Security
target practice
The Pentagon Wants to Spend $141 Billion on a Doomsday Machine
The DOD wants to refurbish ICBM silos that give it the ability to end civilization. But these missiles are useless as weapons, and their other main purpose—attracting an enemy’s nuclear strikes—serves no end.
Matthew Gault
Security Roundup
The Feds Say These Are the Russian Hackers Who Attacked US Water Utilities
Andy Greenberg and Lily Hay Newman
The US Supreme Court Kneecapped US Cyber Strategy
After the Supreme Court limited the power of federal agencies to craft regulations, it’s likely up to Congress to keep US cybersecurity policy intact.
Eric Geller
Hackers Claim to Have Leaked 1.1 TB of Disney Slack Messages
A hacker group called “NullBulge” says it stole more than a terabyte of Disney’s internal Slack messages and files from nearly 10,000 channels in an apparent protest over AI-generated art.
Lily Hay Newman
AT&T Paid a Hacker $370,000 to Delete Stolen Phone Records
A security researcher who assisted with the deal says he believes the only copy of the complete dataset of call and text records of “nearly all” AT&T customers has been wiped—but some risks may remain.
Kim Zetter
Spyware Users Exposed in Major Data Breach
Plus: The Heritage Foundation gets hacked over Project 2025, a car dealership software provider seems to have paid $25 million to a ransomware gang, and authorities disrupt a Russian bot farm.
Andrew Couts
J.D. Vance Left His Venmo Public. Here’s What It Shows
The Republican VP nominee's Venmo network reveals connections ranging from the architects of Project 2025 to enemies of Donald Trump—and the populist's close ties to the very elites he rails against.
Dhruv Mehrotra, Tim Marchman, and Andrew Couts
US Senators Secretly Work to Block Safeguards Against Surveillance Abuse
Senator Mark Warner is trying to pass new limits on when the government can wiretap Americans. At least two senators are quietly trying to stop him.
Dell Cameron
The Sweeping Danger of the AT&T Phone Records Breach
Telecom giant AT&T says a major data breach has exposed the call and text records of “nearly all” of its customers, epitomizing the dire state of data security.
Lily Hay Newman
Google Is Adding Passkey Support for Its Most Vulnerable Users
Google is bringing the password-killing “passkey” tech to its Advanced Protection Program users more than a year after rolling them out broadly.
Lily Hay Newman
How Apple Intelligence’s Privacy Stacks Up Against Android’s ‘Hybrid AI’
Generative AI is seeping into the core of your phone, but what does that mean for privacy? Here’s how Apple’s unique AI architecture compares to the “hybrid” approach adopted by Samsung and Google.
Kate O'Flaherty
How to Spot a Business Email Compromise Scam
In this common email scam, a criminal pretending to be your boss or coworker emails you asking for a favor involving money. Here’s what do to when a bad actor lands in your inbox.
Justin Pot
A Guide to RCS, Why Apple’s Adopting It, and How It Makes Texting Better
The messaging standard promises better security and cooler features than plain old SMS. Android has had it for years, but now iPhones are getting it too.
David Nield
AI Is Your Coworker Now. Can You Trust It?
Generative AI tools such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Microsoft’s Copilot are becoming part of everyday business life. But they come with privacy and security considerations you should know about.
Kate O'Flaherty
How One Bad CrowdStrike Update Crashed the World’s Computers
A defective CrowdStrike update sent computers around the globe into a reboot death spiral, taking down air travel, hospitals, banks, and more with it. Here’s how that’s possible.
Lily Hay Newman, Matt Burgess, and Andy Greenberg
Alleged ‘Maniac Murder Cult’ Leader Indicted Over Plot to Kill Jews
US prosecutors have charged Michail Chkhikvishvili, also known as “Commander Butcher,” with a litany of crimes, including alleged attempts to poison Jewish children in NYC.
Ali Winston
Pressure Grows in Congress to Treat Crypto Investigator Tigran Gambaryan, Jailed in Nigeria, as a Hostage
A new resolution echoes what 16 members of Congress have already said to the White House: It must do more to free one of the most storied crypto-focused federal agents in history.
Andy Greenberg
Notorious Hacker Kingpin ‘Tank’ Is Finally Going to Prison
The cybercrime boss, who helped lead the prolific Zeus malware gang and was on the FBI’s “most wanted” list for years, has been sentenced to 18 years and ordered to pay more than $73 million.
Matt Burgess
Latest
◉ Developing story
Huge Microsoft Outage Caused by CrowdStrike Takes Down Computers Around the World
Matt Burgess
Pig Butchering
The $11 Billion Marketplace Enabling the Crypto Scam Economy
Andy Greenberg and Lily Hay Newman
Security Roundup
Hackers Leaking Taylor Swift Tickets? Don’t Get Your Hopes Up
Matt Burgess and Andy Greenberg
Only Satellites
The US Wants to Integrate the Commercial Space Industry With Its Military to Prevent Cyber Attacks
Sharon Lemac-Vincere
Copy wrong
Quora’s Chatbot Platform Poe Allows Users to Download Paywalled Articles on Demand
Tim Marchman
Hell on Earth
Inside a Violent Gang's Ruthless Crypto-Stealing Home Invasion Spree
Andy Greenberg and Matt Giles
Crawling Back
Amazon Is Investigating Perplexity Over Claims of Scraping Abuse
Dhruv Mehrotra and Andrew Couts
Security Roundup
A Catastrophic Hospital Hack Ends in a Leak of 300M Patient Records
Andy Greenberg and Andrew Couts