Generative AI tools such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Microsoft’s Copilot are rapidly evolving, fueling concerns that the technology could open the door to multiple privacy and security issues, particularly in the workplace. In May, privacy campaigners dubbed Microsoft’s new Recall tool a potential “privacy nightmare” due to its ability to …
Read More »Mysterious Hack Destroyed 600,000 Internet Routers
If you have a crypto wallet containing a fortune but forgot the password, all may not be lost. This week, a pair of researchers revealed how they cracked an 11-year-old password to a crypto wallet containing roughly $3 million in bitcoins. With a lot of skill and a bit of …
Read More »‘Largest Botnet Ever’ Tied to Billions in Stolen Covid-19 Relief Funds
The United States Department of Justice on Wednesday announced charges against a 35-year-old Chinese national, Yunhe Wang, accused of operating a massive botnet allegedly linked to billions of dollars in fraud, child exploitation, and bomb threats, among other crimes. Wang, identified by numerous pseudonyms—Tom Long and Jack Wan, among others—was …
Read More »How Researchers Cracked an 11-Year-Old Password to a $3 Million Crypto Wallet
Two years ago when “Michael,” an owner of cryptocurrency, contacted Joe Grand to help recover access to about $2 million worth of bitcoin he stored in encrypted format on his computer, Grand turned him down. Michael, who is based in Europe and asked to remain anonymous, stored the cryptocurrency in …
Read More »Microsoft’s New Recall AI Tool May Be a ‘Privacy Nightmare’
Sex, drugs, and … Eventbrite? A WIRED investigation published this week uncovered a network of spammers and scammers pushing the illegal sale of controlled substances like Xanax and oxycodone, escort services, social media accounts, and personal information on the event management platform. Making matters worse, Eventbrite’s recommendation algorithm promoted posts …
Read More »He Trained Cops to Fight Crypto Crime—and Allegedly Ran a $100M Dark-Web Drug Market
Two months ago, Lin Rui-siang, a young Taiwanese man wearing black-rimmed glasses and a white polo shirt, stood behind a lectern emblazoned with the crest of the St. Lucia police, giving a presentation titled “Cyber Crime and Cryptocurrency” in nearly fluent English to a roomful of cops from the tiny …
Read More »Teslas Can Still Be Stolen With a Cheap Radio Hack—Despite New Keyless Tech
For at least a decade, a car theft trick known as a “relay attack” has been the modern equivalent of hot-wiring: a cheap and relatively easy technique to steal hundreds of models of vehicles. A more recent upgrade to the radio protocol in cars' keyless entry systems known as ultra-wideband …
Read More »Android Can Now Detect When Your Phone Is Stolen
Billions of Android phones are getting new tools to stop phone thieves from accessing your information and to slow down their criminal behavior, Google announced today at its I/O developer conference. Android phones will soon use artificial intelligence to automatically detect when they have been snatched from your hand and …
Read More »The $2.3 Billion Tornado Cash Case Is a Pivotal Moment for Crypto Privacy
Updated 9 am ET, May 14, 2024: A Dutch court has found Tornado Cash cofounder Alexey Pertsev guilty of money laundering and sentenced him to 64 months in prison. In the fall of 2020, as crypto scammers and thieves began to realize the full potential of a financial privacy tool …
Read More »Microsoft Deploys Generative AI for US Spies
Law enforcement in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia this week named a Russian national as the person behind LockBitSupp, the pseudonym of the leader of the LockBit ransomware gang that the US says is responsible for extracting $500 million from its victims. Dmitry Yuryevich Khoroshev has been sanctioned …
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