What to Do if ICE Invades Your Neighborhood

With federal agents storming the streets of American communities, there’s no single right way to approach this dangerous moment. But there are steps you can take to stay safe—and have an impact...

Grok Is Generating Sexual Content Far More Graphic Than What's on X

A WIRED review of outputs hosted on Grok’s official website shows it’s being used to create violent sexual images and videos, as well as content that includes apparent minors...

Cloudflare Has Blocked 416 Billion AI Bot Requests Since July 1

Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince claims the internet infrastructure company’s efforts to block AI crawlers are already seeing big results...

A Simple WhatsApp Security Flaw Exposed 3.5 Billion Phone Numbers

By plugging tens of billions of phone numbers into WhatsApp’s contact discovery tool, researchers found “the most extensive exposure of phone numbers” ever—along with profile photos and more...

The Long Tail of the AWS Outage

Experts say outages like the one that Amazon experienced this week are almost inevitable given the complexity and scale of cloud technology—but the duration serves as a warning...

What to Know About the Shocking Louvre Jewelry Heist

In just seven minutes, the thieves took off with crown jewels containing with thousands of diamonds along with other precious gems...

When Face Recognition Doesn’t Know Your Face Is a Face

An estimated 100 million people live with facial differences. As face recognition tech becomes widespread, some say they’re getting blocked from accessing essential systems and services...

Apple and Google Pull ICE-Tracking Apps, Bowing to DOJ Pressure

Plus: China sentences scam bosses to death, Europe is ramping up its plans to build a “drone wall” to protect against Russian airspace violations, and more...

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...

Inside the Nuclear Bunkers, Mines, and Mountains Being Retrofitted as Data Centers

Companies are going to great lengths to protect the infrastructure that provides the backbone of the world’s digital services—by burying their data deep underground...

A Dangerous Worm Is Eating Its Way Through Software Packages

Plus: An investigation reveals how US tech companies reportedly helped build China’s sweeping surveillance state, and two more alleged members of the Scattered Spider hacking group were arrested...

What Does Palantir Actually Do?

Palantir is often called a data broker, a data miner, or a giant database of personal information. In reality, it’s none of these—but even former employees struggle to explain it...

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...

Hackers Are Finding New Ways to Hide Malware in DNS Records

Newly published research shows that the domain name system—a fundamental part of the web—can be exploited to hide malicious code and prompt injection attacks against chatbots...

‘They're Not Breathing’: Inside the Chaos of ICE Detention Center 911 Calls

Records of hundreds of emergency calls from ICE detention centers obtained by WIRED—including audio recordings—show a system inundated by life-threatening incidents, delayed treatment, and overcrowding...

The Race to Build Trump’s ‘Golden Dome’ Missile Defense System Is On

President Donald Trump has proposed building a massive antimissile system in space that could enrich Elon Musk if it materializes. But experts say the project’s feasibility remains unclear...

Mike Waltz Left His Venmo Friends List Public

A WIRED review shows national security adviser Mike Waltz, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, and other top officials left sensitive information exposed via Venmo—until WIRED asked about it...

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...

US Names One of the Hackers Allegedly Behind Massive Salt Typhoon Breaches

Plus: New details emerge about China’s cyber espionage against the US, the FBI remotely uninstalls malware on 4,200 US devices, and victims of the PowerSchool edtech breach reveal what hackers stole...

Inside the Black Box of Predictive Travel Surveillance

Behind the scenes, companies and governments are feeding a trove of data about international travelers into opaque AI tools that aim to predict who’s safe—and who’s a threat...

Malicious Ads in Search Results Are Driving New Generations of Scams

The scourge of “malvertising” is nothing new, but the tactic is still so effective that it's contributing to the rise of investment scams and the spread of new strains of malware...

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...

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...

Stealthy Malware Has Infected Thousands of Linux Systems for Years

Perfctl malware is hard to detect, persists after reboots, and can perform a breadth of malicious activities...

The Pig Butchering Invasion Has Begun

Scamming operations that once originated in Southeast Asia are now proliferating around the world, likely raking in billions of dollars in the process...

Apple Vision Pro’s Eye Tracking Exposed What People Type

The Vision Pro uses 3D avatars on calls and for streaming. These researchers used eye tracking to work out the passwords and PINs people typed with their avatars...

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...

The US Navy Has Run Out of Pants

Plus: The US intelligence community formally blames Iran for Trump campaign hack, aircraft-tracking platform FlightAware says a “configuration error” exposed sensitive user data, and more...

Stadiums Are Embracing Face Recognition. Privacy Advocates Say They Should Stick to Sports

Protesters took to Citi Field Wednesday to raise awareness of the facial recognition systems that have become common at major league sporting venues...

Tricky Web Timing Attacks Are Getting Easier to Use—and Abuse

New research shows how known techniques for finding weaknesses in websites are actually practical in uncovering vulnerabilities, for better or worse...

The Problem the US TikTok Crackdown and Kaspersky Ban Have in Common

While Kaspersky and TikTok make very different kinds of software, the US has targeted both over national security concerns. But the looming bans have larger implications for internet freedom...

Quora’s Chatbot Platform Poe Allows Users to Download Paywalled Articles on Demand

WIRED was able to download stories from publishers like The New York Times and The Atlantic using Poe’s Assistant bot. One expert calls it “prima facie copyright infringement,” which Quora disputes...

US Bans Kaspersky Software

Using a Trump-era authority, the US Commerce Department has banned the sale of Kaspersky’s antivirus tools to new customers in the US, citing alleged threats to national security...

Judges Block US Extradition of WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange—for Now

A high court in London says the WikiLeaks founder won’t be extradited “immediately” and the US must provide more “assurances” about any extradition...

Russia Attacked Ukraine's Power Grid at Least 66 Times to ‘Freeze It Into Submission’

Several of the strikes occurred far from the front lines of the conflict, indicating possible war crimes. Researchers say the attacks likely had devastating impacts on civilians...

A Vending Machine Error Revealed Secret Face Recognition Tech

A student investigation at the University of Waterloo uncovered a system that scanned countless undergrads without consent...

2054, Part V: From Tokyo With Love

“Had this all been contrived? Had his life become a game in which everyone knew the rules but him?” An exclusive excerpt from 2054: A Novel...

A Major Ransomware Takedown Suffers a Strange Setback

After an 18-month rampage, global law enforcement finally moved against the notorious Alphv/BlackCat ransomware group. Within hours, the operation faced obstacles...

A Police App Exposed Secret Details About Raids and Suspects

SweepWizard, an app that law enforcement used to coordinate raids, left sensitive information about hundreds of police operations publicly accessible...

How to Protect Yourself If Your School Uses Surveillance Tech

Colleges and K-12 campuses increasingly monitor student emails, social media, and more. Here’s how to secure your or your child’s privacy...

UK Approves WikiLeaks Chief Julian Assange's Extradition to the US

The WikiLeaks founder will appeal the UK Home Office's decision to extradite him to the US...

The Hacker Gold Rush That's Poised to Eclipse Ransomware

As governments crack down on ransomware, cybercriminals may soon shift to business email compromise—already the world's most profitable type of scam...

Feds Uncover a ‘Swiss Army Knife’ for Hacking Industrial Systems

The malware toolkit, known as Pipedream, is perhaps the most versatile tool ever made to target critical infrastructure like power grids and oil refineries...

How to Limit Who Can Contact You on Twitter

Lock down your account to tweet in peace or take the guardrails off to court controversy...

Hacktivists Stoke Pandemonium Amid Russia’s War in Ukraine

A wave of cyberattacks meant to make a statement and particularly buoy Ukraine could have unintended consequences...

An Internet Troll Gives Nonalcoholic Spirits Startups the Spins

From false press releases to misleading domain names, one man has allegedly gone to great lengths to sabotage his competitors...

Playing With Crypto? You’ll Need a Wallet (or Several)

Buying and selling NFTs or transferring digital currency is going to require a little leap of faith. Here’s how to get started...

Hackers Can Mess With Voltages to Steal Intel Chips' Secrets

A new attack called Plundervolt gives attackers access to the sensitive data stored in a processor's secure enclave...

Muse, Meta’s New Personal AI Agent, Needs You to Trust It

Designed to compete with OpenClaw and Instinct, the company says Muse can do everything from sell your car to book you a plane ticket...

Meta Failed to Catch Hundreds of AI Child Abuse Ads. Some Included Images of Real Kids

Images of real children—including a member of a European royal family—were used to create some of the 350 ads containing child sexual abuse. Lawmakers say they plan to investigate...