Apr 11, 2025The Hacker NewsCybercrime / Security Breach What are IABs? Initial Access Brokers (IABs) specialize in gaining unauthorized entry into computer systems and networks, then selling that access to other cybercriminals. This division of labor allows IABs to concentrate on their core expertise: exploiting vulnerabilities through methods like social engineering and brute-force attacks. By selling access, they significantly mitigate the risks associated with directly executing ransomware attacks or other complex operations. Instead, they capitalize on their skill in breaching networks, effectively streamlining the attack process for their clients. This business model enables IABs to operate with a lower profile and reduced risk, while still profiting from their technical skills. Operating primarily on dark web forums and underground markets, IABs can function independently or as part of larger organizations like Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) gangs. They act as a crucial link in the cybercrime ecosystem, providing the initial foothold needed for ransomware gangs, data thieves, and other malicious actors to carry out their operations. The pricing of their services is dependent on the target's size, the level of access granted, and the perceived value of the compromised system, typically conducted within the dark web. Why are IABs gaining steam? The rising prominence of Initial Access Brokers (IABs) is directly tied to their ability to streamline and accelerate ransomware operations, particularly Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) schemes. By handling the complex task of initial network infiltration, IABs allow ransomware groups to focus solely on data encryption and extortion, effectively scaling their attack capabilities. This efficiency is further amplified by the growing trend of IABs working directly for RaaS affiliates, enabling near-instantaneous attacks upon access procurement, eliminating the time-consuming process of establishing a foothold. This symbiotic relationship benefits both sides. RaaS groups gain speed and efficiency, while IABs secure a consistent stream of work, often bypassing the need for public advertising on dark web forums. This reduced visibility provides a layer of protection from law enforcement scrutiny, as their activities are less exposed compared to those operating on open marketplaces. This combination of increased operational efficiency for ransomware groups and reduced risk for IABs has fueled the rapid expansion and influence of IABs within the cyber crime ecosystem. Where are IABs focusing? In 2023, the business services sector was clearly the most targeted industry, although it is still in the top 3 in 2024 with 13% there is a much wider spread of industries being targeted. Whereas in 2023 the business services sector took up a whopping 29% of attacks, that number stood at just 13% in 2024. The same is true for the other industries showing diminished percentages. This could be due to IABs broadening the industries that they are targeting. As usual the USA is a prime target, for its economic and technological power making high value targets. Notably, Brazil and France secured the second and third spots respectively, indicating high value targets in both countries. To see what types of businesses are being targeted in more depth read our guide to IABs here. The Financial Motives of IABs The Initial Access Broker (IAB) market demonstrates a dynamic pricing structure, generally offering corporate access between $500 and $3,000. While 2023 saw an average listing price of $1,979, skewed by occasional high-value targets reaching tens of thousands of dollars, the median price remained significantly lower at $1,000, with a majority of listings below $3,000. In 2024, cybercriminals are increasingly targeting smaller victims. While they've generally lowered the prices for selling access to hacked systems, with 86% costing under $3,000, the average price has actually gone up to $2,047. This higher average is misleading because a few very expensive sales are skewing the number. As the chart shows, the vast majority (58%) of access deals now cost less than $1,000 – a big change from 2023. Furthermore, expensive access options are less common, now making up only 7% of what's for sale. This strategic price reduction, coupled with a decrease in high-value listings, suggests a change in IAB tactics. They are now focusing on volume, offering numerous lower-priced access points that, in aggregate, can yield substantial financial gains. Despite the lower individual prices, the sheer quantity of available access points poses a significant threat, potentially causing widespread damage and proving more lucrative than a smaller number of high-priced sales. This shift indicates an evolution in the IAB market, prioritizing accessibility and volume over individual high-value transactions. To see detailed information on the TTPs being used by IABs, read our guide here. What's next for IABs? The rise of Initial Access Brokers (IABs) is driven by a confluence of factors that enhance the efficiency and profitability of cyber crime. Their specialization in initial network infiltration allows ransomware groups and other malicious actors to focus on later stages of attacks, streamlining operations and increasing the scale of potential damage. The growing trend of direct collaboration between IABs and Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) affiliates further accelerates attack timelines, creating a more efficient and dangerous cyber criminal ecosystem. The evolution of IAB pricing strategies also reveals a significant shift in tactics. IABs are increasingly focusing on volume, offering numerous lower-priced access. This strategy maximizes potential financial gains by providing a wider range of attack vectors, making cyber crime more accessible and potentially more damaging. This shift, coupled with the reduced visibility afforded by operating outside of public dark web forums, provides IABs with a significant layer of protection from law enforcement. Looking ahead, we can expect IABs to continue playing a pivotal role in the cyber crime landscape. Their ability to provide readily available access points will likely fuel the growth of ransomware and other financially motivated attacks. The trend towards lower-priced, high-volume access sales suggests that smaller organizations, previously considered less attractive targets, will face increasing risk. Furthermore as IABs mature their tactics, and strengthen ties with RaaS affiliates, the speed and efficiency of cyber attacks will continue to increase. Therefore, proactive cyber security measures, including threat intelligence on up to date TTPs, continuous monitoring, and employee training, will become increasingly critical in mitigating the growing threat posed by IABs. For detailed insights into contemporary IAB tactics, including access types, privilege usage, and recommended protective measures, consult the comprehensive IAB guide or attend our talk at this year's RSA conference by Adi Bleih, Security Researcher titled Initial Access Brokers – A Deep Dive on April 30th at 2:25pm in HT-W09. You can add it to your schedule here. Found this article interesting? This article is a contributed piece from one of our valued partners. Follow us on Twitter  and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post. SHARE    

John Edwards, Technology Journalist & AuthorApril 11, 20255 Min ReadMikhail Reshetnikov via Alamy Stock PhotoEvery IT team seems to have one -- the member who's highly dedicated and talented, yet also something of a free spirit. Knowing how to tolerate and cater to this individual's unique needs without alienating other team members isn't a task generally covered in Management 101 courses for CIOs and IT leaders, yet it's essential in order to keep your team happy and productive. Instead of trying to fit a quirky team member into a rigid mold, work to understand what makes them tick and leverage that unique perspective, suggests Anbang Xu, founder of JoggAI, an AI-powered video platform, and a former senior product manager at Apple and senior software engineer at Google. It’s important to give these individuals space to thrive in their own way, while maintaining clear communication and setting expectations, he observes in an email interview. "By focusing on their strengths, I’ve found that they can bring innovative solutions and fresh ideas that would otherwise be overlooked." Embracing Uniqueness Embrace uniqueness while setting clear expectations, recommends Chetan Honnenahalli, engineering lead at software firm Hubspot and a former team leader at Meta, Zoom, and American Express. "Focus on their strengths and the value they bring to the team but establish boundaries to ensure their behavior doesn’t disrupt team dynamics or project goals," he says in an online interview. "Frequent one-on-one check-ins can help address potential concerns while reinforcing their contributions." Related:Balance respect for individuality with the needs of the team and organization. By valuing their quirks as part of their creative process, you'll foster a sense of belonging and loyalty, Honnenahalli says. "Clear boundaries and open communication will prevent potential misunderstandings, ensuring harmony within the team." Tolerance should depend on the impact of their behavior on team dynamics and project outcomes, Honnenahalli says. "Quirks that enhance creativity or problem-solving should be celebrated, but behaviors that cause disruptions, undermine morale, or create inefficiencies should be addressed promptly." Toleration Techniques Quirky behavior can become an issue if it interferes with the employee's ability to perform their work or if it disrupts fellow team members, says Matt Erhard, managing partner with professional search firm Summit Search Group, via email. "In these cases, the best approach is to have a one-on-one conversation with that employee," he advises. "Address the specific behaviors of concern and establish some expectations and boundaries about what is and isn't acceptable within the workplace." Related:Give the quirky team member strategies and guidelines to adapt their behavior within the workplace setting, Erhard recommends. "It should be made clear that you aren't criticizing or trying to change their personality but rather establishing rules about how they're expected to interact with their colleagues or customers when they're at work." As long as a maverick's behavior doesn't impede team collaboration, project deadlines, or morale, there’s room for individuality, Xu says. "The level of quirkiness you’re willing to tolerate is really a matter of balance," he states. "If their personality adds value without disrupting the team's harmony or performance, then it’s worth embracing." Team Impact Set team norms that allow for individuality while ensuring mutual respect and collaboration, Honnenahalli recommends. Address issues directly and constructively, ensuring open dialogue and fair resolutions. "Highlight how the individual’s quirks contribute positively to the team’s success, encouraging a culture of acceptance." Open communication is vital, Erhard says. "Talk to other team members about the issues they're having and why it's a concern for them." Facilitating a dialogue between the individuals can help both parties see each other’s perspectives. Related:When to Clamp Down Leaders should aim to channel quirkiness constructively rather than working to eliminate it. For instance, if a quirky habit is distracting or counterproductive, the team leader can guide the individual toward alternatives that achieve similar results without causing friction, Honnenahalli says. Avoid suppressing individuality unless it directly conflicts with professional responsibilities or team cohesion. Help the unconventional team member channel their quirks productively rather than trying to reduce them, Xu suggests. "This means offering support and guidance in ways that allow them to thrive within the structure of the team." Remember that quirks can often be a unique asset in problem-solving and innovation. Diverse Perspectives In IT, where innovation thrives on diverse perspectives, quirky team members often deliver creative solutions and unconventional thinking, Honnenahalli says. "Leaders who manage such individuals effectively can cultivate a culture of innovation and inclusivity, boosting morale and productivity." Every team needs a mix of personalities to excel, Xu observes. "The most innovative teams I’ve worked with had a variety of thinkers -- some more conventional, others quirky in their approach." It's the diversity in thinking that drives creativity and breakthroughs. "As leaders, it’s our responsibility to cultivate an environment where these differences are not only accepted but celebrated."About the AuthorJohn EdwardsTechnology Journalist & AuthorJohn Edwards is a veteran business technology journalist. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and numerous business and technology publications, including Computerworld, CFO Magazine, IBM Data Management Magazine, RFID Journal, and Electronic Design. He has also written columns for The Economist's Business Intelligence Unit and PricewaterhouseCoopers' Communications Direct. John has authored several books on business technology topics. His work began appearing online as early as 1983. Throughout the 1980s and 90s, he wrote daily news and feature articles for both the CompuServe and Prodigy online services. His "Behind the Screens" commentaries made him the world's first known professional blogger.See more from John EdwardsWebinarsMore WebinarsReportsMore ReportsNever Miss a Beat: Get a snapshot of the issues affecting the IT industry straight to your inbox.SIGN-UPYou May Also Like

About FilestageFilestage frees people from chaotic approval processes, making work more joyful and productive. From large enterprises to independent agencies, our review and approval platform helps teams share, discuss, and approve all their files, all in one place – including documents, designs, images, videos, and audio files.We're a fully remote team with people working in home offices, co-working spaces, and coffee shops all over the world. Together, we're on a mission to create a seamless approval process that helps people deliver their best work. We've raised our Series A and have over half a million users across 500+ companies, including AB InBev, LG, Havas, GroupM, and Emirates. So if you're looking for a fast-growing startup in a booming market, you've found it!What you’ll be working on as our SDR (North America)We’re looking for a Sales Development Representative to help expand our business in the American Market.This role is fully remote and can be based anywhere in the Americas working within EST.In your first year at Filestage, you will:🔍 Spot the right people – You’ll dig into accounts to find the perfect contacts that fit our ideal customer profile (ICP) and bring the highest potential value.📞 Pick up the phone – Cold calling is your superpower. With around 100 calls a day, you’ll be actively creating new opportunities and opening doors.💌 Go multi-channel – You won’t just stick to the phone. You’ll also use smart email sequences and social selling to connect with prospects in meaningful ways.💡 Spark interest – Through great conversations, you’ll uncover pain points and show prospects how we can help—setting up high-quality demo meetings for the sales team.🔄 Keep the flow smooth – You’ll ensure seamless handovers to AEs by clearly documenting your outreach and helping to keep the pipeline healthy and predictable.🧪 Experiment & improve – You’ll constantly test and tweak your outreach scripts and sequences to find what works best—and then double down.📈 Share what you learn – You’ll pass on insights to the Head of Sales, helping to refine our sales process and boost conversion rates across the board.🎯 Own your results – You’ll track your own KPIs, spot trends early (good or bad), and keep your manager in the loop so we can always stay one step ahead.Life at FilestageWe believe people are more productive when they can choose their own schedule. So we’re proud to offer fully-remote roles that give you the perfect balance between work and life.Here are some of the benefits you can look forward to at Filestage:Work from where you’re happiest and enjoy a flexible schedule. We’ve been fully remote from the start, giving you the opportunity to meet people all over the world and broaden your horizons.For this role, we’re looking for someone based in EST time zone to make sure there’s a high time overlap with our team members, customers, and partners.Meet up in real life. We all travel together at least once a year (in normal times) at our team retreat to have fun and get to know each other.Enjoy a strong team culture. We’re a group of knowledge seekers, reflective thinkers, clear communicators, goal owners, problem solvers, and team players. These are the values we strive for to help us achieve our mission.Join a happy team. We’ve been rated five stars on Glassdoor by our lovely team. You can take a look at our reviews here.Create a workspace that suits you. You’ll get a €1,500 budget for hardware, as well €500 for home office to buy whatever you need to do your best work – including a computer, webcam, or standing desk.Get 38 days of holiday. Plenty of time for city breaks, summer escapes, and everything in between. You’ll also get a half day on your birthday to give you a chance to celebrate!Volunteer/Charity Day.  Enjoy a Volunteer/Charity Day to support a cause close to your heart.Continue to grow and develop your career. We care about your development and want you to be able to learn new things! After six months in the company, you’ll get a budget to be able to use for personal development.Make your voice heard. We trust our team members to make the best decisions to achieve their goals, so you won’t have to put up with micromanagers here.Say goodbye to pointless meetings. We practice what we preach when it comes to productivity, so you can expect flat hierarchies, fast iterations, and no bullshit meetings.

For much of last year, about 2,500 US service members from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit sailed aboard three ships throughout the Pacific, conducting training exercises in the waters off South Korea, the Philippines, India, and Indonesia. At the same time, onboard the ships, an experiment was unfolding: The Marines in the unit responsible for sorting through foreign intelligence and making their superiors aware of possible local threats were for the first time using generative AI to do it, testing a leading AI tool the Pentagon has been funding. Two officers tell us that they used the new system to help scour thousands of pieces of open-source intelligence—nonclassified articles, reports, images, videos—collected in the various countries where they operated, and that it did so far faster than was possible with the old method of analyzing them manually. Captain Kristin Enzenauer, for instance, says she used large language models to translate and summarize foreign news sources, while Captain Will Lowdon used AI to help write the daily and weekly intelligence reports he provided to his commanders.  “We still need to validate the sources,” says Lowdon. But the unit’s commanders encouraged the use of large language models, he says, “because they provide a lot more efficiency during a dynamic situation.” The generative AI tools they used were built by the defense-tech company Vannevar Labs, which in November was granted a production contract worth up to $99 million by the Pentagon’s startup-oriented Defense Innovation Unit with the goal of bringing its intelligence tech to more military units. The company, founded in 2019 by veterans of the CIA and US intelligence community, joins the likes of Palantir, Anduril, and Scale AI as a major beneficiary of the US military’s embrace of artificial intelligence—not only for physical technologies like drones and autonomous vehicles but also for software that is revolutionizing how the Pentagon collects, manages, and interprets data for warfare and surveillance.  Though the US military has been developing computer vision models and similar AI tools, like those used in Project Maven, since 2017, the use of generative AI—tools that can engage in human-like conversation like those built by Vannevar Labs—represent a newer frontier. The company applies existing large language models, including some from OpenAI and Microsoft, and some bespoke ones of its own to troves of open-source intelligence the company has been collecting since 2021. The scale at which this data is collected is hard to comprehend (and a large part of what sets Vannevar’s products apart): terabytes of data in 80 different languages are hoovered every day in 180 countries. The company says it is able to analyze social media profiles and breach firewalls in countries like China to get hard-to-access information; it also uses nonclassified data that is difficult to get online (gathered by human operatives on the ground), as well as reports from physical sensors that covertly monitor radio waves to detect illegal shipping activities.  Vannevar then builds AI models to translate information, detect threats, and analyze political sentiment, with the results delivered through a chatbot interface that’s not unlike ChatGPT. The aim is to provide customers with critical information on topics as varied as international fentanyl supply chains and China’s efforts to secure rare earth minerals in the Philippines.  “Our real focus as a company,” says Scott Philips, Vannevar Labs’ chief technology officer, is to “collect data, make sense of that data, and help the US make good decisions.”  That approach is particularly appealing to the US intelligence apparatus because for years the world has been awash in more data than human analysts can possibly interpret—a problem that contributed to the 2003 founding of Palantir, a company now worth nearly $217 billion and known for its powerful and controversial tools, including a database that helps Immigration and Customs Enforcement search for and track information on undocumented immigrants.  In 2019, Vannevar saw an opportunity to use large language models, which were then new on the scene, as a novel solution to the data conundrum. The technology could enable AI not just to collect data but to actually talk through an analysis with someone interactively. Vannevar’s tools proved useful for the deployment in the Pacific, and Enzenauer and Lowdon say that while they were instructed to always double-check the AI’s work, they didn't find inaccuracies to be a significant issue. Enzenauer regularly used the tool to track any foreign news reports in which the unit’s exercises were mentioned and to perform sentiment analysis, detecting the emotions and opinions expressed in text. Judging whether a foreign news article reflects a threatening or friendly opinion toward the unit is a task that on previous deployments she had to do manually. “It was mostly by hand—researching, translating, coding, and analyzing the data,” she says. “It was definitely way more time-consuming than it was when using the AI.”  Still, Enzenauer and Lowdon say there were hiccups, some of which would affect most digital tools: The ships had spotty internet connections much of the time, limiting how quickly the AI model could synthesize foreign intelligence, especially if it involved photos or video.  With this first test completed, the unit’s commanding officer, Colonel Sean Dynan, said on a call with reporters in February that heavier use of generative AI was coming; this experiment was “the tip of the iceberg.”  This is indeed the direction that the entire US military is barreling toward at full speed. In December, the Pentagon said it will spend $100 million in the next two years on pilots specifically for generative AI applications. In addition to Vannevar, it’s also turning to Microsoft and Palantir, which are working together on AI models that would make use of classified data. (The US is of course not alone in this approach; notably, Israel has been using AI to sort through information and even generate lists of targets in its war in Gaza, a practice that has been widely criticized.) Perhaps unsurprisingly, plenty of people outside the Pentagon are warning about the potential risks of this plan, including Heidy Khlaaf, who is chief AI scientist at the AI Now Institute, a research organization, and has expertise in leading safety audits for AI-powered systems. She says this rush to incorporate generative AI into military decision-making ignores more foundational flaws of the technology: “We’re already aware of how LLMs are highly inaccurate, especially in the context of safety-critical applications that require precision.”  One particular use case that concerns her is sentiment analysis, which she argues is “a highly subjective metric that even humans would struggle to appropriately assess based on media alone.”  If AI perceives hostility toward US forces where a human analyst would not—or if the system misses hostility that is really there—the military could make an misinformed decision or escalate a situation unnecessarily. Sentiment analysis is indeed a task that AI has not perfected. Philips, the Vannevar CTO, says the company has built models specifically to judge whether an article is pro-US or not, but MIT Technology Review was not able to evaluate them.  Chris Mouton, a senior engineer for RAND, recently tested how well-suited generative AI is for the task. He evaluated leading models, including OpenAI’s GPT-4 and an older version of GPT fine-tuned to do such intelligence work, on how accurately they flagged foreign content as propaganda compared with human experts. “It’s hard,” he says, noting that AI struggled to identify more subtle types of propaganda. But he adds that the models could still be useful in lots of other analysis tasks.  Another limitation of Vannevar’s approach, Khlaaf says, is that the usefulness of open-source intelligence is debatable. Mouton says that open-source data can be “pretty extraordinary,” but Khlaaf points out that unlike classified intel gathered through reconnaissance or wiretaps, it is exposed to the open internet—making it far more susceptible to misinformation campaigns, bot networks, and deliberate manipulation, as the US Army has warned. For Mouton, the biggest open question now is whether these generative AI technologies will be simply one investigatory tool among many that analysts use—or whether they’ll produce the subjective analysis that’s relied upon and trusted in decision-making. “This is the central debate,” he says.  What everyone agrees is that AI models are accessible—you can just ask them a question about complex pieces of intelligence, and they’ll respond in plain language. But it’s still in dispute what imperfections will be acceptable in the name of efficiency. 

The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) has launched a series of lawsuits against firms involved in the refurbishment of Grenfell Tower. According to a report in the Financial Times, the local authority is pursuing £360m plus interest from suppliers, subcontractors and other companies. Seven companies are being sued, according to the report, including Arconic Architectural Products, Artelia Projects UK, Celotex, CEP Architectural Facades, Harley Facades, Rydon Maintenance, and Whirlpool (now known as Beko). Source: ShutterstockThe Grenfell fire killed 72 people in June 2017 In court documents cited by the newspaper, RBKC specified losses including property acquisition and renovation costs of £129m, housing and temporary accommodation expenses of £47m and employment and staff costs of £41m. Other costs referenced included £18m worth of hardship payments and £970,000 for fire marshals. A Kensington and Chelsea council spokesperson said: “We have issued legal proceedings against a number of companies, in line with the council’s ongoing commitment to ensure those parties pay a share of the costs incurred against the public purse.” The council’s lawsuits come after the publication of the Grenfell Inquiry phase 2 report last September. > Also read: MHCLG must take ‘clearer central role’ to fix remediation, says Clive Betts > Also read: How closely has the government followed the Grenfell Inquiry’s recommendations? The report blamed the fire, which resulted in the deaths of 72 people in June 2017, on decades of government failure, a slapdash construction culture and the dishonesty of building product manufacturers. The inquiry found that the choice of combustible materials for the cladding on the tower “resulted from a series of errors caused by the incompetence of the organisations and individuals involved in the refurbishment”. It also found that the borough had neglected resident concerns about the tower and that its building control department had failed to ensure compliance. All the firms involved in the suit have been contacted for comment.

What are the big moves that matter in domestic retrofit? Find out at our free webinar on 30 April Homes account for 14 per cent of the UK’s total carbon emissions, and the role that architects can play in demystifying whole house decarbonisation is a considerable opportunity for the profession. From advising on steps that can be made at scale, to ensuring improvements at an individual project level – whatever the residential retrofit you’re working on, there are consistent carbon saving measures that can add to up to make a real difference. Run in association with Fisher & Paykel, the webinar is taking place at 11am on Wednesday 30 April.Advertisement Through compelling case studies and expert input to help you advise your clients on their retrofit journey, topics will include: How to develop a whole house plan: from plan reconfiguration, to fabric improvements, to material and appliance specification How to use a detailed understanding of domestic energy demand to inform the design process – including getting homes off gas i.e. electrification and use of heat pumps Guidance and tools that can support decision making to reduce demand – including energy and water ratings and in-use carbon emission estimates Basic principles of material and product specification The future potential of the ‘connected’ home For the UK to meet its net zero targets, 29 million homes must be retrofitted by 2050. The UK Green Building council has called for retrofitting 19 million homes in the next decade. With practical insights that you can immediately share with your clients, and an opportunity to ask questions from our expert panel, we’ll explore and clarify the complex topic of domestic retrofit. Register for your free webinar place now. 2025-04-11 Richard Waite comment and share

Satellite internet is changing the way we get online. Here's how it works.

OpinionApril 11, 20254 min readGetting Rid of FEMA Will Bankrupt Small TownsIf the Trump administration successfully shutters FEMA, it will bankrupt small towns and force people to moveBy Jesse M. Keenan & Yuliya Panfil An aerial view of a neighborhood destroyed by the Camp Fire in Paradise, California on Nov. 15, 2018. Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times via Getty ImagesThe Trump administration is preparing to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the agency that leads the nation’s disaster response. We predict this move will have the unintended consequence of bankrupting some small towns and accelerating the relocation of people out of high-risk areas. Cutting off the post-disaster financial assistance that FEMA provides to states will drive up taxes, drive down services, and drive out residents and small businesses. This “climate doom loop” poses the very real risk of destroying small-town America.The number of billion-dollar disasters in the U.S. is increasing. A recent report says FEMA made a disaster declaration somewhere in the U.S. every four days, on average, in 2024. Disasters have displaced anywhere between one million and four million Americans per year in recent years; an estimated 20 percent of these people never return home. Some move in with family and friends, whereas others either cannot afford to return home or they have nothing left to lose by moving elsewhere in the search for a better life.Then there are significant challenges for local governments associated with accommodating displaced households, whether individuals or families. They must extend resources to accommodate new students in schools and manage crowding-out pressures associated with rapid inflation in home prices and rents. From Chico, Calif., to Orlando, Fla., cities where people have relocated after disasters have faced significant pressures from the influx. After the 2018 Camp Fire all but destroyed the town of Paradise, Calif., 20,000 people moved to Chico. The sudden relocation caused a 21 percent spike in housing prices and triggered a homelessness surge that the city still struggles with seven years later. Disasters are not just local events.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.A Camp Fire evacuee pushes a shopping cart with donated items in Chico, California, on Thursday, Nov. 15, 2018.David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesEven California, with one of the largest economies in the world, cannot afford individual assistance grants that shelter and feed its own residents. The state most certainly cannot afford to replace the federal public assistance dollars that repair and replace the basic infrastructure for turning on the lights and flushing the toilets. Without FEMA’s financial support, state and local governments will be forced to borrow more money, increase taxes and even privatize public infrastructure. Many small towns will be forced to scale back critical services, including closing schools, libraries, parks and solid waste facilities, because they are limited in how much money they can borrow and how much they can tax residents.Increased taxes and utility bills on top of skyrocketing insurance costs are already pushing people to move. The situation is so dire with natural disasters and spiraling insurance costs in Louisiana that Moody’s Investor Service is concerned that the ongoing and projected loss of working-age people represents a material credit risk for the state. Even wealthy states such as Florida face significant credit risks without FEMA’s financial assistance, particularly as tax rolls shrink with waning property values in high-risk counties. Florida is only a few catastrophic hurricanes away from an income tax, which would have a chilling impact on its population growth. Florida already experiences more deaths than births, and its future is entirely reliant on people moving to the Sunshine State.Natural hazards and climate-attributed extreme events are wrecking havoc on communities and local economies across the Sun Belt. People initially moved there for warm weather, but the real reason for the region’s growth since the 1990s has been centered on the readily available supply of affordable housing. Recent research has even found evidence that some people are beginning to move away from the Sunbelt, particularly retirees and younger households who are rethinking where they want to plant their roots in the long term. These people are sensitive to the unexpected costs of disasters and insurance eating into their hard-earned wealth just as they are attempting to retire or build families. When people move, they take their tax revenue with them.The cost of living will no doubt continue to increase in higher-risk areas across the Sunbelt and beyond, and without FEMA those costs will skyrocket. FEMA does not just help coordinate recovery. The agency also invests in risk-reduction infrastructure, and it sets rules that offer predictability and keep costs down for insurance policies and mortgages. FEMA also provides grants and affordable loans for infrastructure projects that keep schools safe and hospitals accessible for tens of millions of American households. Without FEMA, municipal bond and mortgage investors on Wall Street will decide who gets to rebuild and who gets left behind.Those local governments that do begin the long process of rebuilding will still face the erosion of both their local population and their economy. The costs of debris removal, toxic cleanup and infrastructure recovery are so significant that one in five county governments impacted by disasters have to borrow money and implement public funding cuts while they wait for FEMA assistance. These events drain so much cash that even the City of Los Angeles faced a negative credit outlook from its credit rating agency after recent wildfires, meaning there was concern about the city’s ability to meet financial obligations.For some small towns and counties, the only path forward might be to default on their debt and to file for bankruptcy. After the Camp Fire, Paradise’s redevelopment agency eventually defaulted on their debt in 2023. Research tells us that FEMA’s post-disaster aid plays a major role in preventing widespread bond defaults. By the same token, municipal bankruptcy after disasters is nothing new. Galveston, Tex., filed for bankruptcy after a major hurricane in 1900. Bankruptcy would have the perverse effect of driving up the cost of living and driving away residents and small businesses. Many small towns face the prospects of being wiped off the map—physically and economically.The Trump administration and Congress should reform and invest in FEMA if they are serious about taming inflation, promoting working class households and shrinking government. They should invest in FEMA’s capacity to help preserve the communities and small towns that define the American experience. It is one thing to rename places on maps, but it is another to erase the places that people call home.This is an opinion and analysis article, and the views expressed by the author or authors are not necessarily those of Scientific American.

GAME auctions fixtures and fittings as head office and warehouse shut down Pick up a GTA San Andreas poster, football table or combi oven. Image credit: GAME / Eurogamer News by Tom Phillips Editor-in-Chief Published on April 11, 2025 Beleagured high street chain GAME has begun auctioning off the fixtures and fittings from its Basingstoke head office and main warehouse, following the site's recent closure as part of the company's continued assimilation by its parent firm. Eurogamer first reported on the closure of GAME's headquarters earlier this week, with the expectation of job losses. The move is yet another step in the brand's demise as its own entity, as it becomes just another arm of the Frasers Group, which also owns House of Fraser and Sports Direct. GAME's Basingstoke facility had served as its headquarters for more than two decades. Now, dozens of office and kitchen items, warehouse equipment and a few more unusual oddities are all up for auction on bidding site NCM Auctions. Items listed include a shopfloor pirate ship display unit for products from TY, the maker of Beanie Babies. That's currently going for £40. Alternatively, you can buy the company's breakroom football table for £120, or a perspex-fronted poster of CJ from Grand Theft Auto San Andreas for £30. Several of the photos give a glimpse behind the scenes in the Basinstoke office - at its board rooms, where decisions like the one to sell Pokémon cards for almost triple the price, were presumably made. One meeting area has a poster for Destiny 2 expansion Forsaken on the wall. Another small room has a wall decorated with a mural of Nintendo characters. The downside? The items are all collection only, so you'll need to be in Basingstoke yourself later this month to pick them up. Suddenly GAME's oversized £10.99 delivery price for those Pokémon cards doesn't seem so bad. While GAME's brand still exists, it has largely been reduced nationwide to a concession area within other Frasers Group stores - typically in Sports Direct. The changes have meant the loss of hundreds of dedicated GAME staff, a continued shift towards GAME's focus of selling toys, and a loss of all the chain's previous customer programmes. As Eurogamer previously reported, you won't be able to pre-order a Switch 2 in-store at GAME. Indeed, Eurogamer has been told by GAME staff that in-store pre-orders will now no longer offered for any item, despite outdated messaging on the company's website saying otherwise. Last year, Eurogamer reported on GAME's various ongoing issues as it is further integrated into Sports Direct's Fraser Group, and suffers store closures, redundancies, and stock problems.

You can trust VideoGamer. Our team of gaming experts spend hours testing and reviewing the latest games, to ensure you're reading the most comprehensive guide possible. Rest assured, all imagery and advice is unique and original. Check out how we test and review games here Civilization 7 makes some rather huge and controversial changes to the Civ formula. With a focus on a new narrative system, the latest Civilization game’s major changes were inspired by an underrated Warhammer 40K strategy game.  Speaking at the 2025 Game Developers Conference, via GamesRadar, Civilization 7 narrative designer Cat Manning explained that the team looked to a bunch of other strategy games for inspiration, including Warhammer 40K: Chaos Gate.  Civilization 7 was inspired by Warhammer 40K Chaos Gate  At the GDC panel, Manning explained that the new Civ game looked at other strategy games that did narratives right. Alongside titles like FTL and BattleTech, Warhammer 40K: Chaos Gate was the key point of inspiration.  “There’s a long history of successful narrative systems in strategy games, particularly when they’re tied pretty closely to the game’s mechanics…Warhammer 40k: Chaos Gate was a huge touch point as we were beginning to talk about what the system could look like,” Manning said.  Even with all of this inspiration, it was still incredibly challenging to make every other system in Civilization 7 talk to the narrative system. After all, in a great strategy game, everything is interconnected and everything plays together. “The way all of Civ’s basic systems run is that the game sends signals to other parts of the game,” Manning said. “It’s just kind of this constant back and forth. If you purchase, say, a unit with gold, you might immediately get a narrative event tied to that unit. And that’s because the system is just always in the background listening.” Civilization 7 hasn’t released to great acclaim, but there’s still years of improvements coming… just like every Civ game. Nevertheless, it’s interesting to see just what inspired the developer to make such sweeping changes to the Civ formula.  For more Warhammer coverage, read about the upcoming Space Marine 3 game in development at Saber Interactive.  Related Topics Subscribe to our newsletters! By subscribing, you agree to our Privacy Policy and may receive occasional deal communications; you can unsubscribe anytime. Share