Security

Kernel Panic

Spooky New Infostealer Malware Uses AI to ‘Autodox’ Victims

Named “Volta-Autodoxer,” the recently uncovered malware uses AI tools to collect troves of data about victims, from login credentials and credit card numbers to Discord sessions and UberEats receipts.

Lily Hay Newman and Matt Burgess

Near Misses

A Supply Chain Attack Put Malicious Anthropic Claude Extensions on Thousands of Devices

Lily Hay Newman

Quick Take

The $6.3 Billion Binance Hack Was Pulled Off in Just 20 Minutes

Matt Burgess

Cyberattacks and Hacks

A Hacker Targeted High-Stakes Poker Players With Malware That Exposed Their Cards

Illicit software on the computers of some of the world’s best online poker players allowed the accused cheater to see what cards were in the victims’ hands—and trounce them at the tables.

Ben Dowsett

Bluesky Is Blocking Links to a Major Leak of DHS Employee Records

Bluesky tells WIRED it blocked links to a leaked archive of information on 41,000 ICE, CBP, and other DHS workers because it contains people’s contact information, shared without their authorization.

Dhruv Mehrotra, Maddy Varner, and Dell Cameron

Most Servers on the Planet Are Vulnerable to This Firmware Code-Execution Flaw

The critical flaw in UEFI firmware—used by most server vendors and data centers—allows attackers to execute code early in the boot process.

Dan Goodin, Ars Technica

Massive Leak Exposes 41,000 Homeland Security Workers—Including Undercover ICE Agents

The leaked records include the locations of ICE and CBP facilities, workers’ cell phone numbers, and the members of groups tied to wiretap programs, Palantir software, and xAI’s Grok chatbot.

Dhruv Mehrotra, Maddy Varner, and Dell Cameron

Privacy

The US Government Is Hiding a Secret Court Ruling About How It Spies on Americans

Two US senators say the Trump administration is breaking the law by withholding the FISA court decision while it presses Congress to renew America’s most sweeping surveillance program.

Dell Cameron

WhatsApp Help Pages Leaked Hidden Instructions for a Meta Chatbot

Around 80 pages on WhatsApp’s website exposed instructions that were designed for its chatbot, including “WHAT NOT TO SAY.” Meta says a bug caused the issue.

Matt Burgess

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

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

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

ICE Is Running One of the Largest Anti-Left Surveillance Operations in US History

ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations is engaged in far-reaching spying against left-wing activists that rivals the FBI and CIA crackdowns on the Civil Rights and anti-war movements.

Ali Winston

OpenAI Engineer Accused of Spying on Executives Ordered to Remain in Custody

A judge ordered Abdulrahman Alfozan to remain in custody, likening the Saudi government’s offer to secure the former OpenAI engineer’s release to a “blank check.”

Paresh Dave

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

Despite Illinois’ sanctuary laws, local police in and around Chicago helped ICE investigative agents track activists engaged in First Amendment–protected activities.

Ali Winston

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