The password-killing tech known as “passkeys” have proliferated over the past two years, developed by the tech industry association known as the FIDO Alliance as an easier and more secure authentication alternative. And although superseding any technology as entrenched as passwords is difficult, new features and resources launching this week …
Read More »Millions of Vehicles Could Be Hacked and Tracked Thanks to a Simple Website Bug
When security researchers in the past found ways to hijack vehicles' internet-connected systems, their proof-of-concept demonstrations tended to show, thankfully, that hacking cars is hard. Exploits like the ones that hackers used to remotely take over a Chevrolet Impala in 2010 or a Jeep in 2015 took years of work …
Read More »Amid Air Strikes and Rockets, an SMS From the Enemy
At the start of September, Nour was having an ordinary evening at home in Beirut—eating pumpkin seeds and watching Netflix—when the SMS hit her device like the smartphone version of a brick through her window. The sender name appeared as eight question marks, “????? ???”, and in the message preview …
Read More »Russia-Backed Media Outlets Are Under Fire in the US—but Still Trusted Worldwide
In the lead-up to the 2024 elections, the Biden administration has taken aim at several Russian information operations. Earlier in September, the Department of Justice unsealed an indictment against two employees of RT, a Russian state-backed news network formerly known as Russia Today. At the heart of the indictment was …
Read More »Iranian Hackers Tried to Give Hacked Trump Campaign Emails to Dems
The week was dominated by news that thousands of pagers, walkie-talkies and other devices were exploding across Lebanon on Tuesday and Wednesday in an attack targeting the militant group Hezbollah. At least 32 people were killed, including at least four children, and more than 3,200 people were injured. The covert …
Read More »Your Phone Won’t Be the Next Exploding Pager
For two days this week, Hezbollah has been rocked by a series of small explosions across Lebanon, injuring thousands and killing at least 25. But these attacks haven’t come from rockets or drones. Instead, they’ve resulted from boobytrapped electronics—including pagers, walkie-talkies, and even, reportedly, solar equipment—detonating in coordinated waves. As …
Read More »First Israel’s Exploding Pagers Maimed and Killed. Now Comes the Paranoia
When Nadim Kobeissi was a child growing up in Beirut in the early 2000s, sonic booms created by the Israel Defense Forces' planes in the skies above Lebanon would occasionally rattle his home, generating enough noise and concussive force that he and his family would sometimes sleep in the hallways …
Read More »Walkie-Talkies Explode in New Attack on Hezbollah
With Hezbollah and Lebanon still reeling from a coordinated wave of pager explosions on Tuesday that killed at least 12 people and injured thousands, another bombardment began on Wednesday, this time taking the form of exploding two-way radios. Footage of the explosions, which was not independently confirmed by WIRED, appears …
Read More »Do You Need an Antivirus Program on Windows?
Once upon a time, an antivirus program would be the one of the first pieces of software you would install on a new Windows PC. Now, that’s much less common. Many users instead now rely on the Windows Security tool that’s built into Microsoft’s operating system to keep them protected …
Read More »Did a Chinese University Hacking Competition Target a Real Victim?
Capture the flag hacking contests at security conferences generally serve two purposes: to help participants develop and demonstrate computer hacking and security skills, and to assist employers and government agencies with discovering and recruiting new talent. But one security conference in China may have taken its contest a step further—potentially …
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