LILY HAY NEWMAN SECURITY FEB 18, 2026 12:22 PM A Vast Trove of Exposed Social Security Numbers May Put Millions at Risk of Identity Theft A database left accessible to anyone online contained billions of records, including sensitive personal data that criminals appear to have not yet exploited. PHOTOGRAPH: DOUGLAS SACHA/GETTY IMAGES Get our Tracker: ICE newsletter to see what’s happening with immigration enforcement and what’s coming next SIGN UP By signing up, you agree to our user agreement (including class action waiver and arbitration provisions), and acknowledge our privacy policy. You’ve read your last free article. The intersection of technology, power, and culture. Start your free trial and get access to 5 all-new premium newsletters—cancel anytime. START FREE TRIAL Already a subscriber? Sign In The intersection of technology, power, and culture. Start your free trial and get access to 5 all-new premium newsletters START FREE TRIAL You Might Also Like In your inbox: Sign up for our new Tracker: ICE newsletter TikTok now collects even more of your data Big Story: ICE pretends it’s a military force, but it would get soldiers killed Microdosing for depression works about as well as drinking coffee Marhaba, world! Introducing WIRED Middle East Lily Hay Newman is a senior writer at WIRED focused on information security, digital privacy, and hacking. She previously worked as a technology reporter at Slate, and was the staff writer for Future Tense, a publication and partnership between Slate, the New America Foundation, and Arizona State University. Her work ... Read More SENIOR WRITER TOPICS CYBERSECURITY SECURITY DATABASES DATA PRIVACY PRIVACY SCAMS CRIME Don't Just Keep Up. Get Ahead Sign up for the Daily newsletter to get our biggest stories, handpicked for you each day. SIGN UP By signing up, you agree to our user agreement (including class action waiver and arbitration provisions), and acknowledge our privacy policy. READ MORE DOGE May Have Misused Social Security Data, DOJ Admits Plus: The FAA blocks drones over DHS operations, Microsoft admits it hands over Bitlocker encryption keys to the cops, and more. MADDY VARNER Crypto-Funded Human Trafficking Is Exploding The use of cryptocurrency in sales of human beings for prostitution and scam compounds nearly doubled in 2025, according to a conservative estimate. Many of the deals are happening in plain sight. ANDY GREENBERG DHS’s Data Grab Is Getting Citizens Kicked Off Voter Rolls, New Complaint Says As states check voter registration against a mashup of federal data, a new complaint says US citizens are getting kicked off state voter rolls as a result. VITTORIA ELLIOTT Notepad++ Users, You May Have Been Hacked by China Suspected Chinese state-backed hackers hijacked the Notepad++ update infrastructure to deliver a backdoored version of the popular free source code editor and note-taking app for Windows. DAN GOODIN, ARS TECHNICA AI-Powered Disinformation Swarms Are Coming for Democracy Advances in artificial intelligence are creating a perfect storm for those seeking to spread disinformation at unprecedented speed and scale. And it’s virtually impossible to detect. DAVID GILBERT Iran’s Digital Surveillance Machine Is Almost Complete After more than 15 years of draconian measures, culminating in an ongoing internet shutdown, the Iranian regime seems to be staggering toward its digital surveillance endgame. MATT BURGESS Jeffrey Epstein Had a ‘Personal Hacker,’ Informant Claims Plus: AI agent OpenClaw gives cybersecurity experts the willies, China executes 11 scam compound bosses, a $40 million crypto theft has an unexpected alleged culprit, and more. MATT BURGESS Social Security Workers Are Being Told to Hand Over Appointment Details to ICE The recent request goes against decades of precedent and puts noncitizens at further risk of immigration enforcement actions. VITTORIA ELLIOTT A Wave of Unexplained Bot Traffic Is Sweeping the Web From small publishers to US federal agencies, websites are reporting unusual spikes in automated traffic linked to IP addresses in Lanzhou, China. ZEYI YANG Here’s the Company That Sold DHS ICE’s Notorious Face Recognition App Immigration agents have used Mobile Fortify to scan the faces of countless people in the US—including many citizens. MADDY VARNER Sports Betting Is Skyrocketing. Will It Take Over the Olympics? Typically, the Olympics aren’t a hotbed of gambling. For the 2026 Winter Games, sportsbooks and betting platforms are watching for illicit activity while testing new ways to get people to bet. BEN DOWSETT An AI Toy Exposed 50,000 Logs of Its Chats With Kids to Anyone With a Gmail Account AI chat toy company Bondu left its web console almost entirely unprotected. Researchers who accessed it found nearly all the conversations children had with the company’s stuffed animals. ANDY GREENBERG