Security

Kernel Panic

Encryption Is Getting Squeezed From All Sides

Canada’s planned surveillance law is the latest grim step in a series of threats to encryption that are spreading around the world.

Matt Burgess and Lily Hay Newman

Unsanctified

Chicago-Area Cops Helped HSI Spy on Minnesota Anti-ICE Activists

Ali Winston

Nowhere’s Safe

‘Nightmare Scenario’: Zero-Click Spyware Is Infecting Phones via Targeted Ads

Matt Burgess and Lily Hay Newman

Cyberattacks and Hacks

AI Is Getting Really Good at Messing With Cybercriminals

Anti-cybercrime initiatives are increasingly using AI to scam the scammers by tricking them into talking to lifelike bots that they think are real victims.

Lily Hay Newman and Matt Burgess

Shaq Got Hacked. Now He’s Pitching for a VPN

At a recent event for security firm NordVPN, NBA superstar Shaquille O’Neal revealed that he got hacked—and warned the public about the need to “have control of their own information.”

Lily Hay Newman

A Flaw in ChatGPT’s Mac App Could Have Let Hackers Grab Sensitive Data

While the focus has been on AI agents’ hacking capabilities, a recently patched vulnerability in a ChatGPT app shows that AI software is itself an inviting—and vulnerable—target.

Lily Hay Newman and Matt Burgess

OpenAI Gets Sued Over the Hugging Face Hack

A nonprofit in California is doing what Hugging Face has not—attempting to hold OpenAI legally accountable for the actions of its agents.

Lily Hay Newman

Privacy

Feds Got Warrants to Use Fake Cell Towers to Hunt Down Don Lemon’s Producer

Investigators also sought permission to use an invasive surveillance tool called a cell-site simulators against journalist Georgia Fort and a Minnesota state Senate candidate.

Dhruv Mehrotra

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.

Lily Hay Newman and Matt Burgess

The Secrets of a US Spyware King

In an exclusive interview with WIRED, Paragon Solutions CEO Andrew Boyd reveals the limits of the company’s promise to keep bad actors from abusing its powerful espionage tool.

Kim Zetter

How to Use AI With Your Privacy Intact

Your conversations with AI chatbots are both highly personal and deeply vulnerable to surveillance. Here’s how you can protect yourself.

Andy Greenberg

Security Advice

The Password Managers You Should Use Instead of Your Browser

Keep your logins locked down with our favorite password management apps for PC, Mac, Android, iPhone, and web browsers.

Scott Gilbertson

You Can Disable Gemini in Chrome if It’s Freaking You Out

Chrome users were caught off guard by a 4-GB Google AI model baked into Chrome, sparking privacy concerns. The good news: You can easily uninstall it. The bad? You might not want to.

Lily Hay Newman

How the Internet Broke Everyone’s Bullshit Detectors

From AI-generated images to restricted satellite data, the systems used to verify what’s real online are struggling to keep up.

Gia Chaudry

How to Organize Safely in the Age of Surveillance

From threat modeling to encrypted collaboration apps, we’ve collected experts’ tips and tools for safely and effectively building a group—even while being targeted and tracked by the powerful.

Andy Greenberg and Lily Hay Newman

Security News

An OpenAI Employee Allegedly Used a Chatbot to Help Plant a Recording Device at the Office

Chatbot prompts reveal the engineer’s alleged efforts to set up a covert listening device days before one was found in a meeting room used by high-level executives.

Paresh Dave, Maddy Varner, and Caroline Haskins

ICE Agent at NYC Shooting Has History of Alleged Violence and Illegal Arrests

Brenden Cuni, an ICE supervisor, has been accused of excessive force and tackling a pregnant woman to the ground. Several of his arrests were later found to be unlawful in federal court.

Dhruv Mehrotra, Ali Winston, and Maddy Varner

The Man Behind a West Bank Telegram Channel Trying to Keep Palestinian Drivers Safe

With no accurate Big Tech mapping app to help him, Anas Hattab launched a Telegram group to get himself home at night. Now nearly 350,000 Palestinians rely on it to navigate the occupied West Bank.

Lama Rabah

The Pentagon Hopes to Speed Up ‘Kill Chain’ AI Buys With 5-Minute Videos

The US government’s Tradewinds initiative has made it easier to throw millions of dollars at “nontraditional” defense contractors, including OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google.

Maddy Varner