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Apple signs ‘Battlestar Galactica’ developer for new space drama

Apple has ordered yet another TV series to add to its growing list of star-backed original productions. The company signed network sci-fi luminary Ronald D. Moore, veteran of several Star Trek series and developer of the Battlestar Galactica reboot, to create a completely new space drama. The show will explore what would have happened if the space race between the United States, Soviet Russia and the rest of the world hadn’t ended. Fargo co-executive producers Matt Wolpert and Ben Nedivi will join Moore on the project, which does not yet have a title. It’s the third series ordered by Apple’s worldwide video programming division, which is headed by former Sony execs Jamie Erlicht & Zack Van Amburg. The tech giant had previously hired Steven Spielberg to produce a new version of the old Amazing Stories anthology series, as well as buying a TV drama created by and starring Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon. There’s no news on when Moore’s show will be released, but his experience is reason enough to get excited. He started as a writer and eventual producer on Star Trek: The Next Generation before moving on to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and a stint on Star Trek: Voyager . He became a showrunner on HBO’s Carnivale before developing the rebooted Battlestar Galactica and later Starz’s Outlander series adapting the books of the same name. Moore also co-developed Amazon’s upcoming sci-fi anthology series, Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams. Source: Deadline

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Apple signs ‘Battlestar Galactica’ developer for new space drama

DOJ names Iranian as hacker who stole unaired episodes from HBO

Enlarge / Acting US Attorney Joon H. Kim speaks during a press conference at the US Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York, on September 26, 2017. (credit: Kevin Hagen/Getty Images ) On Tuesday, federal authorities in New York indicted Behzad Mesri, an Iranian citizen, accusing him of hacking HBO earlier this year. Seeing as Iran and the United States lack an extradition treaty, it is unlikely that Mesri will be sent to the United States to face the charges, unless he somehow decides to come to the states of his own volition. According to prosecutors, Mesri stole unaired episodes of Game of Thrones , Curb Your Enthusiasm , and other popular shows. He then allegedly demanded a ransom of $5.5 million, payable in Bitcoin. Read 3 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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DOJ names Iranian as hacker who stole unaired episodes from HBO

An AI detected colorectal cancer with 86 percent accuracy

We’ve heard of many different uses for AI within the medical field , including for prediction of heart attacks and detection of Alzheimer’s . Now, it looks as though machine intelligence could be applied to early detection of cancer as well. A group of Japanese researchers has figured out a way to use AI to spot colorectal cancer tumors before they become malignant, according to Inverse . The team compiled a database of over 30, 000 images of pre-cancerous and cancerous cells in order to help the AI detect the difference between the two. After the machine learning process had taken place, they fed it an image of a colorectal polyp that had its magnification increased by a factor of 500. The program was able to determine within a second whether that specific polyp was cancerous. Dr. Yuichi Mora from Showa University made a presentation about these results this week at the United European Gastroenterology Conference in Barcelona. He cited the AI’s detection accuracy at 86 percent, which is impressive. This is specifically important for colorectal cancer; it’s highly treatable in early stages, but detection often comes very late, after the cancer cells have spread into the bloodstream. The cancer originates as benign polyps in the rectum and colon that turn into malignant tumors. This AI could help detect colorectal cancer early, ensuring that the cancer is treatable for more people. Source: Inverse , PubMed

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An AI detected colorectal cancer with 86 percent accuracy

US authorities have seized the dark web marketplace AlphaBay

Last week, we reported that an international law enforcement operation had shut down AlphaBay , the dark web’s go-to marketplace after the fall of Silk Road. Today, the U.S. Justice Department announced that it has seized AlphaBay and has brought civil charges against operator Alexandre Cazes (who is now deceased) and his wife, with the intention of taking their assets as well. Cazes, a Canadian citizen, was arrested in Thailand on July 5, but he committed suicide while in custody a week later. While the United States is working with international authorities to freeze the assets of AlphaBay, the Justice Department is also specifically interested in Cazes’ and his wife’s personal assets amassed through illegal AlphaBay activities. These including luxury cars, homes and a Thai hotel. Authorities have already seized Cazes’ vast stores of cryptocurrency. AlphaBay earned millions of dollars per week selling drugs, weapons, tools to help commit internet fraud and more. According to the Justice Department’s press release , Silk Road (which was shut down in 2013) had around 14, 000 goods and services listed when it was seized. Comparatively, AlphaBay had “over 250, 000 listings for illegal drugs and toxic chemicals on AlphaBay, and over 100, 000 listings for stolen and fraudulent identification documents and access devices, counterfeit goods, malware and other computer hacking tools, firearms and fraudulent services.” Source: U.S. Department of Justice

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US authorities have seized the dark web marketplace AlphaBay

AlphaBay taken down by law enforcement across 3 countries, WSJ says

Enlarge / A bitcoin token stands in this arranged photograph in London, U.K., on Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2017. (credit: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images ) AlphaBay, one of the largest Tor-hidden drug websites that sprung up in the wake of Silk Road, has been shuttered for good after a series of law enforcement raids and arrests. The site mysteriously went dark earlier this month. Some users on Reddit suspected an “exit scam,” in which AlphaBay’s founders had shuttered the site and absconded with piles of bitcoins. According to the Wall Street Journal , which reported the news on Thursday, police in the United States, Canada, and Thailand collaborated to arrest Alexandre Cazes, who allegedly was the head of the online operation. The Canadian citizen was arrested on July 5 in Thailand, the same day that two raids on residences in Quebec, Canada, were executed. On Wednesday, Cazes was found dead, hanged in his Thai jail cell. Read 4 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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AlphaBay taken down by law enforcement across 3 countries, WSJ says

Obama reportedly ordered implants to be deployed in key Russian networks

Enlarge (credit: Wikimedia Commons/Maria Joner) In his final days as the 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama authorized a covert hacking operation to implant attack code in sensitive Russian networks. The revelation came in an 8,000-word article The Washington Post published Friday that recounted a secret struggle to punish the Kremlin for tampering with the 2016 election. According to Friday’s article, the move came some four months after a top-secret Central Intelligence Agency report detailed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s direct involvement in a hacking campaign aimed at disrupting or discrediting the presidential race. Friday’s report also said that intelligence captured Putin’s specific objective that the operation defeat or at least damage Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and help her Republican rival Donald Trump. The Washington Post  said its reports were based on accounts provided by more than three dozen current and former US officials in senior positions in government, most of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity. In the months that followed the August CIA report, 17 intelligence agencies confirmed with high confidence the Russian interference. After months of discussions with various advisors, Obama enacted a series of responses, including shutting down two Russian compounds, sanctioning nine Russian entities and individuals, and expelling 35 Russian diplomats from the US. All of those measures have been known for months. The  Post , citing unnamed US officials, said Obama also authorized a covert hacking program that involved the National Security Agency, the CIA, and the US Cyber Command. According to Friday’s report: Read 1 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Obama reportedly ordered implants to be deployed in key Russian networks

Fileless malware attack against US restaurants went undetected by most AV

Enlarge (credit: Carol Von Canon ) Researchers have detected a brazen attack on restaurants across the United States that uses a relatively new technique to keep its malware undetected by virtually all antivirus products on the market. Malicious code used in so-called fileless attacks resides almost entirely in computer memory, a feat that prevents it from leaving the kinds of traces that are spotted by traditional antivirus scanners. Once the sole province of state-sponsored spies casing the highest value targets , the in-memory techniques are becoming increasingly common in financially motivated hack attacks . They typically make use of commonly used administrative tools such as PowerShell, Metasploit, and Mimikatz, which feed a series of malicious commands to targeted computers. FIN7, an established hacking group with ties to the Carbanak Gang , is among the converts to this new technique, researchers from security firm Morphisec reported in a recently published blog post . The dynamic link library file it’s using to infect Windows computers in an ongoing attack on US restaurants would normally be detected by just about any AV program if the file was written to a hard drive. But because the file contents are piped into computer memory using PowerShell, it wasn’t visible to any of the 56 most widely used AV programs, according to a Virus Total query conducted earlier this month. Read 6 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Fileless malware attack against US restaurants went undetected by most AV

Apple pledges $1 billion to support manufacturing jobs in the US

Apple probably won’t start building iPhones and iPads in the United States any time soon , but CEO Tim Cook is happy to help other companies keep their manufacturing businesses stateside. Apple will pour $1 billion into a fund aimed at promoting advanced manufacturing jobs in the US, Cook announced on Mad Money today. “By doing that, we can be the ripple in the pond, ” Cook said. “Because if we can create many manufacturing jobs around, those manufacturing jobs create more jobs around them because you have a service industry that builds up around them.” Apple will announce the first beneficiary of its fund later in May. Cook touched on other areas of interest for Apple, including its intention to support programs that help train developers and get more people coding. Apple will announce details about this endeavor in the summer. “We’re really looking at this thing deeply, ” Cook said. “How do we grow our employee base? How do we grow the developer base? How do we grow manufacturing? You will see us bring things to market in all of those areas across this year.” One of President Donald Trump’s rallying cries during the campaign was the idea that he would bring manufacturing jobs back to the US. In early 2016, Trump said he’d force Apple to “build their damn computers in this country, ” though in reality there’s no teeth to such a threat and the company still assembles its gadgets abroad . Source: Mad Money

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Apple pledges $1 billion to support manufacturing jobs in the US

Apple pledges $1 billion to support manufacturing jobs in the US

Apple probably won’t start building iPhones and iPads in the United States any time soon , but CEO Tim Cook is happy to help other companies keep their manufacturing businesses stateside. Apple will pour $1 billion into a fund aimed at promoting advanced manufacturing jobs in the US, Cook announced on Mad Money today. “By doing that, we can be the ripple in the pond, ” Cook said. “Because if we can create many manufacturing jobs around, those manufacturing jobs create more jobs around them because you have a service industry that builds up around them.” Apple will announce the first beneficiary of its fund later in May. Cook touched on other areas of interest for Apple, including its intention to support programs that help train developers and get more people coding. Apple will announce details about this endeavor in the summer. “We’re really looking at this thing deeply, ” Cook said. “How do we grow our employee base? How do we grow the developer base? How do we grow manufacturing? You will see us bring things to market in all of those areas across this year.” One of President Donald Trump’s rallying cries during the campaign was the idea that he would bring manufacturing jobs back to the US. In early 2016, Trump said he’d force Apple to “build their damn computers in this country, ” though in reality there’s no teeth to such a threat and the company still assembles its gadgets abroad . Source: Mad Money

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Apple pledges $1 billion to support manufacturing jobs in the US

Apple pledges $1 billion to support manufacturing jobs in the US

Apple probably won’t start building iPhones and iPads in the United States any time soon , but CEO Tim Cook is happy to help other companies keep their manufacturing businesses stateside. Apple will pour $1 billion into a fund aimed at promoting advanced manufacturing jobs in the US, Cook announced on Mad Money today. “By doing that, we can be the ripple in the pond, ” Cook said. “Because if we can create many manufacturing jobs around, those manufacturing jobs create more jobs around them because you have a service industry that builds up around them.” Apple will announce the first beneficiary of its fund later in May. Cook touched on other areas of interest for Apple, including its intention to support programs that help train developers and get more people coding. Apple will announce details about this endeavor in the summer. “We’re really looking at this thing deeply, ” Cook said. “How do we grow our employee base? How do we grow the developer base? How do we grow manufacturing? You will see us bring things to market in all of those areas across this year.” One of President Donald Trump’s rallying cries during the campaign was the idea that he would bring manufacturing jobs back to the US. In early 2016, Trump said he’d force Apple to “build their damn computers in this country, ” though in reality there’s no teeth to such a threat and the company still assembles its gadgets abroad . Source: Mad Money

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Apple pledges $1 billion to support manufacturing jobs in the US