Crime

FBI Director Says North Korea’s Sony Hackers “Got Sloppy”

FBI director James Comey just explained new detailsof the Sony hack at a cybersecurity conference at Fordham University in New York City. “Several times they got sloppy,” he told the audience, referring to the hackers. In more technical terms, the hackers revealed IP addresses in North Korea that they “exclusively used.” That’s how the FBI…

Tech News Adam Clark Estes

This Website Could Be The Ultimate All-In-One Torrent Machine

As I recently discovered whilst trying to teach my roommate about torrenting — educationally, of course — downloading illegal stuff off the internet still isn’t the easiest thing in the world. Bitport is a website that’s trying to change all that: it will find, download, and stream your torrents to you, all with a stupid…

Tech News Chris Mills

What Happened to These Notorious Crime Scenes?

Some buildings that bear witness to heinous crimes are transformed into tourist attractions (you can spend the night in Lizzie Borden’s house!) Others get a change of address, or are completely torn down. Here’s the current state of five famous crime scenes. Jeffrey Dahmer’s apartment building At the time of his 1991 capture, cannibal killer…

io9 Cheryl Eddy

Parasitology Student Once Tried To Kill His Roommates With His Research

Roommate disputes can have some pretty gruesome consequences, but there is one case from 1970 in which one man was accused of using his research against his hated roomies. His weapon: Ascaris suum, the parasite that he was studying in school and which he allegedly used to make his roommates very ill. Discover Magazine points…

io9 Lauren Davis

North Korea Wants to Work With the US to Investigate the Sony Hack

In a predictably bizarre move, officials in Pyongyang are now proposing that North Korea and the United States work together on a joint investigation into the Sony Pictures hack. The country says it can prove that they didn’t do it. North Korea also warned of the gravest consequences if the U.S. does not agree to…

Tech News Adam Clark Estes

How Much Your Inbox Is Worth to Cybercriminals

Many of us have had the experience of receiving a spammy email from a friend or loved one, only to have a frantic follow-up note arrive a few minutes later from that person stating that his or her email account was hacked and warning us not to open or respond to any of the messages…

Privacy & Security Brian Krebs

Man, the Government Sure Likes to Blame Shit on Tor

In a non-public report, the Department of Treasury revealed that an increasing number of hackers are using the Tor network to maintain their anonymity. Surprise surprise! After all,Tor is one of the biggest online anonymity services. So the government is suggesting (again) that blocking Tor would keep hackers away, though. And while that might be…

Privacy & Security Adam Clark Estes

59% of robberies in San Francisco involve the theft of a smartphone

Thefts involving smartphones are on the rise according to a new FCC study. In 2013, 3.1 million Americans had their smartphones stolen. That was up from 1.6 million thefts in 2012. Some interesting facts from the new report: 22 percent of smartphone users installed software that can locate their phone 34 percent of smartphone users…

Tech News Matt Novak

How a New DNA Test Can Distinguish Between Identical Twins

Ever since police started using DNA tests, one particular loophole has captivated our imagination: How do you distinguish between identical twins who share DNA? But it turns out even identical twins have tiny differences in their DNA, and prosecutors in Massachusetts want to use a new test for identical twins in court for the very…

Tech News Sarah Zhang

The Feds Are Finally Going to Help Companies Avoid Getting Hacked

On the heels of a painful-to-watch volley of insane revelations about the recent Sony Pictures hack, the Department of Justice has announced that it’s creating a dedicated cybersecurity unit. The new unit will be part of the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property section. And—here’s the kicker—it will help the private sector avoid cyberattacks. Details about…

Privacy & Security Adam Clark Estes

Woman Sleeps Next to Mummified Mother for Five Years

A suburban Munich woman was recently found to have been sleeping in the same bed as her elderly mother’s mummified body. The older woman, as it turns out, died five and a half years ago, which seems like a rather long time to hide a corpse without anyone becoming suspicious. Eventually, building management contacted social…

io9 Cheryl Eddy

Experiments Show That A Jury Cannot “Disregard” Testimony

A psychology experiment recruited mock jurors to read through a transcript of a murder trial. After a key piece of evidence came up in court, the jury was told to “disregard” it, just the way they might in a real trial. That’s where the problems started. I’ve been a juror on a trial. I don’t…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell

At Last, Proof That “Bath Salts” Won’t Turn You Into A Cannibal

Remember Rudy Eugene, the “Miami Cannibal” who made sensational headlines in 2012 after gnawing the face off a homeless man? Everyone blamed the designer drug known as “bath salts” for Eugene’s flesh-crazed madness. But new evidence shows that the drug probably couldn’t cause actual cannibalism. Image via dea.gov In fact, after Eugene was shot by…

io9 Cheryl Eddy

Finally, Someone Is Going to Jail for Revenge Porn

On Monday, a Los Angeles man named Noe Iniguez became the first person ever to receive a sentence for violating California’s new revenge porn law. Iniguez got one year in jail and 36 months probation for three criminal counts, one of which was revenge porn-related. Revenge porn is awful. That’s why California made it illegal.…

Tech News Adam Clark Estes

What Today’s Facebook Supreme Court Case Means for Free Speech Online

How carefully do you think about the things you post on Facebook? Depending on the outcome of today’s Supreme Court hearing, that answer could soon be way more carefully than you ever have before. Today, the nine justices will be hearing Elonis v. United States, the very first Supreme Court case to directly deal with…

Social Media Ashley Feinberg

Feds Use 18th Century Law to Force Apple to Unlock Encrypted Phones

The Department of Justice is going to absurd lengths in order to unlock encrypted smartphones. It’s using a law from the 1700s to force Apple and at least one other company to cooperate with law enforcement officials in investigations dealing with locked, encrypted phones. And the courts, so far, are letting it happen. The 18th…

Tech News Adam Clark Estes

LSD Mystery Meat Case Will Remain “Unsolved” Say Police

Earlier this year, a family in Florida rushed to the hospital with bizarre symptoms. After eating broiled steak from Walmart, they had all started hallucinating and feeling sick. It turned out that their meat had been tainted with LSD. But where did it come from? Tampa Bay News reports that we may never know: Before…

io9 Annalee Newitz

Report: A Bunch Of Illegal Websites Seized By The FBI Were Fakes

The dark web owes the FBI a thank-you. It turns out that during its recent mass seizure operation against a number of Tor sites (including Silk Road 2.0), a little more than half of the sites taken down were either clones or scams — and, in a number of cases, the real, functional websites are…

Privacy & Security Chris Mills

Meet the Amateur Sleuth Who’s About to Unmask the Zodiac Killer

Tom Voigt knows absolutely everything about the Zodiac Killer, the real-life murderer featured in the movie Zodiac. Neither cop nor crackpot, Voigt is certain that he’s amassed almost enough evidence to solve the decades-old case very soon. Voigt runs the popular website ZodiacKiller.com — an online destination for amateur sleuths who are fascinated by the…

io9 Cheryl Eddy

Are Lone-Wolf Terrorists Really a Big Threat?

The recent attacks in Canada have raised concerns about lone-wolf terrorists who operate without orders from groups abroad. Members of Congress say it’s a “huge” threat that require pre-emptives measures. But experts say lone-wolf attackers are a rare phenomenon, and efforts to stop them are a waste of time and money. Appearing on CNN, Senate…

io9 Mark Strauss

FBI Director Says North Korea’s Sony Hackers “Got Sloppy”

This Website Could Be The Ultimate All-In-One Torrent Machine

What Happened to These Notorious Crime Scenes?

Parasitology Student Once Tried To Kill His Roommates With His Research

North Korea Wants to Work With the US to Investigate the Sony Hack

How Much Your Inbox Is Worth to Cybercriminals

Man, the Government Sure Likes to Blame Shit on Tor

59% of robberies in San Francisco involve the theft of a smartphone

How a New DNA Test Can Distinguish Between Identical Twins

The Feds Are Finally Going to Help Companies Avoid Getting Hacked

Woman Sleeps Next to Mummified Mother for Five Years

Experiments Show That A Jury Cannot “Disregard” Testimony

At Last, Proof That “Bath Salts” Won’t Turn You Into A Cannibal

Finally, Someone Is Going to Jail for Revenge Porn

What Today’s Facebook Supreme Court Case Means for Free Speech Online

Feds Use 18th Century Law to Force Apple to Unlock Encrypted Phones

LSD Mystery Meat Case Will Remain “Unsolved” Say Police

Report: A Bunch Of Illegal Websites Seized By The FBI Were Fakes

Meet the Amateur Sleuth Who’s About to Unmask the Zodiac Killer

Are Lone-Wolf Terrorists Really a Big Threat?

Trump Says He’ll Sign Order to Pay TSA

Deadpool Will Deface ‘Magic: The Gathering’ Classics for a New Secret Lair

Apple’s Siri Isn’t Just Going to Use One Chatbot. It’s Going to Use All of Them

Why ‘For All Mankind’ Season 5 Is the Key to the Rest of the Series

ASUS ZenScreen 15.6-Inch Portable Monitor Is Now Cheaper Than Black Friday in Amazon’s Big Spring Sale

Early Wildfires Are Surging Across the US—and Trump’s New Fire Agency Isn’t Ready

INIU Brings Another Power Bank to the Spring Sale as SnapGo Keychain Portable Charger Drops to Its Lowest Price

Attorney Hit With Historic Fine for Citing AI-Generated Cases

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

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