Apple May Debt You $20 in Siri Privacy Lawsuit

It may be the new year, but hacks, gossipand dangerous people Internet hacking hasn’t gone anywhere.

Just one day before the ball drops, The United States Treasury Department said it was stolen. Officials believe the attackers are an as-yet-unidentified Advanced Persistent Threat group linked to the Chinese government that used flaws in software developed by BeyondTrust to commit what the Treasury Department described as a “massive breach”. The company told the Treasury on December 8 that the attackers had stolen an authentication key, which ultimately allowed them to gain access to the department’s computers. Although the Treasury Department claims that the attackers only obtained “some anonymous documents,” new information has begun to emerge, which we will discuss below.

In the past the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last monthgun restrictions were a lot of what you saw in Hollywood movies—or in Facebook and Instagram ads, if you looked closely. WIRED found that one has run thousands of ads for “oil filters” that are, in fact, supposed to be used as gun stoppers.which are largely governed by US law. Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, has removed many ads, but new ones keep popping up. So if you see one, keep scrolling—having an unregistered voice blocker can lead to serious lawsuits.

When an Amber Alert goes off on your phone, getting all the information you need to find a stolen child can be a matter of life and death. That’s a lesson the California Highway Patrol learned this week when it did sent out an Amber Alert that linked to a post on X, which people couldn’t access unless they signed up.. Although the CHP says it has linked to posts on social media dating back to 2018 without issue until this week, a spokesperson told WIRED they are “looking into it” now.

If you’ve added privacy and security best practices to your list of 2025 goals, One easy place to start is your social media history. You might be surprised how much information is out there, maybe forgotten but never gone.

That’s not all. Every week, we create security and privacy stories that we haven’t covered in depth ourselves. Click on the headlines to read all the stories. And be safe out there.

Apple this week agreed to pay $95 million to settle a class action lawsuit over allegations that its Siri voice assistant was listening to him. case, Lopez et al v. Apple Inc.accused Apple of recording people’s conversations without their knowledge and sharing that information with third parties for advertising purposes. The story stems from Siri’s voice activation function – “Hey, Siri” – which two plaintiffs say secretly recorded conversations that led to Nike and Olive Garden shoe ads. One claimant said he was sent a health care ad after consulting with his doctor. Individuals who qualify as part of the closed class, which must be approved by a federal judge in California, can receive up to $20 per device, up to five devices. As Reuters reports, the amount of money that has been set is about nine times Apple’s profit, which made about $94 billion in the last fiscal year. The company will not accept any liability as part of the contract.

Documents recently released to the court show that the FBI says it found during the search one illegal gun and “the largest seizure of homemade explosives in the history of the FBI.” According to court documents, explosive devices were found at Brad Spafford’s Virginia home, where investigators say they found more than 150 bombs and other explosive devices. Prosecutors say the FBI found a bag containing a bomb and emblazoned with a grenade-shaped patch with the hashtag #NoLivesMatter – a reference to a right-wing extremist. “accelerationist” group, The New York Times said. While prosecutors say Spafford – who allegedly used a photo of US President Joe Biden in his campaign – wanted to “retaliate against political criminals,” his lawyer argues that he is a harmless “family member” who should be freed.

Following revelations earlier this week that Chinese hackers breached the US Treasury in early December, the Washington Post reported Wednesday that the hackers targeted the Office of Foreign Assets Control. The critics may be looking for information about the Office’s proposed ban on Chinese entities. In addition, Bloomberg report Thursday that the attackers looked into the computers of Treasury officials, where they were able to find unregistered items. To date, researchers say they have found about 100 computers compromised by hackers. Sources told Bloomberg, however, that the attack appears to have been more opportunistic than a secret, long-planned operation like China’s recent intrusion into the US telecom industry.

As China’s Treasury fraud comes to light, the stakes of its meddling in America’s telecommunications industry are growing. Two days after Christmas, Anne Neuberger, the deputy White House security adviser for cyber security and emerging technologies, held a press conference where she raised the number of cellphones hacked by Chinese hackers known as Salt Typhoon from eight to nine Another reason for violating these laws is that the companies themselves do not have adequate protection. “The reality is, from what we’re seeing of the amount of cyber security that’s being put in place across the telecom sector, these networks are not as secure as they need to be to protect them from a well-armed and capable cybercriminal like China,” Neuberger said. He also said that the hackers looked at the communications history of less than 100 people, mostly in Washington, DC, including President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance. Neuberger said the spying incident called for new Federal Communications Commission cybersecurity rules that he says would have reduced the number of breaches had they occurred.

Cars collect and transmit sensitive location data like any other modern device, and the privacy pitfalls of this research are becoming increasingly apparent. Case in point: A whistleblower alerted Germany’s Chaos Computer Club and the country’s national newspaper Der Spiegel that Carad, a Volkswagen company, had stopped displaying online content for 800,000 electric cars. The leak included cars sold not only by Volkswagen but other brands, including Seats, Audi, and Skoda. For Audi and Skoda, the location data was accurate to about six miles, but Volkswagen and Seats cars could be found to within four inches. The disclosures are protected, but the incident shows how automakers must continue to collect their data.