The Weird, Big-Money World of Cybercrime Writing Contests
The competitions, which are held on Russian-language cybercrime forums, offer prize money of up to $80,000 for the winners.
Security / Cyberattacks and Hacks
The Cheap Radio Hack That Disrupted Poland’s Railway System
The sabotage of more than 20 trains in Poland by apparent supporters of Russia was carried out with a simple “radio-stop” command anyone could broadcast with $30 in equipment.
The Low-Stakes Race to Crack an Encrypted German U-Boat Message
A ramshackle team of American scientists scrambled to decode the Nazi cipher before the time ran out. Luckily, they had a secret weapon.
This Tool Lets Hackers Dox Almost Anyone in the US
The US Secret Service’s relationship with the Oath Keepers gets revealed, Tornado Cash cofounders get indicted, and a UK court says a teen is behind a Lapsus$ hacking spree.
Why The Chainsmokers Invest in—and Party With—Niche Cybersecurity Companies
Musician Alex Pall spoke with WIRED about his VC firm, the importance of raising cybersecurity awareness in a rapidly digitizing world, and his surprise that hackers know how to go hard.
New Supply Chain Attack Hit Close to 100 Victims—and Clues Point to China
The hackers, who mostly targeted victims in Hong Kong, also hijacked Microsoft’s trust model to make their malware harder to detect.
HHS Launches ‘Digiheals’ Project to Better Protect US Hospitals From Ransomware
An innovation agency within the US Department of Health and Human Services will fund research into better defenses for the US health care system’s digital infrastructure.
A Huge Scam Targeting Kids With Roblox and Fortnite ‘Offers’ Has Been Hiding in Plain Sight
The wide-ranging scams, often disguised as game promotions, can all be linked back to one network.
An Apple Malware-Flagging Tool Is ‘Trivially’ Easy to Bypass
The macOS Background Task Manager tool is supposed to spot potentially malicious software on your machine. But at Defcon, a researcher says it has troubling flaws.
GitHub’s Hardcore Plan to Roll Out Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)
GitHub has spent two years researching and slowly rolling out its multifactor authentication system. Soon it will be mandatory for all 100 million users—with no opt-out.