Nintendo returns to Gamescom 2025 | News-in-brief Publisher skipped last year's event, will return in August following the launch of the Switch 2 Image credit: Nintendo News by Sophie McEvoy Staff Writer Published on May 20, 2025 This is a News-in-brief article, our short format linking to an official source for more information. Read more about this story by following the link below: Nintendo returns to Gamescom 2025

TechTarget and Informa Tech’s Digital Business Combine.TechTarget and InformaTechTarget and Informa Tech’s Digital Business Combine.Together, we power an unparalleled network of 220+ online properties covering 10,000+ granular topics, serving an audience of 50+ million professionals with original, objective content from trusted sources. We help you gain critical insights and make more informed decisions across your business priorities.Dungeons of Hinterberg publisher Curve Games acquired by Nazara TechnologiesDungeons of Hinterberg publisher Curve Games acquired by Nazara TechnologiesThe UK publisher will now operate under the umbrella of Indian esports and mobile game company Nazara.Chris Kerr, Senior Editor, NewsMay 20, 20251 Min ReadImage via Curve GamesDungeons of Hinterberg and Human Fall Flat publisher Curve Games has been acquired by Indian esports and mobile game company Nazara Technologies.Curve Games former parent company Catalis Group confirmed the deal in a post on Linkedin. The value of the transaction wasn't disclosed.UK-based Curve will continue to operate independently and will retain its office in London. All current employees and the Curve leadership team will remain with the company.Curve's in-house development studios in Brighton, UK, and Vancouver, Canada, have been included in the acquisition.Curve executive chairman Stuart Disney described the move as a "perfect fit" for the company. "We're joining a group that lives and breathes games and tech—including mobile, where we've barely scratched the surface," he added."With Nazara, we will build on our strengths across console and PC, staying true to our indie spirit. It's still about great games, great studios, and great players. Our next chapter starts here."Nazara CEO Nitish Mittersain said Curve was targeted because of its "proven publishing expertise" and strong track record of working with indie studios."This acquisition not only brings valuable IP, global market access, and a highly experienced team into our fold—it also reflects our broader strategy of doubling down on core gaming," he continued.Related:"We're committed to scaling high-quality game IPs, investing in new development, and supporting passionate indie creators as we build a global gaming powerhouse from India."Last year, Nazara unveiled a $100 million fund it said would be used to expand its footprint in development and publishing through mergers and acquisitions. It subsequently acquired UK studio Fusebox Games, which specializes in creating titles based on television properties. It has now added Curve to its growing portfolio. Read more about:M&AAbout the AuthorChris KerrSenior Editor, News, GameDeveloper.comGame Developer news editor Chris Kerr is an award-winning journalist and reporter with over a decade of experience in the game industry. His byline has appeared in notable print and digital publications including Edge, Stuff, Wireframe, International Business Times, and PocketGamer.biz. Throughout his career, Chris has covered major industry events including GDC, PAX Australia, Gamescom, Paris Games Week, and Develop Brighton. He has featured on the judging panel at The Develop Star Awards on multiple occasions and appeared on BBC Radio 5 Live to discuss breaking news.See more from Chris KerrDaily news, dev blogs, and stories from Game Developer straight to your inboxStay UpdatedYou May Also Like

Given the choice between paying more or watching ads, people are choosing ads. Ad-supported tiers are proving to be popular with streaming customers. New data from subscription analyst firm Antenna shows that 46 percent of Discovery Plus, Disney Plus, Hulu, HBO Max, Netflix, Paramount Plus, and Peacock subscribers in the US are paying for ad-supported plans, and that around 75 percent of subscribers have at least tried them. Many streaming services have ad-supported tiers  — HBO Max launched its $9.99 ad plan in 2021, followed by Netflix’s $6.99 and Disney Plus’s $7.99 plans in 2022, for example. But in its Q2 2025 State of Subscriptions report, Antenna notes that half of the big streaming platforms it analyzed didn’t offer an ad-supported plan two years ago, and only a third of subscriptions to services that did were for an ad plan. Comparatively, 71 percent of net subscriber additions over the last nine quarters have been driven by ad plans according to Antenna’s data, with no meaningful differences in demographic and loyalty compared to ad-free subscribers. It’s a win-win for streaming companies that can reap the benefits of both additional advertising revenue and growth from providing more affordable memberships. Antenna reports that 65 percent of users who had subscribed to ad-supported plans were completely new to the streaming service, with users who had switched from pricer ad-free tiers accounting for only 11 percent of subscriptions. Netflix’s ad tier has especially taken off, having doubled in subscribers over the last year. That success is emboldening the platform to start experimenting with its advertising model, with interactive and pause screen ads coming in 2026, and plans to blend AI ads into shows and movies in the future.

NBC Universal has released the final trailer for Jurassic World Rebirth, showing off key elements of the film as well as a good look at old and brand new dinosaurs.Jurassic World Rebirth, starring Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, and Mahershala Ali, sees an extraction team race to the most dangerous place on Earth, an island research facility for the original Jurassic Park inhabited by the worst of the worst that were left behind. It’s directed by Gareth Edwards (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) from a script by original Jurassic Park screenwriter David Koepp.PlayHere’s the official blurb:Five years after the events of Jurassic World Dominion, the planet’s ecology has proven largely inhospitable to dinosaurs. Those remaining exist in isolated equatorial environments with climates resembling the one in which they once thrived. The three most colossal creatures across land, sea and air within that tropical biosphere hold, in their DNA, the key to a drug that will bring miraculous life-saving benefits to humankind.Academy Award nominee Johansson plays skilled covert operations expert Zora Bennett, contracted to lead a skilled team on a top-secret mission to secure the genetic material. When Zora’s operation intersects with a civilian family whose boating expedition was capsized by marauding aquatic dinos, they all find themselves stranded on a forbidden island that had once housed an undisclosed research facility for Jurassic Park. There, in a terrain populated by dinosaurs of vastly different species, they come face-to-face with a sinister, shocking discovery that has been hidden from the world for decades.So, what do we see in this final trailer? Highlights include the river raft scene from Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park. In January, Koepp discussed a sequence from the first Jurassic Park novel that didn’t make it into 1993’s seminal Jurassic Park movie. Koepp said he re-read Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park novels to get back in the game, given there’s no source novel to draw on for this sequel. As a result, Koepp “did take some things from them,” and one of those things is a sequence from the first novel that went unused until now. “There was a sequence from the first novel that we’d always wanted in the original movie, but didn’t have room for,” Koepp revealed. "We were like, ‘Hey, we get to use that now.’ "Can a T-Rex swim? Yes, it turns out.Elsewhere, we get a look at a number of new dinosaurs, as well as a closer shot of the ‘D-Rex,’ officially named Distortus Rex. This is a new mutant dino created for Jurassic World Rebirth that’s a bit like a cross between a T-Rex and a Rancor from Star Wars. “It’s kind of like if the T-Rex was designed by H.R. Giger, and then that whole thing had sex with a Rancor,” Edwards told Empire earlier this month.This is the Distortus Rex, aka the D-Rex. Rancor vibes?Also in the trailer we see winged Mutadons, “a combination of a pterosaur and a Raptor,” Koepp has said.Jurassic Park always has a terrifying raptor scene. This time, there are Mutadons.Jurassic World Rebirth hits theaters July 2. For more, check out everything we know about Jurassic World Rebirth, and our biggest burning questions.Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Perhaps the most defining aspect of the Mission: Impossible movies during their Christopher McQuarrie era has been their spontaneity. Outside of a renewed emphasis on Buster Keaton-like daredevil stunt work, each Mission film since 2015’s Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation has been informed by the IMF characters onscreen, led by the indefatigable Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise), knowing the loose framework of what the job is and then figuring out all the hair-raising details as they run along. Behind the scenes, it’s been much the same for the cast and crew, who likewise discover the plot specifics and their characterizations in an environment that’s equal parts improvisation and manifest destiny. Hayley Atwell even reveals to us that it wasn’t until late into the process of making 2023’s Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning that she was told her character name. And it proved to be a profoundly moving moment for the actress. Cast as the biggest addition to the franchise canon over what might be the final two Mission flicks, Dead Reckoning and this week’s hotly anticipated Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, Atwell was no stranger to blockbuster work after her time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She also knows what it means to be part of an organic ensemble with a long history of working in the British theater. Nonetheless, it was a touching surprise when, well into production on this two-part finale, Atwell was informed her aloof and thieving foil to Cruise’s Hunt is called… Grace. “It was a beautiful moment because towards the end of the last movie, McQ and Tom came to christen me and christen the character, and they did it as a reveal,” Atwell remembers. “They just said, ‘We want to tell you we’ve come up with the name and the name is partly based on how we’ve seen you work and how you’ve been consistently over time, and over this filming and training period.’ And they said her name is Grace.” It is an intriguing revelation that dispels the fan theory that she was named after Grace Kelly in To Catch a Thief (after all, Rebecca Ferguson’s Ilsa was introduced in the one with Casablanca as a location). It also meant much to Atwell who right up until seeing the finished film at a premiere was unsure what version(s) of the character she played would be selected by writer-director McQuarrie in the editing bay. “I felt incredibly flattered and moved by that, because they felt that’s how I approached anything that was asked of me,” she says. “So I feel very proud that I showed up every day, not knowing what was going to happen. And also when I even watched the movie, I had no idea the version of Grace that they were going to choose and that they were going to edit through, because there’s no set script. So to what extent would she be an all-knowing calculated femme fatale, an ingenue, a wide-eyed idiot savant, a mysterious, enigmatic vulnerable, complex person?  What version of any little thing that I did would be put together to paint the portrait of who Grace ultimately was and how she fits into the world of it? So to be given that name was particularly meaningful for me.” It’s an illuminating story and says much about what Atwell brought to Dead Reckoning, as well as the now imminent Final Reckoning. Indeed, the new movie finds Grace in a very different place than the last film, with the master pickpocket agreeing to join the IMF and Ethan at the end of Dead Reckoning. When audiences catch up with her in Final Reckoning, like everything else in the movie, she is in a state of constant flux and movement—but now as Ethan’s teammate. “She’s like ‘oh no, you’ve made me care about you!’” Atwell laughs. “The cost of that is so great! Life was a lot easier when I didn’t care and I was just out for myself.” Yet having worked on and off in the world of Mission: Impossible for nearly five years now, Atwell feels like she truly understands what it’s like being part of the team. For instance, there was a day high above the snow line in Svalbard (Norwegian territory deep in the Arctic Circle) where the British actress looked around her to see a sun high in the sky and dogs pulling a sled beneath her feet. Something clicked. “It’s a beast, this kind of unquantifiable, unparalleled traveling circus of an adventure where anything could happen because anything can change at the last minute,” Atwell considers. “And so [because of] the maintenance and the training and the preparation and the drilling, I was able to do anything that happened to be asked of me on that day—whether it’s a sudden scene change or a sudden added action sequence that tried out different things that we ended up not putting in the movie, I know now what it takes and I think when we got to the Arctic, there was a sense of surrender, total surrender to the process of that, rather than figuring it out, trying to prove myself, or force anything.” There was also acceptance that when you’re on Mission, nothing ever truly ends. By her own estimate, Atwell must have wrapped The Final Reckoning 14 times over the last few years. The first couple instances were highly emotional moments, but she now smirks at how soon she’d be back in the thick of things, one way or another.  “It reminded me of when you meet up with someone and then you’re walking down the street and you say goodbye and you go your separate ways, but then you realize you’re going in the same direction so you have this awkward sense of a false goodbye,” says Atwell. Thus during her recent stint on the West End where Atwell played Shakespeare’s Beatrice opposite Tom Hiddleston’s Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing, Atwell even found herself spending her one day off in a London studio in a 10-meter tank doing Final Reckoning scenes. “Every time I wrapped on Mission… they’d say ‘and that’s a wrap!’ and I’d be like, ‘I’ll see you next week! Bye guys.’” Not that she is complaining, by her own admission Atwell has trouble saying farewell and savored every moment she was back in the team. Like Grace, they’ve made made her care. Join our mailing list Get the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox! Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning opens in theaters this Friday, May 23.

Country Living editors select each product featured. If you buy from a link, we may earn a commission. Why Trust Us?Last week I was reading one of my favorite design newsletters, Cathy and Garrett of The Grit And Polish, a pair of old-home renovators in Washington state. Cathy was sharing about shopping for window treatments, specifically the designer-beloved Chik blinds, for a rental renovation project. When the estimated price for the blinds didn’t come in at budget, instead of giving up, Cathy employed what she’s coined, “The 90% Rule.” I’ll let her explain:“Garrett and I have found that getting from 90% to 100%, design-wise, can be very expensive,” says Cathy. “And more often than not, we’re just as satisfied with the lower cost option.”Cathy ended up sourcing bamboo rollup blinds that, while not an exact match to the Chik blinds, are close enough to get the desired look without significantly breaking the budget. Cathy admits that, like all of us, she occasionally splurges, but “most of the time 90% feels like the right compromise between good design and reasonable budget.” Armed with a new catch phrase, I spent the weekend thinking of all the times I’m thankful to have settled on a “pretty good is good enough” way of thinking.In the Living RoomEllen GodfreyThe living room of my 1914 Craftsman is bright and cheerful with coffered ceilings and an original coal-burning fireplace with an inky green tile surround. I knew I wanted to do something to highlight the green tile, so when my friend and designer, Ellen Godfrey introduced me to Trustworth’s “Hydrangea” wallpaper it was love at first sight. It’s a whimsical, floral pattern that has similar green tones to my tile paired with muted yellows and dusty pinks. But without the budget to afford a full-room wallpaper install, I opted to apply the 90% rule and only wallpaper the fireplace bump out instead. I saved thousands of dollars on both the wallpaper and the installation fees, and, thanks to the room being mostly windows and door, I got 90% of the way to the look I was after. Seven years later and I’m still so glad I didn’t wait until I could afford to wallpaper the entire room. For More on Wallpaper:In the KitchenBecky-Luigart StaynerBecky Luigart-Stayner for Country LivingBecky Luigart-Stayner for Country LivingThe vision for my British-inspired kitchen renovation was always yellow, so nailing the perfect shade of warm sunshine was mission critical. Once my husband and I completed extensive swatch testing, lost a few nights of sleep, and polled a dozen of our most design-savvy friends it felt like a worthy splurge to go with our winner, Sudbury Yellow by Farrow & Ball instead of color-matching the yellow hue with a more affordable paint brand. However, another element on the vision board was a breakfast nook for our family of four to have a space to enjoy more casual meals and snacks together. With a tiny kitchen footprint that left no room for a built-in banquet and a budget that couldn’t handle more custom cabinetry, we once again decided to get 90% of the way there, opting for an antique pedestal table and a freestanding scalloped banquette-style bench upholstered in performance fabric. Again, we saved thousands of dollars in construction costs, and, in the end, got 90% of the way there in both form and function. For More on Kitchens & Breakfast Nooks:In the Kid’s RoomMaribeth Jones for Country LivingWhen our daughter Ruby was born we had to get serious about light control in the guest room that was getting twirled up into her nursery. The room has SEVEN windows. Seven! I think it was a sleeping porch in a past life, but I digress. I really wanted motorized linen shades from The Shade Store, like I’d seen in the beautiful Connecticut farmhouse of Debbie Propst. But with the aforementioned seven windows, they just weren’t in the budget. Once again, we employed the 90% rule and went with a more affordable line of motorized shades in a creamy linen that allowed us to get both the light filtering and ease we needed, while not sacrificing too much on the look we were after. If you squint they aaaalmost look like the luxe version from my original inspiration. For More On Window Treatments:So, whether you’re looking to do a full renovation or some minor decor swaps, let the 90% rule be your North Star. Cheers to good enough! Maribeth B JonesDesign DirectorMaribeth B Jones is the Design Director of Country Living where she creates seasonal content full of warmth and playfulness. When she’s not wrangling chickens for a cover shoot you can find her collecting vintage oil portraits or flipping pancakes in her sunny, yellow kitchen with her two chatty daughters.

Plenty of people take the advice "respect your elders" seriously, but Colordrunk Designs founder Jenna Gross lives by it. When she rebuilt, renovated, and designed her family's five-bedroom Atlanta home, her late grandparents' colorful residence was the driving force that inspired her. "I even had our pink front door custom-made to look just like my grandparents'," she admits. The rest of the foyer follows suit, with a boldly patterned area rug, colorful wallpaper, and cheerful paint. Color is the through line of the house's aesthetic, though using so many hues was not without its difficulties. "With so many spaces open to each other, it can be tough to make all the rooms flow—especially when you love as much color as I do," Gross says. "I spent a lot of time with the whole scheme laid out on the floor, making sure each room featured a color that flowed to the next."The foyer opens into the dining room, another space where pink is king and the family's forebears influenced the design. Here, a rather large oil portrait of her husband Caleb's great-aunt Vinny hangs on the back wall, giving the room an air of regality—and informing its color scheme. "I pulled the pink out of her dress and blasted it onto the ceiling and walls," Gross says. While the portrait is formal, the fuchsia is anything but. "With this fun and playful color, " she explains, "I wanted people to know that we do not take ourselves too seriously."The family room is painted a softer rose shade, but this home is not just a rhapsody in pink; other bold tints, like a canary yellow living break up the signature shade while keeping the energy high. "I have never been a 'yellow' person, but I was craving some exciting energy for that room," Gross explains. "The color draws you into a space that might not otherwise be used as much." There's no artistic ancestor involved here; Gross pulled "the brightest yellow" from a Manuel Canovas pattern on a banquette she already had and carried it over to the walls and ceiling to create what she calls "a fun, lively room that people gravitate toward."I wanted people to know that we do not take ourselves too seriously.The only room in the 4,000-square-foot home that isn't drenched in a bright color is the white kitchen, a spot that Gross kept serene and functional by design. "As much as I love color, I also love a white kitchen," Gross says. "It's where we cook, work, and play, and the white is such a good canvas for that." The exception is the custom tile backsplash in two shades of ocean blue, which Gross worked into every room of the house. "I picked those colors and used them in little doses to make the rooms flow easily," she explains.While a vibrant use of color obviously runs in the family, Gross is happy to report that she's seeing bold hues growing in popularity with her clients, too. "People are realizing that color makes you feel good! Even minimalists are embracing color, and all of my clients are asking for it," she says. "I am so happy to say that color is back—but did it ever really go away?"FAST FACTSJenna Gross, of Designer: Colordrunk DesignsLocation: Atlanta, GAThe Space:FAMILY ROOMGrasscloth textures hold their own against a riot of color.Emily FollowilWallcovering: Thibaut. Sofa: Jonathan Adler. Drapery: custom, in Schumacher fabric. Coffee table: Ballard Designs.Gross designed the wooden valance, a “nod to Hollywood Regency,” to soften the impact of 14-foot ceilings. LIVING ROOMA high-shine finish adds formality to bold color.Emily FollowilPaint: RAL 1018, Fine Paints of Europe. Chairs: vintage, in Kravet fabric. Art (above mantel): Evan Mooney expand=Gross used the same Manuel Canovas pattern she had upholstered on her banquette as insets for the walls, artfully connecting the room. BREAKFAST NOOKA caffeine-free spot to kickstart the day.Emily FollowilChandelier: Currey & Company. Chairs: Coley Home, in Schumacher fabric. Wallpaper: Brunschwig & Fils. Table: Jonathan Adler. Paint: Arsenic, Farrow & Ball.High-end artwork mixes with children’s creations on this eclectic gallery wall. DINING ROOMPink is the name of the game in this regal space.Emily FollowilPaint: RAL 4010, Fine Paints of Europe. Chandelier: Visual Comfort & Co. Table: Oly“Display the things you love, and let your home tell your family’s story,” says Gross, who showcases the heirloom china she and her husband inherited on custom shelves.KITCHENAnchored in white—but just as bold. Emily FollowilStools: Lee Industries, in Schumacher fabric. Pendants: The Urban Electric Co. Backsplash: custom, Renaissance Tile & Bath. Paint: Decorator’s White, Benjamin Moore.The everyday china is displayed on shelves. “Why hide it if you love it?” Gross asks. PRIMARY BEDROOMA masterclass in serene blues and purples.Emily FollowilWallcovering: Phillip Jeffries. Bed: Oly, in Schu­macher fabric. Nightstand and lamp: Worlds Away. Window treatments: Quadrille.Monogrammed bedding by JJA Custom Linens is “a nod to my traditional upbringing—but in a fun font with a lilac edge,” Gross says. KIDS' ROOMS Where animals roam free. Emily FollowilEmily Followil“The room has evolved since my now 14-year-old was a baby, but the personality and colors are the same,” Gross says. Wallpaper: Katie Kime. Drapery fabric: Schumacher. Desk and bed: Jonathan Adler. Headboard fabric: Thibaut.GUEST ROOMA custom-designed headboard stretches to the tall ceiling. Emily FollowilPaint: Pink Starburst, Benjamin Moore. Bed: custom, in Kravet fabric. Lamps: Jonathan Adler. Dresser: Oomph.“I designed the headboard to catch your eye and fill the space between the drapes,” says Gross, who drew a “whimsical shape inspired by a pagoda.”FOYERGross designed the front door to look exactly like that of her late grandparents'.Emily FollowilWallcovering: Carleton V Ltd. Console: Villa & House. Table lamp: Aerin. Rug: English Village Lane.In an homage to her grandparents’ home, Gross painted her front door a vibrant custom pink. MUDROOM"The stools are covered in one of my favorite patterns from my fabric line, Tipsi," says Gross.Emily FollowilPaint: St Giles Blue, Farrow & Ball. Pendant: Visual Comfort & Co. Ottomans: Society Social, in Tipsi fabric. Valance: Peter Fasano fabric, with Samuel & Sons trim.After school, Gross’s three kids stash backpacks and shoes within the custom cabinetry. Starbust cut-outs in the cabinetry provide ventilation and an extra dose of charm.About the DesignerJenna Gross founded her cleverly named full-service design firm back in 2013. Since then, Colordrunk Designs has been outfitting some of the country's most colorful and charming commercial and residential spaces, including her own home in Atlanta, Georgia, just a few short hours from where the designer grew up. She also founded a fabric line, dubbed Tipsi Home, inspired by her interiors' colorful nature.SHOP THE SPACEColey Home The Upholstered Teeny Dining Swivel$1,125 at coleyhome.comVisual Comfort & Co. Talia Large Chandelier$2,999 at visualcomfort.comCredit: Visual ComfortJonathan Adler Claridge 73" Apartment Sofa$3,900 at Jonathan AdlerCitrus Garden PillowNow 100% Off$17,576,006 $22 at schumacher.comCredit: Schumacher

Apple just announced the first new musical Peanuts special in more than three decades. The new instalment entitled ‘Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical’ will stream on Apple TV+ on July 18. The special hails from Apple’s deal with WildBrain, where TV+ is the streaming home of all classic Peanuts specials as well as new originals. A feature-length animated Snoopy movie is also currently in development. The new special coming in July celebrates the summer season, with Snoopy and the gang gathering around the campfire. Charlie Brown loves camping, but his favorite camp is shutting down. With it being his last year, he is determined to make it special. Meanwhile, Snoopy and Woodstock find a treasure map and embark on a wild adventure in the woods. They find valuable treasure, which they use to buy what they need to host a concert and save the camp’s future. The special features original music by Emmy award-winning composers Jeff Morrow and Ben Folds. Its release marks the first new Peanuts musical in 35 years. This year marks the 75th anniversary of Snoopy, and Apple TV+ has plenty of content to enjoy to commemorate the occasion. Recent original Peanuts releases include the series Camp Snoopy, Welcome Home Franklin, and One-of-a-Kind Marcie. Apple TV+ is also home to a feature documentary on Charles Schulz, creator of Charlie Brown. And of course, Apple TV+ also streams all the classic holiday specials too. Apple TV+ shows and movies: Everything to watch on Apple TV Plus Add 9to5Mac to your Google News feed.  FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.You’re reading 9to5Mac — experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

May 20, 2025Ravie LakshmananMalware / Cyber Espionage High-level government institutions in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Pakistan have emerged as the target of a new campaign orchestrated by a threat actor known as SideWinder. "The attackers used spear phishing emails paired with geofenced payloads to ensure that only victims in specific countries received the malicious content," Acronis researchers Santiago Pontiroli, Jozsef Gegeny, and Prakas Thevendaran said in a report shared with The Hacker News. The attack chains leverage spear-phishing lures as a starting point to activate the infection process and deploy a known malware referred to as StealerBot. It's worth pointing out that the modus operandi is consistent with recent SideWinder attacks documented by Kaspersky in March 2025. Some of the targets of the campaign, per Acronis, include Bangladesh's Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, Ministry of Defence, and Ministry of Finance; Pakistan's Directorate of Indigenous Technical Development; and Sri Lanka's Department of External Resources, Department of Treasury Operations, Ministry of Defence, and Central Bank. The attacks are characterized by the use of years-old remote code execution flaws in Microsoft Office (CVE-2017-0199 and CVE-2017-11882) as initial vectors to deploy malware capable of maintaining persistent access in government environments across South Asia. The malicious documents, when opened, trigger an exploit for CVE-2017-0199 to deliver next-stage payloads that are responsible for installing StealerBot by means of DLL side-loading techniques. One noteworthy tactic adopted by SideWinder is that the spear-phishing emails are coupled with geofenced payloads to ensure that only victims meeting the targeting criteria are served the malicious content. In the event the victim's IP address does not match, an empty RTF file is sent instead as a decoy. The malicious payload is an RTF file that weaponizes CVE-2017-11882, a memory corruption vulnerability in the Equation Editor, to launch a shellcode-based loader that runs the StealerBot malware. StealerBot, according to Kaspersky, is a .NET implant that's engineered to drop additional malware, launch a reverse shell, and collect a wide range of data from compromised hosts, including screenshots, keystrokes, passwords, and files. "SideWinder has demonstrated consistent activity over time, maintaining a steady pace of operations without prolonged inactivity — a pattern that reflects organizational continuity and sustained intent," the researchers said. "A closer analysis of their tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) reveals a high degree of control and precision, ensuring that malicious payloads are delivered only to carefully selected targets, and often only for a limited time." Found this article interesting? Follow us on Twitter  and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post. SHARE    

TRS-80, Commodore 64. Early PCs have laughable specifications by today’s standards, but they inspired a lot of creativity. Take Jacob Anderson, owner of Beyond Ordinary Software, for example. He started programming a Commodore 64 as a tween by building character management tools for his Dungeons and Dragons game. The Commodore 64 was an 8-bit machine with the Basic programming language built in. “I was 11 years old and very isolated in a small town, so I didn't really have any exposure to the outside world and everything that was happening with the whole personal computer revolution,” says Anderson. “My dad was the janitor at the middle school, so I helped him clean. One evening, he sat me down in a math classroom that had a Commodore 64-style environment, so I started playing Artillery Duel. I noticed a button on the keyboard called, ‘Run Stop,’ and if you hit that key, the program stops executing and becomes a terminal. I hit that key by accident and typed “list” and I saw all the source code. I instinctively understood everything.” His uncle subsequently helped his family buy a Commodore 64 and peripherals for Anderson, including a dot matrix printer. He became obsessed, spending nearly all his time programming. However, in high school, his progress slowed as he discovered girls and did the things high school kids do. When he went to college on a US Navy ROTC program scholarship at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), he discovered the program actually ran at The College of the Holy Cross in the evenings, which conflicted with his computer science schedule. Anderson chose to give up his three-year Navy scholarship to pursue a dual major in nuclear engineering and computer science. Since he had to figure out a way to pay for school, he got into the Science and Engineering Research Semester (SERS) program at Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Applied Theoretical Physics Division, which develops novel applications of theoretical physics.  Related:At the time, Los Alamos was retiring its punch card mainframes and adopting modern software development practices. That was significant because at the time, the legacy software had been written in very old Monte Carlo N-Particle Transport Code (MCNP).  When Anderson arrived for the SERS program, his advisor was John Hendricks, a Ph.D. nuclear engineer from MIT. Hendricks had Anderson running MCNP test problems to validate the physics that the problems were testing.  “I took the SERS program to complete my major qualifying project (MQP) at WPI, which was required for graduation. However, I felt that running test problems was a waste of time, so I voiced my concerns to my WPI advisor, John Mayer, and later to John Hendricks, who didn't appreciate my attitude,” says Anderson. “As a result, I planned to leave the SERS program and return to WPI to work on a different MQP.” Related:However, before Anderson could leave, Ken Van Riper, a Ph.D. astrophysicist from Cornell, met with him.  “[Ken] appreciated my perspective and offered me a project he was working on. I proposed developing a full GUI for it, and he let me take the lead. I stayed in the SERS program and completed the project, which became MUD—MCNP User Demonstration,” says Anderson. “MUD was a 3D graphics-based problem setup tool that could create MCNP input files, run MCNP and visualize the output as particle tracks. Nobody had previously developed a complete package with a simple ‘click the button’ approach. After I graduated from WPI, [Los Alamos] hired me as staff.” Next, he went to work at Bolt, Beranek and Newman (BBN), where he found himself working for the Department of Defense (DoD) again and PRAJA, a dot-com immersive experience company. It focused on 3D visualization tracking of people in complex environments. While at PRAJA, he was the project lead on FOX NFL GameTracker 2000 and PRAJA Football 99. After that, he founded Beyond Ordinary Consulting alongside corporate roles as President of AccessQuery, a web-based job search engine, and XPLive, a SaaS company. He also served as managing partner and later managing director of Totally Evil Entertainment. Related:Important Lesson CIOs Can Learn Vicariously One thing Anderson has learned along the way is that military personnel can benefit the tech industry. “Military personnel are often highly trained, but they're focused on a very unique niche, and they own that entire niche. Whatever their operational job was, they own it. And that’s somewhat unique, because in the [civilian world], most people take a job for a little while, and then they bounce. They're very scattered when it comes to their career choices,” says Anderson. “When you deal with technical people you want them well versed in their niche job. And that's where the DoD comes in very handy, because the people who get that role are going to know it inside, out and backwards. That’s one of the reasons why I wanted to hire DoD people.” Those who worked for the DoD are very regimented because they must adhere to certain policies and rules. “Military personnel understand the playing field and limitations. They’re good at limiting themselves, and they also understand large-scale systems on a worldwide scale,” says Anderson. “A defense department in any country is enormous, much larger than entities in the private sector. They know how to compartmentalize and manage complex systems. Most people have a really hard time compartmentalizing at a world scale.” However, he says cultural IQ is the most important thing CIOs and other organizational leaders must understand and use to their advantage.“Because the DoD is world scale, you get experience with different cultures, different people from different parts of the world. As a result, you must learn to understand individuals from their cultural point of view. Otherwise, you’re just going to be frustrated all the time,” says Anderson. “The military is the same. It’s important to understand the nuances and respect them so you can engage people more effectively. The military personnel who aren’t good at that wash out early. The ones that are really good at it rise.”