The threat of ransomware may seem ubiquitous, but there haven’t been too many strains tailored specifically to infect Apple’s Mac computers since the first full-fledged Mac ransomware surfaced only four years ago. So when Dinesh Devadoss, a malware researcher at the firm K7 Lab, published findings on Tuesday about a new example of Mac ransomware,…
Two schools of thought have emerged for altering US policing practices following the killing of George Floyd and widespread Black Lives Matter protests: reform the way police do their jobs, or defund or even disband police agencies.Reform-based initiatives like 8 Can’t Wait, endorsed by Black Lives Matter activist DeRay Mckesson, call for new rules, including…
In Kevin Smith’s most popular TikTok video, he shows off a makeshift water heater he built in prison. Narrating over Eminem’s song “Godzilla,” Smith explains how he diverted an electrical wire from a light fixture to a metal bucket hung from a hook on the wall. “Before I made it to work release this is…
The Covid-19 crisis closed local, state, and federal courtrooms, put trials on hold, and delayed justice. Now courts are evaluating how to resume operations in a world where social distancing and limited contact are the new norm. The reopening process is not just vital for our constitutional rights, but necessary to begin to address stark…
In May 2019, WIRED joined the One Free Press Coalition, a united group of preeminent editors and publishers using their global reach and social platforms to spotlight journalists under attack worldwide. Today, the coalition is issuing its eighth monthly 10 Most Urgent list of journalists whose press freedoms are being suppressed or whose cases demand…
I’ve always gone to great lengths to snap selfies of myself hands-free—stacking boxes on top of books on top of tables, setting timers, and angling my smartphone just right. Asking someone for help is out of the question because I think I’m photogenic until another person is in the room. Then I suddenly can’t even…
It’s a claim that went viral quickly: Women leaders were more likely to crush it in the pandemic than their male counterparts. At first, few seemed to question whether this were true, though plenty debated why it would be so. Was it because of the women themselves, and their more “female” leadership style? Or was…
More than 140 possibilities for making a vaccine against Covid-19 are being studied around the world. The vast majority of them are still just concepts in a lab, but more than a dozen have been injected into humans, mostly in small-scale trials to make sure each formula is safe to receive. Three are headed toward…
The UK company P2i adds water-repelling nanocoatings to smartphones and other gadgets. Normally, it flies engineers to its clients’ factories to identify and solve quality-control problems.That’s not an option in a world where flights are grounded, borders closed, and security tightened. So in some plants, P2i now relies on a system that uses artificial intelligence…
For those who follow the politics of platforms, Monday’s great expulsion of malicious content creators was better late than never. For far too long, a very small contingent of extremely hateful content creators have used Silicon Valley’s love of the First Amendment to control the narrative on commercial content moderation. By labeling every effort to…
