From Sam Altman and Elon Musk to ransomware gangs and state-backed hackers, these are the individuals and groups that spent this year disrupting the world we know it.
Category: security
McDonald’s Ice Cream Machine Hackers Say They Found the ‘Smoking Gun’ That Killed Their Startup
Kytch, the company that tried to fix McDonald’s broken ice cream machines, has unearthed a 3-year-old email it says proves claims of an alleged plot to undermine their business.
End-to-End Encrypted Instagram and Messenger Chats: Why It Took Meta 7 Years
Mark Zuckerberg personally promised that the privacy feature would launch by default on Messenger and Instagram chat. WIRED goes behind the scenes of the company’s colossal effort to get it right.
How to Opt Out of Facebook’s Latest Two-Factor Authentication Change
With Meta’s recent update to its 2FA process, the company now automatically trusts devices you often use.
Intensified Israeli Surveillance Has Put the West Bank on Lockdown
The West Bank was Israel’s surveillance laboratory. Since the Israel-Hamas war began, Palestinian residents have been locked in for days at a time.
The AI-Generated Child Abuse Nightmare Is Here
Thousands of child abuse images are being created with AI. New images of old victims are appearing, as criminals trade datasets.
The Hamas Threat of Hostage Execution Videos Looms Large Over Social Media
Hamas has threatened to broadcast videos of hostage executions. With the war between Israel and Hamas poised to enter a new phase, are social platforms ready?
Citing Hamas, the US Wants to Treat Crypto “Mixers” as Suspected Money Launderers
With a new emphasis on the Hamas attacks on Israel, the US Treasury has proposed designating foreign cryptocurrency “mixer” services as money launderers and national security threats.
Who’s Responsible for the Gaza Hospital Explosion? Here’s Why It’s Hard to Know What’s Real
A flood of false information, partisan narratives, and weaponized “fact-checking” has obscured efforts to find out who’s responsible for an explosion at a hospital in Gaza.
Insiders Say X’s Crowdsourced Anti-Disinformation Tool Is Making the Problem Worse
X is promoting Community Notes to solve its disinformation problems, but some former employees and people who currently contribute notes say it’s not fit for that purpose.