Americans were warned this week about a potential “urgent threat” to the United States, which was later linked to a Russian effort to develop the capability to launch nuclear weapons in space. While no one has disputed the authenticity of the threat, WIRED has learned that the leak was part …
Read More »London Underground Is Testing Real-Time AI Surveillance Tools to Spot Crime
Thousands of people using the London Underground had their movements, behavior, and body language watched by AI surveillance software designed to see if they were committing crimes or were in unsafe situations, new documents obtained by WIRED reveal. The machine-learning software was combined with live CCTV footage to try to …
Read More »Ransomware Payments Hit a Record $1.1 Billion in 2023
A year ago, there seemed to be a glimmer of hope in the cybersecurity industry's long-running war of attrition against ransomware gangs. Fewer corporate victims of those hackers, it seemed, had paid ransoms in 2022, and cybercriminals were earning less from their ruthless attacks. Perhaps the cocktail of improved security …
Read More »YouTube, Discord, and ‘Lord of the Rings’ Led Police to a Teen Accused of a US Swatting Spree
A California teenager prosecutors say is responsible for hundreds of swatting attacks around the United States was exposed after law enforcement pieced together a digital trail left on some of the internet’s largest platforms, according to court records released this week. Alan Winston Filion, a 17-year-old from Lancaster, California, faces …
Read More »The Mystery of the $400 Million FTX Heist May Have Been Solved
When more than $400 million worth of crypto was mysteriously pulled out of the coffers of what was once the world's biggest cryptocurrency exchange, FTX, on the very day that it declared bankruptcy in November of 2022, many initially suspected insiders at the company—including, potentially, then CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, now …
Read More »US Lawmakers Tell DOJ to Quit Blindly Funding ‘Predictive’ Police Tools
The United States Department of Justice has failed to convince a group of US lawmakers that state and local police agencies aren't awarded federal grants to buy AI-based “policing” tools known to be inaccurate, if not prone to exacerbating biases long observed in US police forces. Seven members of Congress …
Read More »Police Arrest Teen Said to Be Linked to Hundreds of Swatting Attacks
For more than a year, the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation has been hunting the person whom experts say is one of the most prolific swatters in American history. Law enforcement now believes they have finally arrested the person responsible. A 17-year-old from California is allegedly the swatter known …
Read More »Ring Will Stop Giving Cops a Free Pass on Warrantless Video Requests
Ring, the Amazon-owned home surveillance company known for its long history of partnering with police, announced today that it plans to shut down a controversial tool that allows law enforcement to ask users to share their footage without first obtaining a warrant. In a press release announcing its decision, Ring …
Read More »Cops Used DNA to Predict a Suspect’s Face—and Tried to Run Facial Recognition on It
In 2017, detectives working a cold case at the East Bay Regional Park District Police Department got an idea, one that might help them finally get a lead on the murder of Maria Jane Weidhofer. Officers had found Weidhofer, dead and sexually assaulted, at Berkeley, California’s Tilden Regional Park in …
Read More »You Need to Turn on Apple’s New Stolen iPhone Tool
Apple today launched a new tool for iPhones to help reduce what a thief with your phone and passcode can access. The feature, called Stolen Device Protection, adds extra layers of protection to your iPhone when someone tries to access or change sensitive settings on your device. If someone tries …
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