These are the cybersecurity stories we were jealous of in 2025

A year-end roundup spotlights standout cybersecurity reporting, including an Iranian hacker source saga; a secret U.K. order pressing Apple for an iCloud backdoor; the inadvertent inclusion of a journalist in a senior U.S. officials’ Signal chat exposing major OPSEC lapses; Krebs’ deanonymization of a LAPSUS$-linked teen; 404 Media’s exposure of a massive airline data-broker program later shuttered; Wired’s exploration of 3D-printed “ghost guns”; NPR’s whistleblower account of the controversial DOGE data-grab; Mother Jones’ discovery of a global SS7 phone-tracking dataset; and Wired’s deep dive into nationwide school swatting campaigns.