds of millions of dollars from FTX just as it collapsed. Crypto-tracing blockchain analysis may provide an answer...

China Operates Secret ‘Police Stations’ in Other Countries

Plus: The New York Post gets hacked, a huge stalkerware network is exposed, and the US claims China interfered with its Huawei probe...

The Power and Pitfalls of AI for US Intelligence

Artificial intelligence use is booming, but it's not the secret weapon you might imagine...

Period-Tracking and Fertility Apps Can Put Women Seeking Abortions at Risk

Apps collect sensitive data that could be subpoenaed by law enforcement or sold by data brokers...

Hollywood’s Fight Against VPNs Turns Ugly

Beyond accusations of rampant user copyright infringement, film companies have begun accusing VPNs of enabling a slew of more serious illegal activity...

North Koreans Are Jailbreaking Phones to Access Forbidden Media

A new report suggests that a small but vibrant group of smartphones hackers may be challenging the world's most digitally restrictive regime...

The US Saw a Spike in Child Sexual Abuse URLs in 2021

CSAM hosting in the United States rose 64 percent last year, putting the country second in the world, a new report found...

Europe Is Building a Huge International Facial Recognition System

Lawmakers advance proposals to let police forces across the EU link their photo databases—which include millions of pictures of people’s faces...

TSA’s First Crack at Guarding Pipelines From Hackers Falls Short

Plus: Anonymous dedicates a hack to Hillary Clinton, Google researchers expose Exotic Lily, and more...

Hackers Find a New Way to Deliver Devastating DDoS Attacks

Cybercriminals are exploiting a fleet of more than 100,000 misconfigured servers to knock websites offline...

Russia Was Behind DDoS Attacks Against Ukraine, US Officials Say

Plus: A crypto crime crackdown, Roblox ripoffs, and more of the week’s top security news...

If Russia Invades Ukraine, TikTok Will See It Up Close

As troops amass on Ukraine’s border, civilians capture it all on camera. Online sleuths are now unpacking the details...

Is Firefox OK?

Mozilla’s privacy-heavy browser is flatlining. What it does next is crucial for the future of the web...

North Korea Hacked Him. So He Took Down Its Internet

Disappointed with the lack of US response to the Hermit Kingdom's attacks against US security researchers, one hacker took matters into his own hands...

Now Is a Good Time to Update Your Recovery Email Addresses

You know those “emergency” email addresses you can use to get into your email and other accounts in case you're locked out? Make sure they're up-to-date...

North Korean Hackers Stole Nearly $400M in Crypto Last Year

The regime had a “banner year,” thanks to skyrocketing cryptocurrency values and a new generation of vulnerable startups...

NSO Group Spyware Targeted Dozens of Reporters in El Salvador

The newly disclosed campaign shows how little the company has done to curb abuses of its powerful surveillance tools...

Another Intel Chip Flaw Puts a Slew of Gadgets at Risk

The vulnerability allows an attacker with physical access to the CPU to bypass the security measures protecting some of its most sensitive data...

This Is Flock’s AI Search Tool for Cops

WIRED rebuilt Flock’s latest search tool from code the company sends to a police officer’s browser. Its AI can keep watch across multiple cameras for anyone fitting a written description...

What We Still Don’t Know About OpenAI’s Hugging Face Hack

The AI giant acknowledges that it could have done far more to prevent its AI agents from going rogue. But it still fails to explain why it didn't see this fiasco coming...

States Want ICE Agents to Show Their Faces. The Trump Administration Is Blocking Them

Federal lawyers say anti-mask laws would endanger immigration agents, citing an ICE face-recognition art project that doesn’t actually work...

When Satellite Data Becomes a Weapon

As war reshapes the Gulf, the satellite infrastructure the world relies on to see conflict clearly is being delayed, spoofed, and privately controlled—and nobody is sure who is responsible...

War in Iran Spiked Oil Prices. Trump Will Decide How High They Go

The conflict in the Middle East is driving oil prices up in a midterm year when Americans are already focused on high energy bills...

This AI Agent Is Designed to Not Go Rogue

The new open source project IronCurtain uses a unique method to secure and constrain AI assistant agents before they flip your digital life upside down...

An AI Toy Exposed 50,000 Logs of Its Chats With Kids to Anyone With a Gmail Account

AI chat toy company Bondu left its web console almost entirely unprotected. Researchers who accessed it found nearly all the conversations children had with the company’s stuffed animals...

Here’s the Company That Sold DHS ICE’s Notorious Face Recognition App

Immigration agents have used Mobile Fortify to scan the faces of countless people in the US—including many citizens...

Why ICE Can Kill With Impunity

Over the past decade, US immigration agents have shot and killed more than two dozen people. Not a single agent appears to have faced criminal charges...

Minnesota Sues to Stop ICE ‘Invasion’

The state of Minnesota, along with the Twin Cities, have sued the US government and several officials to halt the flood of agents carrying out an Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation...

ICE Agent Who Reportedly Shot Renee Good Was a Firearms Trainer, per Testimony

Jonathan Ross told a federal court in December about his professional background, including “hundreds” of encounters with drivers during enforcement actions, according to testimony obtained by WIRED...

Fears Mount That US Federal Cybersecurity Is Stagnating—or Worse

Government staffing cuts and instability, including this year’s prolonged shutdown, could be hindering US digital defense and creating vulnerabilities...

Border Patrol Bets on Small Drones to Expand US Surveillance Reach

Federal records show CBP is moving from testing small drones to making them standard surveillance tools, expanding a network that can follow activity in real time and extend well beyond the border...

2 Men Linked to China’s Salt Typhoon Hacker Group Likely Trained in a Cisco ‘Academy’

The names of two partial owners of firms linked to the Salt Typhoon hacker group also appeared in records for a Cisco training program—years before the group targeted Cisco’s devices in a spy campaign...

‘Signalgate’ Inspector General Report Wants Just One Change to Avoid a Repeat Debacle

The United States Inspector General report reviewing Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s text messaging mess recommends a single change to keep classified material secure...

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Is Detaining People for ICE

Louisiana’s hunting and wildlife authority is one of more than 1,000 state and local agencies that have partnered with US immigration authorities this year alone...

Your Data Might Determine How Much You Pay for Eggs

A newly enacted New York law requires retailers to say whether your data influences the price of basic goods like a dozen eggs or toilet paper, but not how...

The Destruction of a Notorious Myanmar Scam Compound Appears to Have Been ‘Performative’

Myanmar’s military has been blowing up parts of the KK Park scam compound. Experts say the actions are likely for show...

WIRED Roundup: DHS’s Privacy Breach, AI Romantic Affairs, and Google Sues Text Scammers

In this episode of Uncanny Valley, we discuss our scoop about how the Department of Homeland Security illegally collected Chicago residents’ data for months, as well as the news of the week...

This ‘Privacy Browser’ Has Dangerous Hidden Features

The Universe Browser is believed to have been downloaded millions of times. But researchers say it behaves like malware and has links to Asia’s booming cybercrime and illegal gambling networks...

One Republican Now Controls a Huge Chunk of US Election Infrastructure

Former GOP operative Scott Leiendecker just bought Dominion Voting Systems, giving him ownership of voting systems used in 27 states. Election experts don't know what to think...