America's Justice Department and FBI teamed joined Finland's National Bureau of Investigation to arrest a teenager they say is part of one of the world's biggest cybercrime syndicates, reports Tom's Hardware. The "Scattered Spider" syndicate has extorted over $100 million in ransom payments, according to Department of Justice figures:
19-year-old Peter Stokes is a dual U.S.-Estonian citizen who was trying to board a flight to Japan from Helsinki, when law enforcement caught up with him. [T]he main criminal complaint against Stokes stems from a May 2025 attack on a luxury jewelry dealer based in the United States. The attackers apparently called the company's IT helpdesk using Google Voice, posing as employees. They were able to convince the help desk into resetting their credentials, which allowed them to infiltrate three accounts, two of which had admin privileges. From there, the group, allegedly including Stokes, stole important data and held the jeweler at ransom, demanding an $8 million payment in crypto. The company ultimately regained access to their infrastructure and avoided paying the ransom, but the operational disruption still caused a purported $2 million in losses. This served as the spark that led to Stokes' eventual arrest in Helsinki, as the prosecutors slowly followed the paper and digital trail laid by the attackers.
Microsoft played a key role in the process by providing GDID [Global Device Identifier] data to the FBI to help them apprehend the alleged criminal... [I]t's a unique identifier assigned to every Windows install that tracks device-specific telemetry. It's the reason why sometimes changing a major component in your PC can revoke your Windows license... [T]he court documents from the case reveal that Stokes used Windows, from which investigators were able to link his physical hardware to specific internet activity and locations... Stokes' web activity, videogame history, IP addresses, tool usage (including Ngrok), Azure status, and more were logged with timestamps, and were provided to the investigators by Microsoft...
Stokes was carrying two hard drives full of incriminating evidence with him when boarding his flight to Japan... His real identity has actually been known since 2024, but since he was a minor living across Estonia and the UAE at the time, he could only be monitored until the time was right.
The official criminal complaint even includes a selfie photo that Stokes posted on Snapchat (hiding his face behind dozens of hundred dollar bills). It then notes that behind Stokes the wallpaper, carpet, and furniture match New York's Empire Hotel — and that Stokes had visited the hotel's web site in Germany before then flying to New York...
"Following the arrest, Stokes was extradited to the U.S., where he appeared in front of a federal court in Chicago for the first time on June 30, 2026, and he remains in custody," adds Tom's Hardware.
"The accused is now awaiting trial, having been charged with conspiracy, cyber intrusion, and fraud..."
19-year-old Peter Stokes is a dual U.S.-Estonian citizen who was trying to board a flight to Japan from Helsinki, when law enforcement caught up with him. [T]he main criminal complaint against Stokes stems from a May 2025 attack on a luxury jewelry dealer based in the United States. The attackers apparently called the company's IT helpdesk using Google Voice, posing as employees. They were able to convince the help desk into resetting their credentials, which allowed them to infiltrate three accounts, two of which had admin privileges. From there, the group, allegedly including Stokes, stole important data and held the jeweler at ransom, demanding an $8 million payment in crypto. The company ultimately regained access to their infrastructure and avoided paying the ransom, but the operational disruption still caused a purported $2 million in losses. This served as the spark that led to Stokes' eventual arrest in Helsinki, as the prosecutors slowly followed the paper and digital trail laid by the attackers.
Microsoft played a key role in the process by providing GDID [Global Device Identifier] data to the FBI to help them apprehend the alleged criminal... [I]t's a unique identifier assigned to every Windows install that tracks device-specific telemetry. It's the reason why sometimes changing a major component in your PC can revoke your Windows license... [T]he court documents from the case reveal that Stokes used Windows, from which investigators were able to link his physical hardware to specific internet activity and locations... Stokes' web activity, videogame history, IP addresses, tool usage (including Ngrok), Azure status, and more were logged with timestamps, and were provided to the investigators by Microsoft...
Stokes was carrying two hard drives full of incriminating evidence with him when boarding his flight to Japan... His real identity has actually been known since 2024, but since he was a minor living across Estonia and the UAE at the time, he could only be monitored until the time was right.
The official criminal complaint even includes a selfie photo that Stokes posted on Snapchat (hiding his face behind dozens of hundred dollar bills). It then notes that behind Stokes the wallpaper, carpet, and furniture match New York's Empire Hotel — and that Stokes had visited the hotel's web site in Germany before then flying to New York...
"Following the arrest, Stokes was extradited to the U.S., where he appeared in front of a federal court in Chicago for the first time on June 30, 2026, and he remains in custody," adds Tom's Hardware.
"The accused is now awaiting trial, having been charged with conspiracy, cyber intrusion, and fraud..."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
‘God has been generous to me,’ says 41-year-old
Portugal face Spain in last 16 in Dallas on Monday
Twenty-three years, 232 games, 146 goals and six World Cups later, at 41, this really could be the end, and Cristiano Ronaldo will depart at peace. The day before potentially the final match of his extraordinary international career, the truth that everyone knew but Portugal’s captain had tried not to actually express, eventually came out. “This will be my last World Cup; God willing tomorrow is not my last game,” he said. And if it is, well, it is. If he has to go without lifting the only trophy to resist him, so be it.
“I’m not missing anything; God has been generous to me,” Ronaldo said. “I won’t be more Cristiano or less Cristiano if I win the World Cup or not.”
Continue reading...PERPIGNAN (ANP/AFP) - In het departement Pyrénées-Orientales, in het zuidoosten van Frankrijk, worden zo'n 10.000 inwoners geëvacueerd als gevolg van de natuurbranden in het gebied. Dat meldt de prefectuur op een persconferentie. Het vuur heeft al 1650 hectare verzwolgen.
Het gaat om bewoners van het stadje Ille-sur-Têt en van diverse gemeenten in het massief van de Aspres, in de buurt van Perpignan. Brandweerlieden noemen het bestrijden van de natuurbranden "zeer moeilijk". Volgens de prefect verloopt de evacuatie "geordend, naar prioriteit per geografische zone".
Op beelden van AFPTV zijn rookpluimen te zien boven het gebied. Canadair-blusvliegtuigen vliegen laag over het gebied. Auto's rijden met hun koplampen aan vanwege de slechte zichtbaarheid. Veel mensen dragen mondmaskers.
Ook op andere plaatsen in Frankrijk woeden branden, onder meer in de Gard, in de buurt van Carcassonne, waar naar verluidt 650 hectare is verbrand. De snelweg A9 is er afgesloten. In de Auvergne, bij Saint-Haon, is het treinverkeer stilgelegd vanwege natuurbranden, meldt de zender BFMTV.
CAÏRO (ANP/DPA) - Egypte heeft zondag zijn nieuwe militaire hoofdkwartier ceremonieel geopend. Het complex heet Octagon en bestaat uit acht gebouwen die een oppervlakte van bijna 90 vierkante kilometer bestrijken. Daardoor is het Pentagon in Washington niet langer het grootste militaire complex ter wereld.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi droeg voor de gelegenheid een militair uniform, voor het eerst in meer dan tien jaar. Hij beschreef het hoofdkwartier als het "bewijs van de wil van een natie die niets onmogelijk acht."
Het militaire complex is gelegen in de nieuwe administratieve hoofdstad van Egypte, simpelweg De Nieuwe Hoofdstad geheten, in de woestijn ten oosten van Caïro. De bouw kostte naar schatting 50 miljard euro, waarmee het een van de duurste projecten is sinds al-Sisi aan de macht kwam.
Economische crisis
Egypte bevindt zich in een economische crisis. De buitenlandse schuld is opgelopen tot 143 miljard euro.
Al-Sisi greep in 2013 de macht in het Noord-Afrikaanse land via een staatsgreep met steun van het leger.
Hey all. It’s Sunday afternoon of a holiday weekend and the weather is glorious here, so what better (worse) time to unleash a new feature on KDO? I’ve been working on a new wysiwyg comment editor for the past few days and it’s finally ready to go. Asking you folks to deal with HTML while leaving a comment was always a bit of a kludge, but now you can include links, blockquoted text, lists, and bold/italic text formatting in your comments and know exactly what it’s going to look like before posting.
You can try it out by sharing something worthwhile you’ve seen, heard, or learned recently. Feedback and bug reports welcome!!
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George Russell admits "I'm not going to fight for a championship if the performances continue like that", despite claiming his first podium in the British Grand Prix.
ART Grand Prix rookie Maciej Gladysz finished fourth on the road but inherited victory after multiple penalties elsewhere.
Following his podium at the British Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton faced the stewards post-race after being investigated for a yellow flag infringement.
America cannot serve as an example if its founding principles are discarded, writes Michael Beschloss.
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Kort verhaal lang: we hebben eigenlijk definitief de hoop verloren dat Nolans Oddysee een goede film gaat zijn. Onlangs de geweldige cast, is de casting van bepaalde (sleutel)rollen bedenkelijk: de transgender man (biologisch vrouw) Elliot Page als goddome ACHILLES, want die viel niet eens op vrouwen! En dan ook nog de Afrikaanse Lupita Nyong'o als Helena, en daarvan is eigenlijk het ergste dat ze gewoon niet mooi genoeg is om Helena te spelen, ongeacht haar huidskleur. Verder voelt elke trailer tot nu toe plat, alle personages plat, de kleuren te flets en de actie te generiek.
Gelukkig wekt onderstaande trailer van Werwulf aanzienlijk meer indruk. Geregisseerd door Robert Eggers, bekend van The Northman (een meesterwerk in zijn eigen genre van heel letterlijke mythologie-verfilming), The Lighthouse (zwartwitte kleinkunst) en Nosferatu (85% op Rotten Tomatoes).
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