A US Election Phishing Attack, Quitting Vaping, and More News

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Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Microsoft says Iranian hackers targeted a US presidential candidate, quitting vaping might be harder than you think, and there's a great deal going on the latest GoPro camera. Here's the news you need to know, in two minutes or less.

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Today’s Headlines

Iranian hackers have targeted a US presidential candidate

Today, Microsoft sounded the alarm on an aggressive new email phishing attack by Iranian hackers that allegedly targeted a US presidential campaign, the first such public report of the 2020 election season. Microsoft did not say which candidate was attacked (Reuters reports that it was President Trump), but the company says the attempt did not succeed. The episode serves as a reminder that Russia is not the only nation trying to hack US elections, and that cybersecurity will be increasingly important to the election.

So you want to quit vaping? No one actually knows how

Vaping was marketed as a safe way to help quit cigarettes, but now it's connected to mysterious lung diseases and even death around the country. So how do you quit the thing that was supposed to help you quit? It turns out, no one really knows. “It’s a major research gap,” says Rachel Grana, who heads the National Cancer Institute’s Tobacco Control Research Branch. Don't lose hope just yet though, there are texting hotlines you can try, plus the regular methods of quitting: lozenges, gum, and patches.

Fast Fact: 23 Percent

That's the percentage of female technical employees at Facebook, up from 15 percent in 2014. Google reports similar results, but no company is close to parity, and the progress for minorities is even slower.

WIRED Recommends: GoPro Hero 7 Black

There is a newer model of this camera—the GoPro Hero 8—but this one will do the job and it's $70 off right now.

News You Can Use

Here's how to protect yourself on public Wi-Fi.

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