Kate Knibbs, Author at Gizmodo

NYPD Officer Hacks NYPD in Ballsy Side-Hustle Scam

An NYPD officer has been arrested for hacking NYPD and FBI databases so he could pose as a lawyer and profit off tricking traffic victims. Yehuda Katz, an NYPD Auxiliary Deputy Inspector based in Brooklyn, allegedly hacked into restricted databases and ran thousands of queries to find out enough information to start hardcore conning people:…

Tech News Kate Knibbs

On CSI: Cyber, Uber Is the Perfect Vehicle for Dad Sadness Murder

It only took three episodes for CSI:Cyber to tackle The Way We Ride-Share Now and it does NOT disappoint. The basic plot of “Killer En Route” is actually well within the realm of possibility, considering that Uber rapists and Uber kidnappers are objectively real things. I haven’t seen a headline rip this ***fresh*** since I…

Tech News Kate Knibbs

The DOJ Is Sneaking in a Policy That’d Crap All Over the 4th Amendment

The rules for how the Department of Justice tracks down criminals in the digital age are woefully arcane, but the DoJ’s recent proposed changes to update those rules go way too far, using vague terms to grant sweeping remote search powers that would take a torrential horse piss on the Fourth Amendment. Under the auspices…

Privacy & Security Kate Knibbs

China Finally Admits It Has an Army of Hackers for Cyberwar

China is finally admitting what we’ve known for years: Yes, it has cyber warfare units, and plenty of them. The nation’s government has previously denied any organized cyber warfare efforts, despite investigations pinning blame for hacking attacks on the U.S. on the People’s Liberation Army. In the latest update to a PLA publication called The…

Privacy & Security Kate Knibbs

Have You Ever Watched Internet Porn in Public?

In a recent episode of Broad City, Ilana shows Abbi porn while they’re at a cafe. Abbi protests, but in the show’s rococo logic, everyone else there is watching porn too. Is this really a thing? Are people just casually pulling up RedTube at Starbucks? I once saw a person watch porn in public. On…

Tech News Kate Knibbs

Mall Cops Catfished Black Lives Matter Activists on Facebook

Security at the Mall of America created fake Facebook profiles to snoop on political activists. Documents obtained by The Intercept show how glorified mall cops catfished Black Lives Matter protest participants by making up a fictional activist persona called “Nikki Larson” and befriending them on Facebook. Mall security used these Facebook friendships to build dossiers…

Tech News Kate Knibbs

This Documentary Defends the Silk Road

It took less than four hours for jurors to agree that Ross Ulbricht was the man behind the persona of Silk Road kingpin Dread Pirate Roberts, responsible for running an infamous online drug empire. It takes Deep Web, a new documentary about the Silk Road trial, less than two hours to poke apart the narrative…

Movies Kate Knibbs

The Biggest Online Drug Market Just Vanished, Taking $12 Million With It

Evolution, the most popular online drug market since the Silk Road, has disappeared without warning. Users say $12 million in Bitcoin has also vanished. And it looks like a classic scam. The darknet market, which sells guns, stolen goods, and counterfeits along with pretty much any drug you can think of, gained fans by loading…

Tech News Kate Knibbs

Twitter’s New Threat Reporting Tool Is a Useless Punt

Twitter, a service that admits it sucks at dealing with trolls, just announced a new tool for reporting harassment to the police. It looks like a good step at first glance—if you ignore the fact that it’s a responsibility dodging, spineless fix that’s highly unlikely to help anyone being harassed or threatened Twitter. This is…

Tech News Kate Knibbs

NYPD Scrubbed Wikipedia Entries on Police Brutality and No One Cared

Last week, we found out that someone at New York Police Department headquarters was manipulating Wikipedia articles on police violence to make themselves look better. The NYPD has identified two officers behind the police-friendly entries—and is doing shit-all about these on-the-clock edits. The police-altered Wikipedia entries changed language to gloss over a variety of incidents…

Tech News Kate Knibbs

A Weird Neuroscientific Explanation for Why We Love Cheetos

Getting sticky, tangy orange dust everywhere is usually considered a drawback of snacking on Cheetos. But that messy, colorful coating is actually one of the reasons people love Cheetos so much. Or at least that’s what companies analyzing our brain activity think. Back in 2008, Frito-Lay hired a company called NeuroFocus (later bought and folded…

Tech News Kate Knibbs

NYPD Caught Editing Wikipedia Articles on Police Brutality

Looks like the long arm of the law is trying to diddle Wikipedia into submission. Members of the NYPD are trying to scrub Wikipedia’s entries about police violence. Capital New Yorktraced edits to IP addresses registered to the NYPD. Looking at which entries the NYPD tried to alter highlights a disturbing pattern. These are blatant…

Tech News Kate Knibbs

Facebook Fraudster Jumps Bail By Giving His GPS Anklet a Mind of Its Own

A man under house arrest for faking an ownership stake in Facebook is missing after rigging up an elaborate contraption to make it look like he was still in his home. Paul Ceglia filed a multimillion dollar lawsuit against Mark Zuckerberg using falsified emails and an edited contract that made it look like the Facebook…

Social Media Kate Knibbs

CSI Cyber: Just Your Basic Gore Porn Forum Rollercoaster Slaughter

Hello my CyberHeads! Who wants to go to Six Flags? Not me. This episode has instilled a very deep and likely wholly unreasonable fear of Hacked Rollercoaster Murder in my heart. Just kidding, this episode’s villainy so conspicuously lacked any gossamer tether to human motivation that I think I actually feel safer now. Before launching…

Tech News Kate Knibbs

23AndMe Wants to Turn Its DNA Data into New Drugs

DNA testing startup 23andMe has been doing brisk business collecting genetic samples from over 800,000 customers. But the company just announced a new plan that’ll launch it into the big pharma world: 23andMe is going to invent its own pharmaceutical drugs using the data it collects from customer DNA. This is a huge leap into…

Tech News Kate Knibbs

Twitter Just Banned Revenge Porn and Doxxing

Twitter has a well-documented troll problem. Even CEO Dick Costolo has admitted that the service sucks at weeding out abusive users. Well, Twitter is taking some solid proactive steps today: Doxxing is now explicitly banned, as is posting revenge porn. People who get caught posting other people’s identifying information, intimate videos, and photos without their…

Tech News Kate Knibbs

Apparently Whisper Doesn’t Really Track Its Users After All?

Last year, anonymous secret-sharing app Whisper got chewed out for tracking its users in a brutal expose from The Guardian. Only now, months later, The Guardian is backpedaling harder than a spin class devotee on many of its accusations against Whisper. The original report accused Whisper of pinpointing users’ exact locations even after they opted…

Tech News Kate Knibbs

Apple Stores Are So Popular They Lift Mall Sales By 10 Percent

Damn, the Genius Bar is a bona fide mall hotspot. People love Apple’s sterile, glassy retail stores so much, the expensive gadget hubs boost sales at malls by 10 percent. The Wall Street Journal talked to real estate experts about Apple’s outsized influence on American shopping centers, and it’s remarkable. In some malls in New…

Tech News Kate Knibbs

Google Should Hire Kanye

Right now, Apple reigns as the premium brand for mobile products; its monopoly on status symbol status is way too secure. Look upon at how excited people got about the Apple Watch when Android Wear does almost exactly the same damn thing. Spectators fawned over the new gold Macbook even though it’s a $1,300 laptop…

Tech News Kate Knibbs

It’s Way Too Easy to Build Your Own Gun From eBay

You can find just about anything you want on eBay, from duct tape to Kim Kardashian’s old clothes. It’s a magical place! It’s also an online retailer violating its own rules, and helping buyers sidestep California law, because you can easily buy and sell assault weapons parts on the website. No need for DIY assault…

Tech News Kate Knibbs

Kate Knibbs

NYPD Officer Hacks NYPD in Ballsy Side-Hustle Scam

On CSI: Cyber, Uber Is the Perfect Vehicle for Dad Sadness Murder

The DOJ Is Sneaking in a Policy That’d Crap All Over the 4th Amendment

China Finally Admits It Has an Army of Hackers for Cyberwar

Have You Ever Watched Internet Porn in Public?

Mall Cops Catfished Black Lives Matter Activists on Facebook

This Documentary Defends the Silk Road

The Biggest Online Drug Market Just Vanished, Taking $12 Million With It

Twitter’s New Threat Reporting Tool Is a Useless Punt

NYPD Scrubbed Wikipedia Entries on Police Brutality and No One Cared

A Weird Neuroscientific Explanation for Why We Love Cheetos

NYPD Caught Editing Wikipedia Articles on Police Brutality

Facebook Fraudster Jumps Bail By Giving His GPS Anklet a Mind of Its Own

CSI Cyber: Just Your Basic Gore Porn Forum Rollercoaster Slaughter

23AndMe Wants to Turn Its DNA Data into New Drugs

Twitter Just Banned Revenge Porn and Doxxing

Apparently Whisper Doesn’t Really Track Its Users After All?

Apple Stores Are So Popular They Lift Mall Sales By 10 Percent

Google Should Hire Kanye

It’s Way Too Easy to Build Your Own Gun From eBay

National Film and Sound Archive of Australia Adds ‘Succulent Chinese Meal’ Guy

Feds Sniffing Around Polymarket After Suspicious Bets

DJI Osmo 360 Review: The Best 360 Camera for the DJI-Pilled

Don’t Get Too Attached to Any AI App

‘Paradise’ Writer Teases What’s Coming in Season 3 After That Huge Twist

Trump’s New White House App Is Mildly Concerning and Weird for a Lot of Reasons

Bloodsucking Ticks Can Survive Inside Your Home Longer Than You Might Think

The Best New Toys of March 2026

Judge Denies Liking LinkedIn Post Critical of Elon Musk But Reassigns His Cases Anyway

Amazon Slashes 50% Off Keurig K-Cup Pod Coffee Maker, Now a Budget Alternative to Breville and Nespresso Espresso Machines

Aqara Smart Lock U400 Review: Hands-free Unlocking at Its Best

MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ Review: A Solid 2-in-1 Laptop With Some Glaring Flaws

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

Asus ROG’s Massive Swift OLED Gaming Monitor Epitomizes Excess in the Best Way

The Ikea Varmblixt Smart Lamp Fills a Donut Hole in My Life

Nothing Headphone A vs. Headphone 1: Which Pair of ANC Wireless Headphones Wins?

Asus ROG’s Cetra Open Wireless Gaming Earbuds Might Be Better Than Wearing a Headset

Nintendo’s Talking Flower Is Annoying as Hell. I Love It

Level Lock Pro Review: As Good as a Secret Smart Lock Gets