You Don’t Need to Turn Off Apple’s NameDrop Feature in iOS 17

Yes, your iPhone automatically turns on NameDrop with the latest software update. But you shouldn’t really be worried about it—regardless of what the police are saying...

Private and Secure Web Search Engines: DuckDuckGo, Brave, Kagi, Startpage

What you look for online is up to you—just make sure no one else is taking a peek...

Google’s Ad Blocker Crackdown Is Growing

Plus: North Korean supply chain attacks, a Russian USB worm spreads internationally, and more...

How to Stop Google From Deleting Your Inactive Account

Your inactive profiles, like Gmail or Docs, could turn into digital dust later this year. A few clicks can save them...

Go on a Psychedelic Journey of the Internet's Growth and Evolution

Security researcher Barrett Lyon, who makes visualizations of the internet's network infrastructure, is back with a new piece chronicling the rise of the IPv6 protocol...

It's Time to Log Off

There’s a devastating amount of heavy news these days. Psychology experts say you need to know your limits—and when to put down the phone...

DOJ Charges Binance With Vast Money-Laundering Scheme and Sanctions Violations

From Russia to Iran, the feds have charged Binance with conducting well over $1 billion in transactions with sanctioned countries and criminal actors...

Inside the Operation to Bring Down Trump’s Truth Social

The North Atlantic Fellas Organization is trying to shut down Trump’s flailing social media platform before the 2024 election—by shitposting...

Secretive White House Surveillance Program Gives Cops Access to Trillions of US Phone Records

A WIRED analysis of leaked police documents verifies that a secretive government program is allowing federal, state, and local law enforcement to access phone records of Americans who are not suspected of a crime...

Inside the Race to Secure the F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix

Beyond the blinding speeds and sharp turns on new terrain, the teams at this weekend’s big F1 race are preparing for another kind of danger...

The Bin Laden Letter Is Being Weaponized by the Far Right

Far-right influencers and right-wing lawmakers are using the spread of Osama bin Laden’s “Letter to America” to call for a TikTok ban and boost decades old conspiracies...

US Congress Report Calls for Privacy Reforms After FBI Surveillance 'Abuses'

A new report by an oversight committee in the US House of Representatives says the FBI has routinely violated rules governing FISA’s Section 702 surveillance program and must be reined in...

Running Signal Will Soon Cost $50 Million a Year

Signal’s president reveals the cost of running the privacy-preserving platform—not just to drum up donations, but to call out the for-profit surveillance business models it competes against...

A Spy Agency Leaked People's Data Online—Then the Data Was Stolen

The National Telecommunication Monitoring Center in Bangladesh exposed a database to the open web. The types of data leaked online are extensive...

Google’s New Titan Security Key Adds Another Piece to the Password-Killing Puzzle

The new generation of hardware authentication key includes support for cryptographic passkeys as Google pushes adoption of the more secure login alternative...

The QAnon Shaman Isn’t Even the Most Extreme Candidate in His Race for Congress

Jacob Chansley, the January 6 rioter known as the QAnon Shaman, will run for Congress in Arizona. The most remarkable thing about his campaign so far is how unremarkable it is in a state that’s embraced election conspiracies...

Social Media Sleuths, Armed With AI, Are Identifying Dead Bodies

Poverty, fentanyl, and lack of public funding mean morgues are overloaded with unidentified bodies. TikTok and Facebook pages are filling the gap—with AI proving a powerful and controversial new tool...

Asian Americans Raise Alarm Over ‘Chilling Effects’ of Section 702 Surveillance Program

More than 60 groups advocating for Asian American and Pacific Islander communities are pushing the US Congress to reform the Section 702 surveillance program as Senate leaders move to renew it...

CISA Has a New Road Map for Handling Weaponized AI

In its plans to implement a White House executive order, CISA aims to strike a balance between promoting AI adoption for national security and defending against its malicious use...

Here’s the Proof There’s No Government Alien Conspiracy Around Roswell

Roswell, New Mexico, remains synonymous with the “discovery” of alien life on Earth—and a US government coverup. But history shows the reality may be far less out of this world—and still fascinating...

The Mirai Confessions: Three Young Hackers Who Built a Web-Killing Monster Finally Tell Their Story

Netflix, Spotify, Twitter, PayPal, Slack. All down for millions of people. How a group of teen friends plunged into an underworld of cybercrime and broke the internet—then went to work for the FBI...

US Privacy Groups Urge Senate Not to Ram Through NSA Spying Powers

An effort to reauthorize a controversial US surveillance program by attaching it to a must-pass spending bill has civil liberties advocates calling foul...

Signal Is Finally Testing Usernames

Plus: A DDoS attack shuts down ChatGPT, Lockbit shuts down a bank, and a communications breakdown between politicians and Big Tech...

Senate Leaders Plan to Prolong NSA Surveillance Using a Must-Pass Bill

Top senate officials are planning to save the Section 702 surveillance program by attaching it to a crucial piece of legislation. Critics worry a chance to pass privacy reforms will be missed...

The NSA Seems Pretty Stressed About the Threat of Chinese Hackers in US Critical Infrastructure

US government officials continue to warn that the public and private sectors need to identify and root out China-backed attackers lurking in industrial control systems...

This New Tool Aims to Keep Terrorism Content Off the Internet

Small platforms without resources to handle takedown requests have been weaponized by terrorist groups that share their content online. A free new tool is coming to help clean house...

Here’s How Violent Extremists Are Exploiting Generative AI Tools

Experts are finding thousands of examples of AI-created content every week that could allow terrorist groups and other violent extremists to bypass automated detection systems...

Omegle Was Forced to Shut Down by a Lawsuit From a Sexual Abuse Survivor

Omegle connected strangers to one another and had a long-standing problem of pairing minors with sexual predators. A legal settlement took it down...

How to Get Facebook Without Ads—if It’s Available for You

Meta now offers users an ad-free option, but it’s only available in Europe for those who can afford the €10-a-month subscription...

Sandworm Hackers Caused Another Blackout in Ukraine—During a Missile Strike

Russia's most notorious military hackers successfully sabotaged Ukraine's power grid for the third time last year. And in this case, the blackout coincided with a physical attack...

Police Use of Face Recognition Is Sweeping the UK

Face recognition technology has been controversial for years. Cops in the UK are drastically increasing the amount they use it...

The GOP Presidential Debate Is Livestreaming on Rumble, Home to White Nationalist Nick Fuentes

The third GOP debate is sponsored by the Republican Jewish Coalition and will be livestreamed on a platform favored by one of America’s most notorious white nationalists...

This Is the Ops Manual for the Most Tech-Savvy Animal Liberation Group in the US

For the first time, guerrilla animal rights group Direct Action Everywhere reveals a guide to its investigative tactics and toolkit, from spy cams to night vision and drones...

Government Surveillance Reform Act of 2023 Seeks to End Warrantless Police and FBI Spying

The Government Surveillance Reform Act of 2023 pulls from past privacy bills to overhaul how police and the feds access Americans’ data and communications...

Internet Blackouts in Gaza Are a New Weapon in the Israel-Hamas War

Israel has said it’s prepared to disrupt internet service in Gaza, signaling a new age of warfare. In the past two weeks, the Palestinian territory has already suffered three communications shutdowns...

YouTube's Ad Blocker Detection Believed to Break EU Privacy Law

A complaint filed with the EU’s independent data regulator accuses YouTube of failing to get explicit user permission for its ad blocker detection system, potentially violating the ePrivacy Directive...

What a Bloody San Francisco Street Brawl Tells Us About the Age of Citizen Surveillance

When a homeless man attacked a former city official, footage of the onslaught became a rallying cry. Then came another video, and another—and the story turned inside out...

Intensified Israeli Surveillance Has Put the West Bank on Lockdown

The West Bank was Israel’s surveillance laboratory. Since the Israel-Hamas war began, Palestinian residents have been locked in for days at a time...

This Cheap Hacking Device Can Crash Your iPhone With Pop-Ups

Plus: SolarWinds is charged with fraud, New Orleans police face recognition has flaws, and new details about Okta’s October data breach emerge...

Microsoft Does Damage Control With Its New 'Secure Future Initiative'

Following a string of serious security incidents, Microsoft says it has a plan to deal with escalating threats from cybercriminals and state-backed hackers...

The UN Hired an AI Company to Untangle the Israeli-Palestinian Crisis

CulturePulse's AI model promises to create a realistic virtual simulation of every Israeli and Palestinian citizen. But don't roll your eyes: It's already been put to the test in other conflict zones...

The New Era of Social Media Looks as Bad for Privacy as the Last One

The slow-motion implosion of Elon Musk’s X has given rise to a slew of competitors, where privacy invasions that ran rampant over the past decade still largely persist...

How Telegram Became a Terrifying Weapon in the Israel-Hamas War

Hamas posted gruesome images and videos that were designed to go viral. Sources argue that Telegram’s lax moderation ensured they were seen around the world...

Apple, Google, and Microsoft Just Patched Some Spooky Security Flaws

Plus: Major vulnerability fixes are now available for a number of enterprise giants, including Cisco, VMWare, Citrix, and SAP...

This Cryptomining Tool Is Stealing Secrets

Plus: Details emerge of a US government social media-scanning tool that flags “derogatory” speech, and researchers find vulnerabilities in the global mobile communications network...

The Destruction of Gaza’s Internet Is Complete

As Israel increases its ground operation in Gaza, the last remaining internet and mobile connections have gone dark...

TikTok Streamers Are Staging ‘Israel vs. Palestine’ Live Matches to Cash In on Virtual Gifts

TikTokkers are using a little-known livestreaming feature to falsely represent Israelis and Palestinians—and the company is taking a cut of costly in-app gifts viewers give to participants...

Maine Mass Shooting Disinformation Floods Social Media as Suspect Remains at Large

In the hours following the worst mass shooting in Maine’s history, disinformation about the suspected gunman flooded social media with false claims that he had been arrested...

Okta's Latest Security Breach Is Haunted by the Ghost of Incidents Past

A recent breach of authentication giant Okta has impacted nearly 200 of its clients. But repeated incidents and the company’s delayed disclosure have security experts calling foul...

Elon Musk Mocked Ukraine, and Russian Trolls Went Wild

Inauthentic accounts on X flocked to its owner’s post about Ukrainian president Vlodymr Zelensky, hailing “Comrade Musk” and boosting pro-Russia propaganda...