Frank Bajak

Illustrative: People walk past a Microsoft office in New York, November 10, 2016. (AP Photo/Swayne B. Hall)

October 8, 2021, 12:24 pm

Russia behind 58% of detected state-backed hacks in past year, Microsoft says

Attacks mostly target Western government agencies and think tanks; their success rate rises to 32% compared to 21% in the previous year

By Frank Bajak

October 5, 2021, 2:40 am

Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram gradually resume after worldwide outage

Social media giant not saying what caused the hours-long collapse of its services; experts say it may have deleted some of its own vital Domain Name System data

By Frank Bajak and Barbara Ortutay

In this file photo taken on August 28, 2016, a woman uses her iPhone in front of the building housing the Israeli NSO group, in Herzliya, near Tel Aviv. (JACK GUEZ / AFP)

September 14, 2021, 6:13 am

Apple fixes security hole reportedly used by NSO Group to hack iPhone

Researchers at University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab say security vulnerability was exploited by Israeli firm to plant spyware on a Saudi activist’s smartphone

By Frank Bajak

An employee scans the eyes of a woman for biometric data needed to apply for a passport, at the passport office in Kabul, Afghanistan, June 30, 2021. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul, File)

September 7, 2021, 8:00 am

US-built databases risk becoming a tool of Taliban repression

Scholar warns the databases could give the Islamist insurgents ‘the same capability as an average US government agency when it comes to surveillance and interception’

By Frank Bajak

Illustrative: An Aug. 22, 2019 file photo shows signs on a bank of computers telling visitors that the machines are not working at the public library in Wilmer, Texas. (AP/Tony Gutierrez)

July 5, 2021, 6:25 am

New details reveal massive scale of Kaseya ransomware attack

CEO says thousands of mostly smaller businesses hit by likely Russian hackers, who are demanding sums between $45,000 and $5 million to unscramble data, according to expert

By Frank Bajak

Members of the South Florida Urban Search and Rescue team look for possible survivors in the partially collapsed 12-story Champlain Towers South condo building on June 25, 2021 in Surfside, Florida (JOE RAEDLE / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

June 26, 2021, 3:25 am

How is technology aiding Miami rescuers’ search?

Drones, sonar, highly sensitive microphones and more are being used by teams looking for survivors in the oceanside condominium that collapsed

By MAE ANDERSON, Matt O'Brien and Frank Bajak

The website of the social media platform Parler is displayed in Berlin, January 10, 2021. (Christophe Gateau/dpa via AP)

February 16, 2021, 9:34 am

Right-wing social media haven Parler announces relaunch

Network finds new web-hosting service after Amazon booted it over its unwillingness to remove posts inciting violence following US Capitol riot

By Frank Bajak

In this June 18, 2020 file photo, US President Donald Trump looks at his phone during a roundtable with governors on the reopening of America's small businesses, in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

January 10, 2021, 3:03 am

Banned from Twitter, Trump may find new megaphone on far-right magnet Parler

Google removes platform from its store, Apple threatens to follow, amid US curbs on online incitement

By Frank Bajak

This June 6, 2013 file photo shows the sign outside the National Security Agency (NSA) campus in Fort Meade, Maryland. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

December 19, 2020, 9:41 am

Hacked networks will need to be burned ‘down to the ground’

Experts say there simply are not enough skilled threat-hunting teams to identify all government and private-sector systems that may have been attacked

By Frank Bajak

US President-elect Joe Biden arrives at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Del., Thursday, Dec. 17, 2020. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

December 18, 2020, 12:39 pm

With Trump silent, reprisals for massive hack on US government may fall to Biden

Reactions could include federal indictments, sanctions, counterattacks and even exposure of Kremlin corruption, experts say

By Eric Tucker, Frank Bajak and Matthew Lee

The Kremlin in Moscow, September 29, 2017. (Ivan Sekretarev/AP)

December 14, 2020, 1:17 pm

Russia suspected behind hacking of US agencies in global cyber-spying campaign

Experts still trying to assess scope of months-long operation that slipped code into software update used on servers across the globe and in all 5 branches of US military

By Eric Tucker, Frank Bajak and Matt O'Brien

Lehigh County workers count ballots as counting for the general election continues, Nov. 5, 2020, in Allentown, Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

November 13, 2020, 6:36 am

No fraud: Top officials say presidential election was most secure in US history

Federal and state cybersecurity experts say there is no evidence votes were compromised or altered, firmly rejecting claims of fraud from Trump and his supporters

By Eric Tucker and Frank Bajak

Supporters of US President Donald Trump demonstrate outside the Pennsylvania Convention Center, Nov. 5, 2020, in Philadelphia, as vote counting in the general election continues. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

November 7, 2020, 9:23 am

Incendiary texts urging vote-count protests traced to outfit run by Trump aide

Messages calling for rallies at Philadelphia ballot-counting centers and alleging that Democrats are ‘trying to steal election’ sent by company owned by campaign’s digital director

By Frank Bajak and GARANCE BURKE

A woman drops off a vote-by-mail ballot with an election worker, right, at an official ballot drop box outside of an early voting site, October 20, 2020, in Miami Beach, Florida (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

October 22, 2020, 3:23 am

US intelligence says Iran sending emails, trying to intimidate American voters

Both Tehran and Moscow obtained voter registration with the goal of interfering in election; FBI director says US will impose costs on any foreign countries interfering in vote

By Frank Bajak and Eric Tucker

The inside of a computer in Jersey City, New Jersey, February 23, 2019. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)

August 2, 2020, 7:15 pm

Ransomware feared as possible threat for US presidential election

Experts see such a cyberattack as realistic probability ahead of November; officials warn that a single employee falling for spearphishing attack could compromise systems

By Eric Tucker, CHRISTINA A. CASSIDY and Frank Bajak