Tile Tracking Tags Can Be Exploited by Tech-Savvy Stalkers, Researchers Say

A team of researchers found that, by not encrypting the data broadcast by Tile tags, users could be vulnerable to having their location information exposed to malicious actors...

An App Used to Dox Charlie Kirk Critics Doxed Its Own Users Instead

Plus: A ransomeware gang steals data on 8,000 preschoolers, Microsoft blocks Israel’s military from using its cloud for surveillance, call-recording app Neon hits pause over security holes, and more...

A New Platform Offers Privacy Tools to Millions of Public Servants

From data-removal services to threat monitoring, the Public Service Alliance says its new marketplace will help public servants defend themselves in an era of data brokers and political violence...

Massive Leak Shows How a Chinese Company Is Exporting the Great Firewall to the World

Geedge Networks, a company with ties to the founder of China’s mass censorship infrastructure, is selling its censorship and surveillance systems to at least four other countries in Asia and Africa...

China Is About to Show Off Its New High-Tech Weapons to the World

On September 3, China will hold a “Victory Day” military parade in Tiananmen Square to celebrate the 80th anniversary of its victory over Japan—and to send the West a message...

The Era of AI-Generated Ransomware Has Arrived

Cybercriminals are increasingly using generative AI tools to fuel their attacks, with new research finding instances of AI being used to develop ransomware...

Phone Searches at the US Border Hit a Record High

Customs and Border Protection agents searched nearly 15,000 devices from April through June of this year, a nearly 17 percent spike over the previous three-month high in 2022...

493 Cases of Sextortion Against Children Linked to Notorious Scam Compounds

Scam compounds in Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos have conned people out of billions. New research shows they may be linked to child sextortion crimes too...

Russia Is Cracking Down on End-to-End Encrypted Calls

Plus: ICE agents accidentally add a random person to a sensitive group chat, Norwegian intelligence blames the Kremlin for hacking a dam, and new facial recognition vans roam the UK...

Data Brokers Are Hiding Their Opt-Out Pages From Google Search

Dozens of companies are hiding how you can delete your personal data, The Markup and CalMatters found...

A Misconfiguration That Haunts Corporate Streaming Platforms Could Expose Sensitive Data

A security researcher discovered that flawed API configurations are plaguing corporate livestreaming platforms, potentially exposing internal company meetings—and he's releasing a tool to find them...

Leak Reveals the Workaday Lives of North Korean IT Scammers

Spreadsheets, Slack messages, and files linked to an alleged group of North Korean IT workers expose their meticulous job-planning and targeting—and the constant surveillance they're under...

McDonald’s AI Hiring Bot Exposed Millions of Applicants' Data to Hackers Using the Password ‘123456’

Basic security flaws left the personal info of tens of millions of McDonald’s job-seekers vulnerable on the “McHire” site built by AI software firm Paradox.ai...

Taiwan Is Rushing to Make Its Own Drones Before It's Too Late

Unmanned vehicles are increasingly becoming essential weapons of war. But with a potential conflict with China looming large, Taiwan is scrambling to build a domestic drone industry from scratch...

What Satellite Images Reveal About the US Bombing of Iran's Nuclear Sites

The US concentrated its attack on Fordow, an enrichment plant built hundreds of feet underground. Aerial photos give important clues about what damage the “bunker-buster” bombs may have caused...

Israel Says Iran Is Hacking Security Cameras for Spying

Plus: Ukrainian hackers reportedly knock out a key Russian internet provider, China’s Salt Typhoon hackers claim another victim, and the UK hits 23andMe with a hefty fine over its 2023 data breach...

Israel-Tied Predatory Sparrow Hackers Are Waging Cyberwar on Iran’s Financial System

After an attack on Iran’s Sepah bank, the hyper-aggressive Israel-linked hacker group has now destroyed more than $90 million held at Iranian crypto exchange Nobitex...

Why We Made a Guide to Winning a Fight

Right now, everyone seems ready to throw down. More than ever, it’s important to fight smart—and not give up until you land a decisive blow...

The Trump Administration Sure Is Having Trouble Keeping Its Comms Private

In the wake of SignalGate, a knockoff version of Signal used by a high-ranking member of the Trump administration was hacked. Today on Uncanny Valley, we discuss the platforms used for government communications...

Millions of Apple Airplay-Enabled Devices Can Be Hacked via Wi-Fi

Researchers reveal a collection of bugs known as AirBorne that would allow any hacker on the same Wi-Fi network as a third-party AirPlay-enabled device to surreptitiously run their own code on it...

New Jersey Sues Discord for Allegedly Failing to Protect Children

The New Jersey attorney general claims Discord’s features to keep children under 13 safe from sexual predators and harmful content are inadequate...

Elon Musk’s DOGE Is Being Sued Under the Privacy Act: What to Know

At least eight ongoing lawsuits related to the so-called Department of Government Efficiency’s alleged access to sensitive data hinge on the Watergate-inspired Privacy Act of 1974. But it’s not airtight...

Top US Election Security Watchdog Forced to Stop Election Security Work

The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has frozen efforts to aid states in securing elections, according to an internal memo viewed by WIRED...

How the US TikTok Ban Would Actually Work

The fate of TikTok now rests in the hands of the US Supreme Court. If a law banning the social video app this month is upheld, it won’t disappear from your phone—but it will get messy fast...

The Pressure Is on for Big Tech to Regulate the Broken Digital Advertising Industry

Brands have been at the mercy of the algorithm when it comes to where their ads appear online, but they’re about to get more control...

Immigration Police Can Already Sidestep US Sanctuary City Laws Using Data-Sharing Fusion Centers

Built to combat terrorism, fusion centers give US Immigration and Customs Enforcement a way to gain access to data that’s meant to be protected under city laws limiting local police cooperation with ICE...

Russia Is Going All Out on Election Day Interference

Along with other foreign influence operations—including from Iran—Kremlin-backed campaigns to stoke division and fear have gone into overdrive...

Surprise! The Latest ‘Comprehensive’ US Privacy Bill Is Doomed

Gutted of civil rights protections by Democrats to woo pro-business Republicans, the American Privacy Rights Act was pulled from a key congressional hearing—and appears unlikely to receive a full vote...

OpenAI Rolls Out ‘Advanced’ Security Mode for At-Risk Accounts

OpenAI is rolling out Advanced Account Security for people concerned that their ChatGPT or Codex accounts could be potential targets of phishing attacks...

Europe’s Online Age Verification App Is Here

Available for free to any company that wants to use it, the “completely anonymous” app puts the pressure on porn sites and social media platforms to start blocking access by minors...

‘We Were Not Ready for This’: Lebanon's Emergency System Is Hanging by a Thread

In Lebanon, nearly 1 in 5 people has been displaced by Israeli attacks, leaving the government to manage a modern crisis without modern digital infrastructure...

What Happens When a Nuclear Site Is Hit?

As strikes continue on Iran’s nuclear facilities, the real danger isn’t the explosion, but what happens if critical safety systems fail—and how that risk could spread across the Gulf...

Unmasking the Paramilitary Agents Behind Trump’s Violent Immigration Crackdown

A WIRED analysis of DHS records identified dozens of specialized federal agents who used force against US civilians during the largest known deployment of its kind in US history...

Iran Threatens to Start Attacking Major US Tech Firms on April 1

Tech giants like Apple, Google, and Microsoft are among those on a target list released by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps...

How Trump’s Plot to Grab Iran's Nuclear Fuel Would Actually Work

Experts say that an American ground operation targeting nuclear sites in Iran would be incredibly complicated, put troops’ lives at great risk—and might still fail...

ICE Is Paying Salaries and More for This Town’s Entire Police Force

Under a Homeland Security program, police departments around the US are signing up to assist in immigration enforcement. The cops of Carroll, New Hampshire, are going all in—and they’re likely not alone...

A Top Democrat Is Urging Colleagues to Support Trump’s Spy Machine

Congressman Jim Himes claims a sweeping surveillance authority should stay intact because he hasn't seen abuses by Kash Patel's FBI, according to internal messaging obtained by WIRED...

US Takes Down Botnets Used in Record-Breaking Cyberattacks

The Aisuru, Kimwolf, JackSkid, and Mossad botnets had infected more than 3 million devices in total, many inside home networks, according to the US Justice Department...

Sears Exposed AI Chatbot Phone Calls and Text Chats to Anyone on the Web

Customer conversations with chatbots can include contact information and personal details that make it easier for scammers to launch phishing attacks and commit fraud...

Models Are Applying to Be the Face of AI Scams

Dozens of Telegram channels reviewed by WIRED include job listings for “AI face models.” The mostly women who land these gigs are likely being used to dupe victims out of their money...

GPS Attacks Near Iran Are Wreaking Havoc on Delivery and Mapping Apps

Delivery apps are glitching and navigation routes are changing abruptly thanks to electronic warfare disrupting the satellite signals that power everything from missiles to your ride home...

How Journalists Are Reporting From Iran With No Internet

After strikes killed senior Iranian officials, Iran cut off internet access. Journalists are relying on satellite links, encrypted apps, and smuggled footage to report from inside the country...

Here’s What a Google Subpoena Response Looks Like, Courtesy of the Epstein Files

The US Justice Department disclosures give fresh clues about how tech companies handle government inquiries about your data...

AI Is Here to Replace Nuclear Treaties. Scared Yet?

The last major nuclear arms treaty between the US and Russia just expired. Some experts believe a combination of satellite surveillance, AI, and human reviewers can take its place. Others, not so much...

ICE and CBP’s Face-Recognition App Can’t Actually Verify Who People Are

ICE has used Mobile Fortify to identify immigrants and citizens alike over 100,000 times, by one estimate. It wasn't built to work like that—and only got approved after DHS abandoned its own privacy rules...

How Data Brokers Can Fuel Violence Against Public Servants

A new report from the Public Service Alliance finds state privacy laws offer public servants few ways to protect their private data, even as threats against them are on the rise...

6 Best VPN Services (2026), Tested and Reviewed

Every VPN says it’s the best, but only some of them are telling the truth...

He Leaked the Secrets of a Southeast Asian Scam Compound. Then He Had to Get Out Alive

A source trapped inside an industrial-scale scamming operation contacted me, determined to expose his captors’ crimes—and then escape. This is his story...

Judge Delays Minnesota ICE Decision While Weighing Whether State Is Being Illegally Punished

A federal judge ordered a new briefing due Wednesday on whether DHS is using armed raids to pressure Minnesota into abandoning its sanctuary policies, leaving ICE operations in place for now...

DOGE May Have Misused Social Security Data, DOJ Admits

Plus: The FAA blocks drones over DHS operations, Microsoft admits it hands over Bitlocker encryption keys to the cops, and more...