OpenAI Models Escaped Containment and Hacked Hugging Face

The cybersecurity-focused models, including GPT-5.6 Sol, broke out of a testing sandbox, exploited a zero-day, and gained access to the open internet to pull off the attack...

Area Man Accidentally Hacks 6,700 Camera-Enabled Robot Vacuums

Plus: The top US cyber agency falls into shambles, AI models develop an upsetting penchant for nuclear weapons, and more...

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...

ICE Agent’s ‘Dragging’ Case May Help Expose Evidence in Renee Good Shooting

The government has withheld details of the investigation of Renee Good’s killing—but an unrelated case involving the ICE agent who shot her could force new revelations...

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...

The Worst Hacks of 2025

From university breaches to cyberattacks that shut down whole supply chains, these were the worst cybersecurity incidents of the year...

The ‘Epstein’s Suicide’ Video in the Latest DOJ Release Isn’t What It Seems

Here’s how a fake clip from 2019 wound up in the latest Justice Department Epstein files dump...

Huge Trove of Nude Images Leaked by AI Image Generator Startup’s Exposed Database

An AI image generator startup’s database was left accessible to the open internet, revealing more than 1 million images and videos, including photos of real people who had been “nudified.”...

Vaping Is ‘Everywhere’ in Schools—Sparking a Bathroom Surveillance Boom

Schools in the US are installing vape-detection tech in bathrooms to thwart student nicotine and cannabis use. A new investigation reveals the impact of using spying to solve a problem...

CBP Searched a Record Number of Phones at the US Border Over the Past Year

The total number of US Customs and Border Protection device searches jumped by 17 percent over the 2024 fiscal year, but more invasive forensic searches remain relatively rare...

ICE Wants to Build Out a 24/7 Social Media Surveillance Team

Documents show that ICE plans to hire dozens of contractors to scan X, Facebook, TikTok, and other platforms to target people for deportation...

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...

Defense Department Scrambles to Pretend It’s Called the War Department

President Donald Trump said the so-called Department of War branding is to counter the “woke” Department of Defense name...

Automated Sextortion Spyware Takes Webcam Pics of Victims Watching Porn

A new specimen of “infostealer” malware offers a disturbing feature: It monitors a target's browser for NSFW content, then takes simultaneous screenshots and webcam photos of the victim...

No, Trump Can’t Legally Federalize US Elections

The United States Constitution is clear: President Donald Trump can’t take control of the country’s elections. But he can sow confusion and fear...

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...

Google Will Use AI to Guess People’s Ages Based on Search History

Plus: A former top US cyber official loses her new job due to political backlash, Congress is rushing through a bill to censor lawmakers’ personal information online, and more...

AI Code Hallucinations Increase the Risk of ‘Package Confusion’ Attacks

A new study found that code generated by AI is more likely to contain made-up information that can be used to trick software into interacting with malicious code...

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...

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...

Californians Say X Blocked Them From Viewing Amber Alert About Missing 14-Year-Old

Many people reported they hit a screen preventing them from seeing the alert unless they signed in...

Congress Again Fails to Limit Scope of Spy Powers in New Defense Bill

The National Defense Authorization Act passed today, but lawmakers stripped language that would keep the Trump administration from wielding unprecedented authority to surveil Americans...

Police Arrest UnitedHealthcare CEO Shooting Suspect, App Developer Luigi Mangione

Luigi Mangione, a 26-year-old graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, was apprehended on Monday after visiting a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania...

The US Army's Vision of Soldiers in Exoskeletons Lives On

Following decades of failed attempts and dashed dreams, the US Army is once again trying out powered exoskeletons to help soldiers haul munitions and equipment in the field...

Teen Behind Hundreds of Swatting Attacks Pleads Guilty to Federal Charges

Alan Filion, believed to have operated under the handle “Torswats,” admitted to making more than 375 fake threats against schools, places of worship, and government buildings around the United States...

764 Terror Network Member Richard Densmore Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison

The 47-year-old Michigan man, who pleaded guilty to sexually exploiting a child, was highly active in the online criminal network called 764, which the FBI now considers a “tier one” terrorism threat...

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...

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...

YubiKeys Are a Security Gold Standard—but They Can Be Cloned

Security researchers have discovered a cryptographic flaw that leaves the YubiKey 5 vulnerable to attack...

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...

Don’t Fall for CrowdStrike Outage Scams

Swindlers are spinning up bogus websites in an attempt to dupe people with “CrowdStrike support” scams following the security firm's catastrophic software update...

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...

Google Fixes a Seventh Zero-Day Flaw in Chrome—Update Now

Plus: Major security patches from Microsoft, Mozilla, Atlassian, Cisco, and more...

Netflix’s Password-Sharing Crackdown Has Hit the US

TikTok user data is exposed to Chinese ByteDance employees, a screen recording app goes rogue in Google Play, and privacy groups want Slack to expand encryption...

ICE Records Reveal How Agents Abuse Access to Secret Data

Documents obtained by WIRED detail hundreds of investigations by the US agency into alleged database misuse that includes harassment, stalking, and more...

Forcing WhatsApp and iMessage to Work Together Is Doomed to Fail

Europe’s Digital Markets Act requires interoperability between popular messaging apps. But experts warn encryption could be compromised...

The Fragile Open Source Ecosystem Isn't Ready for 'Protestware'

A recent uptick in disruptions to open source software, including incidents aimed at objecting to Russia's war in Ukraine, have left the community on edge...

Muse Creates Detailed Profiles of All Your Friends and Family

Millions have downloaded Meta’s AI agent Muse. But getting it to do your bidding comes with privacy costs...

Flock Once Touted Its Cameras as ‘Made in the USA.’ Now It’s Not So Clear

Flock reveals little about where its license plate readers are assembled, but the answer could have geopolitical and cybersecurity implications...

Surveillance and ICE Are Driving Patients Away From Medical Care, Report Warns

A new EPIC report says data brokers, ad-tech surveillance, and ICE enforcement are among the factors leading to a “health privacy crisis” that is eroding trust and deterring people from seeking care...

ICE Seeks Cyber Upgrade to Better Surveil and Investigate Its Employees

The agency plans to renew a sweeping cybersecurity contract that includes expanded employee monitoring as the government escalates leak investigations and casts internal dissent as a threat...

Heritage Foundation Uses Bogus Stat to Push a Trans Terrorism Classification

By inflating numbers and narrowing definitions, Heritage promotes a false link between transgender identity and violence in its push for the FBI to create a new terrorism category...

US Congressman’s Brother Lands No-Bid Contract to Train DHS Snipers

DHS says retired Marine sniper Dan LaLota’s firm is uniquely qualified to meet the government’s needs. LaLota tells WIRED his brother, GOP congressman Nick LaLota, played no role in the contract...

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...

What to Know About Traveling to China for Business

Recent developments and an escalating trade war have made travel to cities like Beijing challenging but by no means impossible...

DHS Tells Police That Common Protest Activities Are ‘Violent Tactics’

DHS is urging law enforcement to treat even skateboarding and livestreaming as signs of violent intent during a protest, turning everyday behavior into a pretext for police action...

Identities of More Than 80 Americans Stolen for North Korean IT Worker Scams

The US Justice Department revealed the identity theft number along with one arrest and a crackdown on “laptop farms” that allegedly facilitate North Korean tech worker impersonators across the US...

Truth Social Crashes as Trump Live-Posts Iran Bombing

The social network started experiencing global outages within minutes of Donald Trump posting details of a US military strike on Iran...

The Trial at the Tip of the Terrorgram Iceberg

Atomwaffen Division cofounder and alleged Terrorgram Collective member Brandon Russell is facing a potential 20-year sentence for an alleged plot on a Baltimore electrical station. His case is only the beginning...

Hackers Likely Stole FBI Call Logs From AT&T That Could Compromise Informants

A breach of AT&T that exposed “nearly all” of the company’s customers may have included records related to confidential FBI sources, potentially explaining the bureau’s new embrace of end-to-end encryption...