A new analysis of TM Signal’s source code appears to show that the app sends users’ message logs in plaintext. At least one top Trump administration official used the app.
Customs and Border Protection has called for tech companies to pitch real-time face recognition technology that can capture everyone in a vehicle—not just those in the front seats.
People are using ChatGPT’s new image generator to take part in viral social media trends. But using it also puts your privacy at risk—unless you take a few simple steps to protect yourself.
WhatsApp's AI tools will use a new “Private Processing” system designed to allow cloud access without letting Meta or anyone else see end-to-end encrypted chats. But experts still see risks.
Records reviewed by WIRED show law enforcement agencies are eager to take advantage of the data trails generated by a flood of new internet-connected vehicle features.
Plus: Cybercriminals stole a record-breaking fortune from US residents and businesses in 2024, and Google performs its final flip-flop in its yearslong quest to kill tracking cookies.
Customs and Border Protection has broad authority to search travelers’ devices when they cross into the United States. Here’s what you can do to protect your digital life while at the US border.
Plus: A US judge rules against police cell phone “tower dumps,” China names alleged NSA agents it says were involved in cyberattacks, and Customs and Border Protection reveals its social media spying tools.
In a document published Thursday, ICE explained the functions that it expects Palantir to include in a prototype of a new program to give the agency “near real-time” data about people self-deporting.
A lawsuit over the Trump administration’s infamous Houthi Signal group chat has revealed what steps departments took to preserve the messages—and how little they actually saved.
Though the exact details of the situation have not been confirmed, community infighting seems to have spilled out in a breach of the notorious image board.
Microsoft held off on releasing the privacy-unfriendly feature after a swell of pushback last year. Now it’s trying again, with a few improvements that skeptics say still aren't enough.
Allegedly responsible for the theft of $1.5 billion in cryptocurrency from a single exchange, North Korea’s TraderTraitor is one of the most sophisticated cybercrime groups in the world.
Millions of scam text messages are sent every month. The Chinese cybercriminals behind many of them are expanding their operations—and quickly innovating.
Some misconfigured AI chatbots are pushing people’s chats to the open web—revealing sexual prompts and conversations that include descriptions of child sexual abuse.
The Israeli spyware maker, still on the US Commerce Department’s “blacklist,” has hired a new lobbying firm with direct ties to the Trump administration, a WIRED investigation has found.
Plus: Another DOGE operative allegedly has a history in the hacking world, and Donald Trump’s national security adviser apparently had way more Signal chats than previously known.
Plus: Alleged Snowflake hacker will be extradited to US, internet restrictions create an information vacuum in Myanmar, and London gets its first permanent face recognition cameras.
WIRED has found four new Venmo accounts that appear to be associated with Trump officials who were in an infamous Signal chat. One made a payment with a note consisting solely of an eggplant emoji.
Scandal surrounding the Trump administration’s Signal group chat has led to a landmark week for the encrypted messaging app’s adoption—its “largest US growth moment by a massive margin.”
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.
The Trump cabinet’s shocking leak of its plans to bomb Yemen raises myriad confidentiality and legal issues. The security of the encrypted messaging app Signal is not one of them.
Crossing into the United States has become increasingly dangerous for digital privacy. Here are a few steps you can take to minimize the risk of Customs and Border Protection accessing your data.
Amid growing concerns over Big Tech firms aligning with Trump administration policies, people are starting to move their digital lives to services based overseas. Here's what you need to know.
Plus: A nominee to lead CISA emerges, Elon Musk visits the NSA, a renowned crypto cracking firm’s secret (and problematic) cofounder is revealed, and more.
The UK, France, Sweden, and EU have made fresh attacks on end-to-end encryption. Some of the attacks are more “crude” than those in recent years, experts say.
Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, has long held anti-surveillance views. Now she oversees a key surveillance program she once tried to dismantle.
A WIRED investigation reveals that criminals who make billions from scam compounds in Myanmar—where tens of thousands of people are enslaved—are using Starlink to get online.
A WIRED investigation goes inside the Telegram groups targeting women who joined “Are We Dating the Same Guy?” groups on Facebook with doxing, harassment, and sharing of nonconsensual intimate images.
Plus: Apple turns off end-to-end encrypted iCloud backups in the UK after pressure to install a backdoor, and two spyware apps expose victim data—and the identities of people who installed the apps.
Google enables marketers to target people with serious illnesses and crushing debt—against its policies—as well as the makers of classified defense technology, a WIRED investigation has found.
Google warns that hackers tied to Russia are tricking Ukrainian soldiers with fake QR codes for Signal group invites that let spies steal their messages. Signal has pushed out new safeguards.
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.
Plus: Researchers find RedNote lacks basic security measures, surveillance ramps up around the US-Mexico border, and the UK ordering Apple to create an encryption backdoor comes under fire.
Romance scams cost victims hundreds of millions of dollars a year. As people grow increasingly isolated, and generative AI helps scammers scale their crimes, the problem could get worse.
A Florida data broker told a US senator it obtained sensitive data on US military members in Germany from a Lithuanian firm, which denies involvement—revealing the opaque nature of online ad surveillance.
China-based DeepSeek has exploded in popularity, drawing greater scrutiny. Case in point: Security researchers found more than 1 million records, including user data and API keys, in an open database.
Amid ongoing fears over TikTok, Chinese generative AI platform DeepSeek says it’s sending heaps of US user data straight to its home country, potentially setting the stage for greater scrutiny.
Plus: A hacker finds an issue with Cloudflare’s systems that could reveal app users’ rough locations, and the Trump administration puts a wrench in a key cybersecurity investigation.
Now-fixed web bugs allowed hackers to remotely unlock and start any of millions of Subarus. More disturbingly, they could also access at least a year of cars’ location histories—and Subaru employees still can.
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.
Data WIRED collected during the 2024 Democratic National Convention strongly suggests the use of a cell-site simulator, a controversial spy device that intercepts sensitive data from every phone in its range.
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.
Your messages going back years are likely still lurking online, potentially exposing sensitive information you forgot existed. But there's no time like the present to do some digital decluttering.
Smartphones and face recognition are being combined to create new digital travel documents. The paper passport’s days are numbered—despite new privacy risks.
AI voice cloning and deepfakes are supercharging scams. One method to protect your loved ones and yourself is to create secret code words to verify someone’s identity in real time.
Plus: Google’s U-turn on creepy “fingerprint” tracking, the LockBit ransomware gang’s teased comeback, and a potential US ban on the most popular routers in America.
The National Defense Authorization Act passed today, but lawmakers stripped language that would keep the Trump administration from wielding unprecedented authority to surveil Americans.
Plus: The US indicts North Koreans in fake IT worker scheme, file-sharing firm Cleo warns customers to patch a vulnerability amid live attacks, and more.
The mobile device security firm iVerify has been offering a tool since May that makes spyware scanning accessible to anyone—and it’s already turning up victims.
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