A Hacker Accidentally Broke Into the FBI’s Epstein Files

Andy Greenberg Maddy Varner Andrew Couts Security Mar 14, 2026 6:30 AM Security News This Week: A Hacker Accidentally Broke Into the FBI’s Epstein Files Plus: A porn-quitting app exposed the masturbation habits of hundreds of thousands of users, Russian hackers are trying to take over people’s Signal accounts, and more. Photograph: MARTIN BUREAU; Getty Images Save this story Save this story The United States and Israel’s war with Iran has now been ongoing for two weeks, and the bombs continue to fall. But many of Iran’s missiles are failing to hit their targets. WIRED’s team in the Middle East detailed how countries in the Gulf region are intercepting these weapons . Of course, the international conflict is not just happening in the physical realm. This week, a hacker group tied to Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence severely disrupted the systems of US-based medical technology company Stryker. The attack, carried out by a group currently known as Handala has been particularly active since the wake of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. We detailed how Handala has sown chaos with “opportunistic” attacks that look like hacktivism but are believed to be part of an Iranian state-backed campaign. Hacking isn’t the only type of war-linked cyberattack disrupting life in the Middle East and beyond. The rise of GPS attacks have made some basic activities, like using navigation apps or ordering food from a delivery service , nearly impossible for people in countries near Iran. Meta this week took steps to further crack down on the flood of scammers o n its platforms, including Facebook and Instagram. In addition to new warnings for people using Meta apps, the company said it took down nearly 11 million accounts linked to “criminal scam centers” last year. The US Department of Homeland Security quietly ousted two of the agency’s privacy officials after they questioned the mislabeling of certain records related to surveillance technologies and other tech in ways that woul...