A recently released tool is letting anyone exploit an unusual Mac vulnerability to bypass Apple’s trusted T2 security chip and gain deep system access. The flaw is one researchers have also been using for more than a year to jailbreak older models of iPhones. But the fact that the T2 chip is vulnerable in the… Continue reading Apple’s T2 Security Chip Has an Unfixable Flaw
Author: Wired Magazine
Federal Executions During Covid-19 Put Innocent Lives at Risk
Christopher Vialva grew up on death row. In 1999, at age 19, Vialva, along with a few other teenagers, carjacked and killed Stacie and Todd Bagley; he was later convicted of murder and sentenced to die. At the time, a doctor assessed his mental age to be 16. He was nearly illiterate, struggling to read… Continue reading Federal Executions During Covid-19 Put Innocent Lives at Risk
How the Alleged Twitter Hackers Got Caught
On July 15, a Discord user with the handle Kirk#5270 made an enticing proposition. “I work for Twitter,” they said, according to court documents released Friday. “I can claim any name, let me know if you’re trying to work.” It was the beginning of what would, a few hours later, turn into the biggest known… Continue reading How the Alleged Twitter Hackers Got Caught
Trump May Soon Order TikTok’s Sale, as Microsoft Circles
Teens love TikTok, but the Trump administration fears it. Earlier this week, treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin confirmed that the social app was subject to a national security review into whether it could be a conduit for interference by China. Friday, Bloomberg reported that Trump will “sign an order” directing TikTok’s Chinese owner Bytedance to sell… Continue reading Trump May Soon Order TikTok’s Sale, as Microsoft Circles
The Big Tech Hearing Proved Congress Isn’t Messing Around
Legally speaking, this is damning stuff. The Clayton Act of 1914, the main federal antitrust statute, explicitly prohibits corporate acquisitions if “the effect of such acquisition may be substantially to lessen competition, or to tend to create a monopoly.” As Jerrold Nadler, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee of which the antitrust subcommittee is… Continue reading The Big Tech Hearing Proved Congress Isn’t Messing Around
The Facebook and Amazon Documents That Captivated the Hearing
The CEOs of four of the world’s biggest tech companies gathered in the same Webex room Wednesday for their first-ever joint appearance before Congress. The most fascinating revelations of the five-plus hour hearing came not from their testimony but from documents gathered by House investigators and released during the session. Committee members said the presentations,… Continue reading The Facebook and Amazon Documents That Captivated the Hearing
Hackers Broke Into Real News Sites to Plant Fake Stories
Over the past few years, online disinformation has taken evolutionary leaps forward, with the Internet Research Agency pumping out artificial outrage on social media and hackers leaking documents—both real and fabricated—to suit their narrative. More recently, Eastern Europe has faced a broad campaign that takes fake news ops to yet another level: hacking legitimate news… Continue reading Hackers Broke Into Real News Sites to Plant Fake Stories
Stop Saying Facebook Is ‘Too Big to Moderate’
On Monday, a new coronavirus disinformation video exploded across the internet. Created by the right-wing site Breitbart, it was a clip of a press conference from a group calling themselves America’s Frontline Doctors containing dangerously false claims about the coronavirus, including that masks are useless and that chloroquine cures the disease. (There is no known… Continue reading Stop Saying Facebook Is ‘Too Big to Moderate’
The Portland Protests Are a War Zone—but Only on the Internet
Criticism of Portland’s protesters hinges on denouncing them as militant anarchists, communists, and “antifa terrorists” destroying their own city, so actual Portland protesters are careful to label themselves clearly and sympathetically. Lawyers march together in suits, holding signs that say things like “Free My Clients.” School teachers and health care workers huddle together in color-coordinated… Continue reading The Portland Protests Are a War Zone—but Only on the Internet
A Cyberattack on Garmin Disrupted More Than Workouts
On Thursday, hackers hit the navigation and fitness giant Garmin with a ransomware attack that took down numerous services across the company. Garmin Connect, the cloud platform that syncs user activity data, went dark, as did portions of Garmin.com. But as athletes found themselves unable to record runs and workouts, pilots who use Garmin products… Continue reading A Cyberattack on Garmin Disrupted More Than Workouts