Zack Whittaker

New, by me: I wrote some words for TechCrunch about Sen. Ron Wyden's recent unclassified letter to the CIA director, citing his "deep concerns" about the agency's activities. This isn't the first time Wyden has sounded his "siren" — and history tells us why this new letter is likely a big deal.

TechCrunch

Senator, who has repeatedly warned about secret US government surveillance, sounds new alarm over 'CIA activities' | TechCrunch

The two-line letter to the CIA's director is the latest warning in recent years from a long-serving Democratic senator with knowledge of secre...

NEW, by me: Govtech giant Conduent says a January 2025 data breach (ransomware) now affects significantly more people than first disclosed, with the number of victims who had personal and medical data stolen now stretching to tens of millions of people across the United States. Conduent says its business operations support over 100 million people.

TechCrunch

Data breach at govtech giant Conduent balloons, affecting millions more Americans | TechCrunch

The ransomware attack at Conduent allowed hackers to steal a "significant number of individuals’ personal information" from the govtech giant&#03...

🚨 This is what we call a "Wyden siren." For those who don't know, Ron Wyden (D-OR) is one of the longest serving members of the Senate Intelligence Committee. 📄.pdf

I wrote a story about how Homeland Security is using administrative subpoenas, which aren't subject to judicial oversight, to seek data from tech giants about Trump critics and anonymous accounts of ICE trackers. Features some really great reporting by Bloomberg & Washington Post.

TechCrunch

Homeland Security is trying to force tech companies to hand over data about Trump critics | TechCrunch

The use of administrative subpoenas, which are not subject to judicial oversight, are used to demand a wealth of information from tech companies, i...

NEW: The developer of the long-running and popular open source text editor Notepad++ has confirmed that China government-backed hackers hijacked the software's update feature for months during 2025. The hackers could access computers of victims who were running hijacked versions of Notepad++.

TechCrunch

Notepad++ says Chinese government hackers hijacked its software updates for months | TechCrunch

The developer of the popular text editor Notepad++ said hackers associated with the Chinese government hijacked its software update mechanism to de...

NEW: A few weeks ago, @npub1umr5...0yvm and I ran a survey asking security researchers and journalists about the legal and criminal threats they have received for doing their jobs. Over 100 people responded, and we now have our results. One of our key findings is that while legal threats and criminal threats are common, most researchers & journalists stood their ground and did not give in to threats. More:

~this week in security~

New survey reveals how security researchers and journalists experience legal and criminal threats

Over 100 security researchers and journalists answered our survey and told us how they experienced threats for doing their work. Here are some of t...

Results:

DataBreaches.Net

Under Pressure: Exploring the effect of legal and criminal threats on security researchers and journalists – DataBreaches.Net

"Dissent Doe," DataBreaches.net admin@databreaches.net Zack Whittaker, this.weekinsecurity.com this@weekinsecurity.com February 2026. [ Download .p...

PDF: 📄.pdf