How a Coder Helped a Crime Ring Steal Thousands of iPhones From Porches

WSJ Tech News Briefing

The Wall Street Journal

News, Tech News

4.6 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 21 March 2025

⏱️ 12 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Old-fashioned bribery and high-tech software was used to snatch gadgets from doorsteps across the U.S., federal authorities say. Plus, Amazon-backed Zoox is getting ready to launch a commercial service for its driverless vehicle. We speak with WSJ columnist Tim Higgins about the CEO’s vision for its toaster on wheels. Victoria Craig hosts. Sign up for the WSJ's free Technology newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode is brought to you by Vanta.
0:03.5	Stressing over cybersecurity, whether you're a startup, growing fast, or already established.
0:08.6	Vanta can help you get ISO-27,01 certified and more.
0:13.5	Plus, it allows your company to centralize security workflows,
0:17.6	complete questionnaires up to five times faster,
0:19.7	and proactively manage vendor risk to
0:22.2	help your team stay compliant.
0:24.2	Head to vanta.com slash Spotify to learn more.
0:31.7	Welcome to Tech News Briefing.
0:33.7	It's Friday, March 21st.
0:35.5	I'm Victoria Craig for the Wall Street Journal.
0:46.3	A Silicon Valley CEO who prefers to be collegial with competitors and thinks inside the box when it comes to her company's driverless vehicle. Then into a crime ring that scammed FedEx websites for real-time data, giving thieves a high-tech way to steal gadgets delivered to our doors.
1:01.5	But first, Aisha Evans is the CEO of Amazon-backed Zooks, an autonomous vehicle company that's
1:08.0	preparing later this year to launch a service in Las Vegas and San Francisco
1:11.8	that people can use to get around town. In a crowded field of fierce challengers like Elon Musk,
1:17.9	Evans prefers to approach competition and innovation a little differently. She joined WSJ columnists
1:24.1	Tim Higgins and Christopher Mims on bold names. That's our podcast where the bold
1:28.7	named leaders featured in the pages of the Wall Street Journal, chat about their businesses
1:32.9	and business decisions. I'll lob an easy question at you first. You took a ride in these
1:38.1	toaster-looking autonomous vehicles. What was it like? Boring in some ways. And that's what they want. You don't want an amusement park in the middle of San
1:47.8	Francisco. It's like riding in a vehicle except for the fact that nobody's driving it, or at least a
1:53.3	human isn't driving it. The biggest difference is that it isn't a car-like setting. It's like a lounge.
	...

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