Frank Bajak

January 13, 2022, 7:46 am

Dozens of El Salvador journalists, activists said hacked with Israeli-made spyware

Watchdog says NSO Group’s Pegasus software found on phones which were then surveilled using local infrastructure; government denies involvement despite circumstantial evidence

By CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN and Frank Bajak

Polish Senator Krzysztof Brejza on the night of parliamentary elections, on October 13, 2019. (AP Photo)

December 23, 2021, 8:15 pm

Polish opposition senator hacked with spyware from Israel’s NSO Group

Text messages stolen from Krzysztof Brejza were used in political campaign; he says hacking may have tipped 2019 elections

By Vanessa Gera and Frank Bajak

Polish lawyer Roman Giertych, left, poses for a portrait in Rome, and Polish prosecutor Ewa Wrzosek, right, is photographed in Warsaw, December 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, left, Czarek Czarek Sokolowski)

December 20, 2021, 11:49 pm

Polish opposition duo hacked by Israeli NSO Group’s spyware, watchdog says

Digital sleuths claim lawyer Roman Giertych’s cellphone tapped in final weeks of 2019 election, prosecutor Ewa Wrzosek targeted in 2021 as she challenged gov’t purge of judiciary

By Frank Bajak and Vanessa Gera

Egyptian politician Ayman Nour, a target of commercial military-grade Israeli spyware, speaks during a news conference organized by Muslim Brotherhood for former Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi, in Istanbul, on June 20, 2019. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici, File)

December 17, 2021, 9:57 am

Israeli involvement in hacker-for-hire industry highlighted in latest spyware find

Meta announces a flurry of takedowns of accounts affiliated with seven surveillance-for-hire firms that may have affected some 50,000 people in more than 100 countries

By Frank Bajak

Illustrative: A cybersecurity expert stands in front of a map of Iran as he speaks to journalists about the techniques of Iranian hacking, on September 20, 2017, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (AP/Kamran Jebreili)

November 17, 2021, 10:30 pm

Iran-backed hackers accused of targeting ‘broad range of victims’ in US

American cyber firm says Iran targeting Israel in espionage attacks; Microsoft reports 6 Iranian groups deploying ransomware in past year

By Eric Tucker, Alan Suderman and 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