The NYPD Had a Secret Fund for Surveillance Tools
Documents reveal that police bought facial-recognition software, vans equipped with x-ray machines, and “stingray” cell site simulators—with no public oversight.New York City police bought a range of surveillance tools—including facial-recognition software,...
How China's Hacking Entered a Reckless New Phase
The country's hackers have gotten far more aggressive since 2015, when the Ministry of State Security largely took over the country’s cyberespionage.For years, China seemed to operate at the quieter end...
The Latest Pro-Trump Twitter Clone Leaks User Data on Day 1
Plus: A failed takedown in Russia, details on an FBI-sting encrypted phone, and more of the week's top security news.The security woes of pro-Trump social media sites have been a theme...
A New System Is Helping Crack Down on Child Sex Abuse Images
There are 150 child sexual abuse laws around the world. Now, metadata is making it easier for countries to work together.Each day, a team of analysts in the UK faces a...
Europe Makes the Case to Ban Biometric Surveillance
Companies are racing to track everything about you. It could be a convenient way to reduce fraud—or seriously creepy and discriminatory.Your body is a data goldmine. From the way you look...
The Cl0p Bust Shows Exactly Why Ransomware Isn’t Going Away
Ukrainian authorities managed to make some high-profile arrests. But nothing’s going to change until Russia does the same.On Wednesday, as United States president Joe Biden and Russian president Vladimir Putin prepared...
The Colonial Pipeline Hack Is a New Extreme for Ransomware
An attack has crippled the company’s operations—and cut off a large portion of the East Coast’s fuel supply—in an ominous development for critical infrastructure.For years, the cybersecurity industry has warned that...
ISPs Funded 8.5 Million Fake Comments Opposing Net Neutrality
The secret campaign, backed by major broadband companies, used real people’s names without their consent.The largest Internet providers in the US funded a campaign that generated “8.5 million fake comments” to...
Microsoft Will Soon Kill Flash on Windows 10 for Good
Plus: A Peloton data leak, Russian hacker details, and more of the week’s top security news.The most recent big iOS update, which makes it easier to opt out of ads...
Twitter's Tip Jar Privacy Fiasco Was Entirely Avoidable
Sending its users to PayPal has created all sorts of problems that Twitter should have caught ahead of time.On Thursday, Twitter continued its grand tradition of embracing features users had unofficially...