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Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai
e7b4418a1e247c5e0d612bc23443b27f6ae9947cf2598eb06d3bd5ae7ded9283
Real-time cyber historian of the late capitalist era @TechCrunch, writing about the intersection of hackers, human rights, and spies. Also writing a book about Hacking Team and the history of government spyware. Posts about infosec, surveillance by day. 🍕, ⚽️, 🎸, 🎮 by night. 
 ☎️ Signal: +1 917 257 1382
 💻 Keybase/Telegram: @ lorenzofb
 ✉️ lorenzo@techcrunch.com
 Previously: VICE Motherboard, Mashable, WIRED's Danger Room.

NEW: A U.S. government report says a Mexican drug cartel hacker spied on an FBI official to identify, track, and kill informants.

The hacker also hacked into Mexico City's camera network to follow the FBI official as they met with “people of interest” for the cartel, according to the report.

http://techcrunch.com/2025/06/30/mexican-drug-cartel-hacker-spied-on-fbi-officials-phone-to-track-and-kill-informants-report-says/

NEW: WhatsApp has fixed a bug in how it implemented the "View Once" privacy feature on its web app.

It is no longer possible for a malicious user to bypass it and save pictures and videos that were supposed to vanish after opening them.

The feature now only works on mobile, where it's impossible to save, screenshots, or screen record pics and videos sent as "View Once."

https://techcrunch.com/2024/12/09/whatsapp-fixes-bug-that-let-users-bypass-view-once-privacy-feature/

NEW: Meet Window Snyder, the trailblazer who changed Microsoft and Apple, and helped secure billions of Macs and iPhones by default.

“Her legacy is about changing big companies and moving big ships,”

Dave Aitel says.

https://techcrunch.com/2023/08/04/window-snyder-cybersecurity-trailblazer/