This week’s security news: ICE can now spy on every phone in your area

After federalism An agent shot and killed 37-year-old Rene Judd in Minneapolis on Wednesday. WIRED appeared in federal court testimony in December From the reported ICE shooter, Jonathan Ross. In it, he said he was trained in firearms and had had “hundreds” of encounters with drivers in his professional capacity during enforcement proceedings. Separately, we looked at how The tactics behind protest policing tend towards deliberate hostility. If you haven’t seen it, here we have it A guide to safe protest in the age of surveillance.

Meanwhile, the AI-powered chatbot Grok, developed by Elon Musk’s xAI company, has been everywhere this week because… The platform expands access to digital “dressing up” possibilities Which allows users to create nude photos of people and then post them on the social media platform X.A WIRED’s review found that Grok creates graphic content– including violent sexual images and videos, as well as media apparently depicting minors – which were available on Grok’s official website and which are more explicit than the content on X. All of this prompted researchers and activists to Ask why Grok and X are still available in the Apple and Google app stores When companies removed other “nudify” apps for violating their terms. On Friday, X appeared to have taken steps to limit who can create photos with Grok to paid, “verified” users. But in practice, The chatbot is still being used to create sexualized “nude” images on the platformeven if the possibility isn’t quite as accessible as it once was.

If you, like billions of other people globally, are a WhatsApp user, we have you covered Tips on features in an all-in-one encrypted calling app that can enhance its privacy and security More than that. In addition, although invasive spyware is still relatively rare, it continues to spread around the world, so we have… A guide to protecting your smartphone.

And there’s more! Every week we round up security and privacy news that we haven’t covered in depth ourselves. Click on the titles to read the full stories. And stay safe out there.

Materials obtained by 404 Media shed new light on how Tangles and Webloc surveillance tools from a company called Penlink provide information to ICE agents after the agency contracted out the services in September. Social media and phone monitoring platforms could be used to monitor neighborhoods or city blocks for cell phones and track devices over time, which could reveal where people live, work and visit. Penlink purchases large amounts of commercial location data to augment and expand its cloud network.

“This is an extremely dangerous tool in the hands of an out-of-control agency,” Nathan Freed Wessler, deputy project director of the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, told 404 Media. “This precise location information paints a detailed picture of who we are, where we go, and who we spend time with.”

Over the past two weeks, thousands of Iranians have demonstrated against the country’s brutal regime and leadership, demanding reform after protests were initially sparked by poor economic conditions. In response to the growing unrest, the country’s supreme leader made harsh statements Potential crackdowns It may happen. As part of the country’s response, it has done so A complete internet blackout has begun: As of January 9, Iranians have been offline for more than 24 hours. Reports Pointing People were unable to access social media, isolating them from contact with family members, as well as preventing them from using ATMs and bank cards.

This is not the first time that Iran has cut off the Internet for millions of people. The country that was built Technical ability To digitally isolate itself from the global Internet for years, and previously shut down communications therein 2025, 2022and 2019. Often, these internet shutdowns are designed to prevent protesters from communicating with each other and organizing, limit the spread of news, and stop video footage of law enforcement brutality from coming out. It spreads all over the world. It also causes significant self-harm Economic damage to Iran.

In October, officials in the United States and the United Kingdom Sanctions were imposed on Cambodian national Chen Qi and his companyPrince Holding Group, was charged with running fraudulent forced labor complexes across Cambodia — and swindling a $15 billion dollar operation in the process. this week, Chen was extradited to China From Cambodia. He was shown on television wearing a hood and handcuffs as he was escorted off the plane in Beijing. The Guardian reported that it was “not immediately clear” what charges Chen faces in China, although officials have said his case is part of a broader crackdown on notorious fraud pools that have stolen billions from people around the world.

Notorious Chinese spy hacker Salt Typhoon has reportedly compromised the email accounts of a number of US Congressional committee staff as part of a campaign discovered in December. The attackers targeted the communications of staff of the House China Committee as well as those of the Intelligence Committee, the Armed Services Committee, and the Foreign Affairs Committee. The incident is the latest in a sprawling series of public and private breaches carried out by the SALT Typhoon that gave Chinese intelligence a wide-ranging view into US government communications.