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☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

OpenAI’s Custom Chatbots Are Leaking Their Secrets

By Matt Burgess — November 29th 2023 at 12:00
Released earlier this month, OpenAI’s GPTs let anyone create custom chatbots. But some of the data they’re built on is easily exposed.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

A Civil Rights Firestorm Erupts Around a Looming Surveillance Power Grab

By Dell Cameron — November 28th 2023 at 20:03
Dozens of advocacy groups are pressuring the US Congress to abandon plans to ram through the renewal of a controversial surveillance program that they say poses an “alarming threat to civil rights.”
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

Section 702 Surveillance Reauthorization May Get Slipped Into ‘Must-Pass’ NDAA

By Dell Cameron — November 27th 2023 at 20:27
Congressional leaders are discussing ways to reauthorize Section 702 surveillance, including by attaching it to the National Defense Authorization Act, Capitol Hill sources tell WIRED.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

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

By Boone Ashworth, David Nield, Matt Burgess — November 26th 2023 at 14:00
What you look for online is up to you—just make sure no one else is taking a peek.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

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

By Dell Cameron, Dhruv Mehrotra — November 20th 2023 at 18:25
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.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

Cybersecurity Industry Baffled by FBI’s Lack of Action on Ransomware Gang

By Andy Greenberg, Andrew Couts — December 17th 2023 at 01:02
Plus: Hackers reveal flaws in crypto wallets holding $1 billion, a massive breach of Danish electric utilities, and more.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

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

By Dell Cameron — November 16th 2023 at 17:38
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.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

Running Signal Will Soon Cost $50 Million a Year

By Andy Greenberg — November 16th 2023 at 16:00
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.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

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

By Matt Burgess — November 16th 2023 at 11:00
The National Telecommunication Monitoring Center in Bangladesh exposed a database to the open web. The types of data leaked online are extensive.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

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

By Dell Cameron — November 14th 2023 at 16:53
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.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

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

By Dell Cameron — November 13th 2023 at 21:12
An effort to reauthorize a controversial US surveillance program by attaching it to a must-pass spending bill has civil liberties advocates calling foul.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

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

By Dell Cameron — November 10th 2023 at 21:54
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.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

Police Use of Face Recognition Is Sweeping the UK

By Matt Burgess — November 9th 2023 at 07:00
Face recognition technology has been controversial for years. Cops in the UK are drastically increasing the amount they use it.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

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

By Dell Cameron — November 7th 2023 at 20:44
The Government Surveillance Reform Act of 2023 pulls from past privacy bills to overhaul how police and the feds access Americans’ data and communications.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

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

By K.G. Orphanides — November 7th 2023 at 16:52
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.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

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

By Lauren Smiley — November 7th 2023 at 11:00
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.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

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

By Matt Burgess — November 4th 2023 at 13:00
Plus: SolarWinds is charged with fraud, New Orleans police face recognition has flaws, and new details about Okta’s October data breach emerge.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

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

By Vittoria Elliott — November 1st 2023 at 21:00
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.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

This Cryptomining Tool Is Stealing Secrets

By Lily Hay Newman — October 28th 2023 at 13:00
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.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

The Destruction of Gaza’s Internet Is Complete

By Matt Burgess — October 27th 2023 at 19:51
As Israel increases its ground operation in Gaza, the last remaining internet and mobile connections have gone dark.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

The AI-Generated Child Abuse Nightmare Is Here

By Matt Burgess — October 24th 2023 at 23:01
Thousands of child abuse images are being created with AI. New images of old victims are appearing, as criminals trade datasets.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

A Controversial Plan to Scan Private Messages for Child Abuse Meets Fresh Scandal

By Vas Panagiotopoulos — October 24th 2023 at 11:00
An EU government body is pushing a proposal to combat child sexual abuse material that has significant privacy implications. Its lead advocate is making things even messier.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

A Powerful Tool US Spies Misused to Stalk Women Faces Its Potential Demise

By Dell Cameron — October 24th 2023 at 11:00
Though often viewed as the “crown jewel” of the US intelligence community, fresh reports of abuse by NSA employees and chaos in the US Congress put the tool's future in jeopardy.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

The 23andMe User Data Leak May Be Far Worse Than Believed

By Andrew Couts — October 21st 2023 at 13:00
Plus: IT workers secretly funnel money to North Korea, a court in the US upholds keyword search warrants, and WhatsApp gets a passwordless upgrade on Android
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

Citing Hamas, the US Wants to Treat Crypto "Mixers" as Suspected Money Launderers

By Andy Greenberg — October 19th 2023 at 22:59
With a new emphasis on the Hamas attacks on Israel, the US Treasury has proposed designating foreign cryptocurrency “mixer” services as money launderers and national security threats.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

They Supported Air Strike Victims. Then They Were Doxed and Arrested

By Matt Burgess — October 17th 2023 at 10:00
Myanmar’s military junta is increasing surveillance and violating basic human rights. The combination of physical and digital surveillance is reaching dangerous new levels.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

Deepfake Porn Is Out of Control

By Matt Burgess — October 16th 2023 at 11:00
New research shows the number of deepfake videos is skyrocketing—and the world's biggest search engines are funneling clicks to dozens of sites dedicated to the nonconsensual fakes.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

US House Republicans Had Their Phones Confiscated to Stop Leaks

By Matt Laslo — October 13th 2023 at 13:30
In an attempt to wrest control from raucous far-right hardliners amid the fight for a new House speaker, Republican Party leaders are instituting phone bans to keep backroom deals secret.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

The UN Risks Normalizing Internet Censorship

By Justin Ling — October 11th 2023 at 11:00
The United Nations' top internet governance body will allegedly host its next two annual meetings in countries known for repressive internet policies and human rights abuses.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

Israel's Failure to Stop the Hamas Attack Shows the Danger of Too Much Surveillance

By Matt Burgess, Lily Hay Newman — October 8th 2023 at 19:32
Hundreds dead, thousands wounded—Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel shows the limits of even the most advanced and invasive surveillance dragnets as full-scale war erupts.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

Apple's Encryption Is Under Attack by a Mysterious Group

By Andrew Couts — October 7th 2023 at 13:00
Plus: Sony confirms a breach of its networks, US federal agents get caught illegally using phone location data, and more.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

The Team Helping Women Fight Digital Domestic Abuse

By Matt Burgess — October 4th 2023 at 11:00
Location-enabled tech designed to make our lives easier is often exploited by domestic abusers. Refuge, a UK nonprofit, helps women to leave abusive relationships, secure their devices, and stay safe.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

How Neuralink Keeps Dead Monkey Photos Secret

By Dell Cameron, Dhruv Mehrotra — October 4th 2023 at 10:00
Elon Musk’s brain-chip startup conducted years of tests at UC Davis, a public university. A WIRED investigation reveals how Neuralink and the university keep the grisly images of test subjects hidden.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

Predictive Policing Software Terrible at Predicting Crimes

By Aaron Sankin, Surya Mattu — October 2nd 2023 at 14:00
A software company sold a New Jersey police department an algorithm that was right less than 1 percent of the time.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

How to Tell When Your Phone Will Stop Getting Security Updates

By David Nield — October 1st 2023 at 11:00
Every smartphone has an expiration date. Here’s when yours will probably come.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

Chinese Hackers Are Hiding in Routers in the US and Japan

By Lily Hay Newman, Matt Burgess — September 30th 2023 at 13:00
Plus: Stolen US State Department emails, $20 million zero-day flaws, and controversy over the EU’s message-scanning law.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

US Justice Department Urged to Investigate Gunshot Detector Purchases

By Dell Cameron, Dhruv Mehrotra — September 28th 2023 at 16:15
A civil liberties group has asked the DOJ to investigate deployment of the ShotSpotter gunfire-detection system, which research shows is often installed in predominantly Black neighborhoods.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

Your Boss’s Spyware Could Train AI to Replace You

By Thor Benson — September 25th 2023 at 11:00
Corporations are using software to monitor employees on a large scale. Some experts fear the data these tools collect could be used to automate people out of their jobs.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

You Need to Update Google Chrome or Whatever Browser You Use

By Andrew Couts — September 16th 2023 at 13:00
Plus: Spyware-packing ads, TikTok GDPR violations, Elon Musk investigations, and more.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

The US Congress Has Trust Issues. Generative AI Is Making It Worse

By Matt Laslo — September 13th 2023 at 11:00
Senators are meeting with Silicon Valley's elite to learn how to deal with AI. But can Congress tackle the rapidly emerging tech before working on itself?
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

The Twisted Eye in the Sky Over Buenos Aires

By Karen Naundorf — September 13th 2023 at 10:00
A scandal unfolding in Argentina shows the dangers of implementing facial recognition—even with laws and limits in place.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

AI Chatbots Are Invading Your Local Government—and Making Everyone Nervous

By Todd Feathers — September 11th 2023 at 11:00
State and local governments in the US are scrambling to harness tools like ChatGPT to unburden their bureaucracies, rushing to write their own rules—and avoid generative AI's many pitfalls.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

Mozilla: Your New Car Is a Data Privacy Nightmare

By Dhruv Mehrotra, Andrew Couts — September 9th 2023 at 13:00
Plus: Apple patches newly discovered flaws exploited by NSO Group spyware, North Korean hackers target security researchers, and more.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

Top US Spies Meet With Privacy Experts Over Surveillance 'Crown Jewel'

By Dell Cameron — September 8th 2023 at 18:00
Civil rights groups say efforts to get US intelligence agencies to adopt privacy reforms have largely failed. Without those changes, renewal of a post-911 surveillance policy may be doomed.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

Axon's Ethics Board Resigned Over Taser-Armed Drones. Then the Company Bought a Military Drone Maker

By Ese Olumhense — September 8th 2023 at 17:46
The CEO’s vision for Taser-equipped drones includes a fictitious scenario in which the technology averts a shooting at a day care center.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

How to Use Proton Sentinel to Keep Your Accounts Safe

By David Nield — September 3rd 2023 at 11:00
If you want the highest possible level of protection, this is it.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

2 Polish Men Arrested for Radio Hack That Disrupted Trains

By Andy Greenberg, Andrew Couts — September 2nd 2023 at 13:00
Plus: A major FBI botnet takedown, new Sandworm malware, a cyberattack on two major scientific telescopes—and more.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

Apple's Decision to Kill Its CSAM Photo-Scanning Tool Sparks Fresh Controversy

By Lily Hay Newman — August 31st 2023 at 19:32
Child safety group Heat Initiative plans to launch a campaign pressing Apple on child sexual abuse material scanning and user reporting. The company issued a rare, detailed response on Thursday.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

This Tool Lets Hackers Dox Almost Anyone in the US

By Dhruv Mehrotra — August 26th 2023 at 13:00
The US Secret Service’s relationship with the Oath Keepers gets revealed, Tornado Cash cofounders get indicted, and a UK court says a teen is behind a Lapsus$ hacking spree.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

Donald Trump's Mug Shot Matters in a World of Fakes

By Amanda Hoover — August 25th 2023 at 16:03
The first booking photo of a US president stands out among a sea of photoshops and AI-generated images online.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

Why The Chainsmokers Invest in—and Party With—Niche Cybersecurity Companies

By Lily Hay Newman — August 24th 2023 at 12:00
Musician Alex Pall spoke with WIRED about his VC firm, the importance of raising cybersecurity awareness in a rapidly digitizing world, and his surprise that hackers know how to go hard.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

The Internet Is Turning Into a Data Black Box. An ‘Inspectability API’ Could Crack It Open

By Surya Mattu — August 22nd 2023 at 11:00
Unlike web browsers, mobile apps increasingly make it difficult or impossible to see what companies are really doing with your data. The answer? An inspectability API.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

The Most Popular Digital Abortion Clinics, Ranked by Data Privacy

By Kristen Poli — August 21st 2023 at 12:00
Telehealth companies that provide abortion pills are surging in popularity. Which are as safe as they claim to be?
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

Google's New Feature Ensures Your Pixel Phone Hasn't Been Hacked. Here’s How It Works

By David Nield — August 20th 2023 at 12:00
Pixel Binary Transparency is the latest security benefit for Pixel owners.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

A Huge Scam Targeting Kids With Roblox and Fortnite 'Offers' Has Been Hiding in Plain Sight

By Matt Burgess — August 14th 2023 at 13:19
The wide-ranging scams, often disguised as game promotions, can all be linked back to one network.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

Leaked Yandex Code Breaks Open the Creepy Black Box of Online Advertising

By Matt Burgess — August 10th 2023 at 10:00
As the international tech giant moves toward Russian ownership, the leak raises concerns about the volume of data it has on its users.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

What Doctors Wish You Knew About HIPAA and Data Security

By Julie Charnet — August 8th 2023 at 12:00
Think US health data is automatically kept private? Think again.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

How to Automatically Delete Passcode Texts on Android and iOS

By David Nield — August 6th 2023 at 11:00
Here’s one simple way to reduce your security risk while logging in.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

The Senate’s AI Future Is Haunted by the Ghost of Privacy Past

By Matt Laslo — August 4th 2023 at 18:05
The US Congress is trying to tame the rapid rise of artificial intelligence. But senators’ failure to tackle privacy reform is making the task a nightmare.
☐ ☆ ✇ WIRED

How AI May Be Used to Create Custom Disinformation Ahead of 2024

By Thor Benson — August 1st 2023 at 11:00
Generative AI won't just flood the internet with more lies—it may also create convincing disinformation that's targeted at groups or even individuals.
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