SummaryThe Xbox Year in Review is back!Unlock your personalized Xbox stats from 2024.Discover your most-played game, celebrate your greatest achievements, and more.The Xbox Year in Review is back, and its packed with your most memorable moments of the year. Your personal look back at gaming has returned with brand new features embark on a journey to relive your victories and unforgettable gaming feats.Get a deep dive into your gaming style with personalized data. Access stats like your total time played, total achievements, top genres played, top gameplay month, and more! You can even see what your top 3 most-played games were, and your stats within those games.New for 2024This year, weve added some exciting new features to make your Year in Review even more personal to you:A customized look based on your most-played game.A personalized gamer profile just for you, based on the games you love to play! If youre into epic quests with a sprinkle of magic, youre a Knight Owl. More of a sports champ? Youre a Real MVP, always leading the pack.Multiplayer fans can see the friends they played with most.Dedicated recap sections for Game Pass and Rewards.Brag a LittleOnce youve explored your Year in Review, we bet youll want to show it off. Share your results with a single click (on mobile) and give your followers a glimpse into your gaming prowess.How to Access Your Xbox Year in ReviewHead over to www.Xbox.com/YearinReviewLog in to your Xbox account to access your personalized 2024 gaming journey.Dive into the trends that shaped your gaming experience.Bask in the glory.Share it with friends and celebrate your year!Dont miss out! Your 2024 Year in Review is not just a recap, its a celebration of your gaming journey and were so happy youre here.Visit www.Xbox.com/YearinReview to log in and let the adventure begin. Want to see some of our favorite memories from 2024? Check out our recap here: www.Xbox.com/2024recapThe Xbox Year in Review is available in select markets and will be available until January 31, 2025.

Jump to:Whether youre listing your home for sale and relocating to another state or packing up because you found a cute new rental in a nearby city, youre probably curious: How much does it cost to move? Many factors can determine the final moving cost billeverything from the distance of the move and how much stuff you have to whether youll need to get a storage unit for a period in between your move. Once youve determined what types of services youll want to be included in your movewill you be packing up boxes yourself or would you rather hire someone?then you can start calling around for quotes. Using a moving calculator can also help you tally up some of the expenses of moving and give you a ballpark figure of costs. But to get some solid estimates plus budget-saving moving tips, we reached out to Matt Graber, who has 15 years of experience in the industry and is the co-owner of Cool Hand Movers, a top-rated moving company in New York City. Ahead, Graber shares estimates for how much it costs to move between regions, states, and across the country as well as the add-on services that can make your move much easier (but may also tack on some additional costs). Here's what to know.Related StoriesHow Much Does It Cost to Move? svetikd//Getty ImagesThe distance of your move is one of the biggest factors that determines the cost of your move. Moving prices also vary based on the region (New York City moving rates, for instance, are generally higher than in upstate New York), the size of the move, and whether or not packing materials and services are included. Moving specialty items like a piano or a vehicle will also increase the cost. (Grand pianos can cost up to $500 to move even locally, which may explain why you see so many of them for free on sites like Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace!) A local move could cost between $500 to $3,000.Interstate moving prices vary by the total distance between locationsits a much longer stretch between say, Oregon and Southern California than it is between some Northeastern states. For interstate moves between 500 and 1,000 miles, expect to pay anywhere from $1,300 to $8,000 depending on the size of your move and the region you live in. For moves across regions, such as New York City to Chicago, prices will range from $5,000 to $10,000 in most cases. If youre embarking on a cross-country move, expect to pay roughly $10,000 to $15,000.The cost to move internationally depends on where youre moving and how much youll be taking with you. A relocation specialist familiar with your move can help you budget more precisely, but these moves can cost anywhere from $5,000 if youre planning a light move and starting over in a new country to $20,000 and up if youre moving a bunch of your household items and furniture. International moving costs vary widely depending on how your items are shipped and whether you work with local teams at either end of the move.No matter the distance of your move, some costs that might push your move to the higher end of these estimates include additional services like box-packing, crating, disassembling and reassembling furniture, unpacking services, and disposing of items you dont plan to keep.When you call to get a quote, be sure to ask for it to include all the services you want and none that you plan to handle on your own so that you can more accurately compare the quotes.Related StoryWhat Costs Should You Budget for When You Move?When hiring professional movers, expect hourly rates beginning at $65 per mover per hour. Most hourly rates come with a two-hour minimum and a travel fee. Flat rates for moving services can go from $400 to about $10,000, depending on the size of the move and the locations involved.For a self-move, you should budget $500 to $800 for truck rental, packing supplies, and gas, but this, of course, can depend on the distance and size of the move. Rates can increase significantly if you require a larger truck and you're moving to a destination in another state.You may also need to factor in time off of work and renting equipment like a dolly. (You can also purchase a dolly; a two-pack costs about $35 while hand trucks range from about $45 to $200).If you're planning to move in 2025, know that impending tariffs may also affect the costs of moving equipment, vehicles, and vehicle parts required for maintenance. Moving companies will need to raise costs to cover these fees.Related StoryWhat Types of Services Can You Add to Make a Move Easier?Whether youre buying a new home (and selling an existing one) or signing a new lease, moving can be stressful. Here are some services that you can add on to help a move go smoother and save yourself some time. Packing services: $10 to $20 per boxDisassembly and reassembly: The costs will depend on the furniture; a bed and frame could cost between $75 to $300 depending on the type of frame and how many pieces it has.Unpacking services: $5-10 per box that the movers unpack.Junk removal: $50 to $150 per furniture item.Floor protection: $10 per square footStorage unit: starting at $100 a monthRelated StoryShould You Get Moving Insurance?Oscar Wong//Getty ImagesMoving insurance can help you recoup some of your costs should your items become damaged in a move. But is splurging on a more comprehensive plan worth it? First things first, the Department of Transportation requires all movers to provide something called released value coverage. This standard moving insurance, also called basic carrier liability, is a mere 30 to 60 cents per pound per article based on federal and state laws. That means if an expensive item like a Frame TV is broken while in transit, a moving company is only responsible for covering 30 to 60 cents per pound the TV weighs. Or, to put it another way, the most youd compensated on a damaged 100-pound piece of furniture is $60.Moving some expensive items and not comfortable with the standard coverage? You can purchase additional insurance. Full Value Protection: This type of insurance puts the moving company on the hook for items lost or damaged during a move. Your mover will offer to repair the item, replace it with a similar item, or make a cash settlement to cover the repair or the current market value of the item. Movers can limit what items fall under this policy, limiting it to applying only to extraordinary value items that cost at least $100 per poundso this type of insurance wouldnt fully cover replacing something like bar stools, but could apply to fine art. Expect to pay between 1 to 2 percent of the propertys value for this category of insurance.Third-Party Insurance: Opting for a third-party insurance plan for your move will likely provide the most comprehensive coverage, and it may be a good option for those who are moving some expensive items or valuable antiques. These plans vary and have different levels of coverage limits. Expect to pay about 2 to 5 percent of the value of the items youre covering. Tip: Always read the fine print when reviewing moving insurance policies.Related StoryHow to Save on Your Next MoveThe best tip to save on your move? Take less stuff with you! Purging unnecessary, underutilized items ahead of the move can help you scale down on moving costs.If you have some flexibility in your move date, services are usually cheaper in the winter and toward the middle of every month. There is higher demand and, thus, higher rates at the very end and very beginning of the month (when leases start and end) as well as in the spring and summer, which is a busy homebuying season.If youre moving for a job, your employer may provide a relocation package or even fully cover your moving expenses. If your company is reimbursing you for your move costs, ask for the tip to be included on the bill versus handled in cash. You can also request an itemized receipt if your employer requires one.Related StoryHow Can You Get the Most Accurate Quote?If you're considering hiring a moving company, you should get a comprehensive quote in writing; dont just provide an inventory and book a move over the phone. Take the time to read the moving companys terms and conditions. Find out what the potential additional fees are.Ask how the price will change if the move is larger than anticipated. When a company provides a flat rate with very little detail about the move, that rate is likely to change.Also, dont try to save by going with the lowest quote. Companies may cut corners with their equipment, labor, or insurance to offer impossibly low pricing. Any of those can come back to haunt a client.Related StoryWhat Moving Scams Should You Look Out For?To avoid scams and identify red flags, always read reviews and sort by most recent. Most companies that don't take care of clients are repeat offenders, and themes will pop up in reviews. Increasing the job price before unloading the truck, making clients pay for parking tickets, or ghosting when a client reports damages are huge red flags.If you're working with a van line, ask which specific company will be handling your move and check their reviews, not just the reviews of the parent van line. Typically, companies with fewer than four stars on major review sites are likely not delivering consistent quality to their customers, and they probably dont provide adequate resolutions when things go wrong. Finally, having very few reviews despite being in business for a long time may indicate that the company has created new pages to shed a bad reputation.Follow House Beautiful on Instagram and TikTok.Expert consulted:Matt GraberMoving Industry ExpertMatt Graber owns and manages Cool Hand Movers with his wife, Ashley, in New York City. Over the last 15 years, Graber has grown Cool Hand Movers from a man-with-a-van operation to an industry leader in one of the country's most competitive moving markets. Graber believes that the best moves happen when there is transparency between clients, movers, and move managers.

UK startup PhysicsX, founded by former Formula 1 engineering whizz Robin Dr. Rob Tuluie, has unveiled an AI tool that could fast-track the time it takes to design a new aircraft from months to just a few days.Dubbed LGM-Aero, the software creates new designs for aeroplanes. Using advanced algorithms trained on more than 25 million geometries, the model predicts lift, drag, stability, structural stress and other attributes for each shape. It then tailors the design according to what you want your plane to do.PhysicsX said the AI is the first-ever Large Geometry Model (LGM) for aerospace engineering. A barebones version of the model, Ai.rplane, is also accessible free of charge.This is a first step in transforming the way engineering is practised in advanced industries [like automotive, aerospace, and manufacturing], said Tuluie, founder and chairman of PhysicsX.I WANT THE BEST DEALOver time, we will bring new capabilities to LGM-Aero and Ai.rplane, allowing users to select powertrains, add controls and further content to reach mature designs in days rather than months or years, he said. Tuluie wasnt always an entrepreneur. For the first half of his life, he worked alongside Nobel Prize winners as an astrophysicist. Then, at 41, he entered the F1 scene where he devised designs that helped Renault, and later Mercedes, win four Formula One world championships between them.In 2019, Tuluie founded PhysicsX alongside Jacomo Corbo, a Harvard-educated engineer who ran McKinseys AI lab. Together, the duo have assembled a 50-strong team of some of the worlds top minds in data science, AI, and machine learning.PhysicsX, based in London, emerged from stealth in November 2023 with 30mn in funding. The company is on a mission to reimagine simulation for science and engineering using AI in sectors such as automotive, aerospace, and manufacturing.PhysicsX says it is looking to help engineers better anticipate design bottlenecks, such as the drag of a new aeroplane or car design before they set out on building a physical prototype saving them time and money. Its software acts like a supercharged wind tunnel for ideas.In the same way that large language models understand text, Ai.rplane has a vast knowledge of the shapes and structures that are important to aerospace engineering, explained Corbo.The technology can optimise across multiple types of physics in seconds, many orders of magnitude faster than numerical simulation, and at the same level of accuracy.Corbo called LGM-Aero an important stepping stone towards developing physics foundation models. These are AI systems designed to simulate and solve complex physical problems by learning patterns from data and physical laws.Applying AI to complex scientific problems is gaining traction. In 2020, Google Deepminds Alphafold model famously cracked a puzzle in protein biology that had confounded scientists for centuries. The discovery has accelerated research in drug discovery, molecular biology, and bioengineering.Other companies, like Dutch scaleup VSParticle, are using algorithms to fastrack the discovery and synthesis of potentially game-changing materials.While the applications of AI in science may differ from discipline to discipline, the benefits are shared: artificial intelligence can supercharge scientific discovery by analysing data, simulating complex systems, and uncovering insights faster than humans ever could.So AI isnt all about asking ChatGPT what to eat for dinner? No, dear reader, its a actually pretty big deal. Story by Sin Geschwindt Sin is a climate and energy reporter at TNW. From nuclear fusion to escooters, he covers the length and breadth of Europe's clean tech ecos (show all) Sin is a climate and energy reporter at TNW. From nuclear fusion to escooters, he covers the length and breadth of Europe's clean tech ecosystem. He's happiest sourcing a scoop, investigating the impact of emerging technologies, and even putting them to the test. Sin has five years journalism experience and holds a dual degree in media and environmental science from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Get the TNW newsletterGet the most important tech news in your inbox each week.Also tagged with

Microsofts cloud ambitions just hit a major snag in the UK. The tech giant is facing a 1bn ($1.27 billion) lawsuit over how it licenses software to customers using rival cloud platforms.Filed in the UKs Competition Appeal Tribunal by Scott+Scott, the lawsuit accuses Microsoft of punishing businesses for choosing competitors like Google Cloud, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Alibaba over its Azure platform.Heres the gist: if youre using Microsofts Windows Server but prefer another cloud provider, youre allegedly stuck with higher costs. Maria Luisa Stasi, the lead claimant, argues this forces UK businesses into Azures arms and stifles competition. Backed by litigation funder LCM Funding, the case claims Microsofts pricing practices exploit its dominance in operating systems.Put simply, Microsoft is punishing UK businesses and organisations for using Google, Amazon and Alibaba for cloud computing by forcing them to pay more money for Windows Server, Stasi, who is head of law and policy for digital rights advocacy group Article19, told CNBC.I WANT THE BEST DEALBy doing so, Microsoft is trying to force customers into using its cloud computing service Azure and restricting competition in the sector.AWS and Google have already flagged Microsofts licensing policies to UK regulators, spurring an ongoing investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) into the public cloud sector.Microsoft, for its part, insists the industry is fiercely competitive and points to Googles growing cloud muscle as proof.Microsoft has not yet responded to our request for comment.Big tech under the microscopeMicrosofts legal headaches arent just about the cloud. In June, the EU accused the tech giant of illegally linking its chat and video app Teams with its Office product, giving it an unfair advantage over rivals such as Slack. Microsoft could face a fine equal to 10% of its annual revenue for the alleged breach of the blocs Digital Markets Act (DMA). Regulators in the UK and the EU are tightening the noose on other big tech companies too.For instance, in September the EUs Court of Justice, in two separate cases, ruled in favour of back taxes and fines against Apple and Google totalling a whopping 15.4bn.The court found that Apple had benefitted from substantially and artificially lowered tax in Ireland since 1991. Google, on the other hand, was found guilty of favouring its shopping service in internet searches and thereby abusing its market dominance in Europe.With this latest lawsuit, Microsofts cloud dominance may face a reckoning. Whether the case delivers real change or just more legal bills remains to be seen. Story by Sin Geschwindt Sin is a climate and energy reporter at TNW. From nuclear fusion to escooters, he covers the length and breadth of Europe's clean tech ecos (show all) Sin is a climate and energy reporter at TNW. From nuclear fusion to escooters, he covers the length and breadth of Europe's clean tech ecosystem. He's happiest sourcing a scoop, investigating the impact of emerging technologies, and even putting them to the test. Sin has five years journalism experience and holds a dual degree in media and environmental science from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Get the TNW newsletterGet the most important tech news in your inbox each week.Also tagged with

Apple and Goldman Sachs have announced another rate cut for Apple Card Savings Account. Starting today, Apple Card Savings Account offers a 3.90% annual percentage yield, down from 4.10%.Apple Card Savings Account started with a 4.15% interest rate for the first eight months of availability. The rateincreasedto 4.25% in December of last year, then again to4.35% in early Januaryand to4.5% in late January. The rate was then cutback to 4.4% in Apriland thenreduced to 4.25% in late September.In October, Apple adjusted the Apple Card Savings Account rate once again, lowering it to 4.10%. Now, as of December 4, 2024, the Apple Card Savings Account offers a 3.90% APY. This matches the rate that Goldman Sachs offers through its own Marcus savings account, though you can earn a bonus rate with this link for a limited time. Apple and Goldman Sachs, like all financial institutions, adjust the interest rate based on overall economic conditions. The Apple Card Savings Account is an exclusive feature for Apple Card holders. As you earn Daily Cash rewards with your Apple Card, you can easily transfer them into the high-yield savings account within the Wallet app.In addition to transferring Daily Cash directly, Apple Card users can also add funds from a linked bank account or their Apple Cash balance. The interest is compounded daily, meaning you earn interest on both your initial deposit and the accumulated interest over time. At the end of each month, the interest is paid out into your savings account.For more detailed information about the Apple Card Savings Account, visit our comprehensive guide right here.Add 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre 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. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Apple puts a lot of effort into promoting accessibility with things like the hearing aid feature for AirPods Pro. This time, however, the company showed an example of how the iPhones Action Mode has been helping people with Parkinsons in their routines.iPhones Action Mode has become an accessibility feature for people with ParkinsonsApples latest campaign filmed in Brazil not only promotes Action Mode, but also shows how important the feature has become for those living with hand tremors from Parkinsons disease.For those unfamiliar, Action Mode is a camera option available for iPhone 14 and later that significantly corrects shakes and vibrations when capturing video, making them super stable. While for some people Action Mode is just one of many camera features on the iPhone, for others it has become an important accessibility feature.The new videos promoted by Apple tell stories of people living with Parkinsons and how the iPhone lets them film videos despite their shaking hands. One of these stories is about Rodrigo Mendes, who has been living with Parkinsons since 2009 and still pursues his hobby of mountain climbing and hiking.Climbing the mountain itself is already amazing, but capturing it is important too, right? The Action Mode on iPhone makes a huge difference because, imagine trying to film with your hand shaking like this, you know? [] being able to capture an image on yout own in the end makes all the difference, Mendes says in the video.Apple also shared the stories of other people living with Parkinsons in its new campaign. In all the videos, the company shows the difference between filming with and without Action Mode.Mendes video was posted on Apples official Instagram account, and although it was recorded in Portuguese, the video has English subtitles. You can watch it below:Earlier this week, Apples global head of accessibility Sarah Herrlinger discussed in an interview how the company wants to make technology accessible to anyone. More recently, Apple released an update for the AirPods Pro 2 that turns them into hearing aids. The feature was this years Apple holiday ad.The company also often shares stories about people who have had their lives saved with the help of Apple devices and technologies such as Emergency SOS and irregular heart rhythm notifications from the Apple Watch.Read also:Add 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre 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. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

KarmaDec 4, 2:43 PM EST/byVictor TangermannPeople's Reactions to a Health Insurance CEO Getting Assassinated Are Incredibly Dark"Our apologies, but bullet wounds are only covered under our Platinum+ package."Dec 4, 2:43 PM EST/Victor TangermannImage by BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP via Getty ImagesDevelopmentsUnitedHealth Group CEO Brian Thompson was fatally shot outside of a Hilton hotel in midtown Manhattan earlier this morning, in what the New York Police Department is calling a "brazen, targeted attack.""I want to be clear at this time, every indication is that this was a premeditated, preplanned, targeted attack," Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch told reporters, as quoted by CNBC.Let's be clear: any act of violence or loss of life is a tragedy. But the internet's indifference to Thompson's passing and gallows humor about the notorious deficiencies of the private insurance industry are simultaneously ghoulish and illustrative of America's profoundly dysfunctional medical system."All human life is sacred, so it's not proper to laugh when serious harm befalls someone," one Bluesky user wrote. "The moral thing to do is instead charge them hundreds of thousands of dollars.""Our apologies, but bullet wounds are only covered under our platinum+ package," another user added.The reactions highlight widespread disillusionment and anger over a woefully inadequate health insurance system in the United States that has preyed on the unemployed and uninsured for decades, leading to a endless death, bankruptcy and suffering.Skyrocketing medical costs have forced a huge chunk of the population to delay getting medical help. People have astonishingly little trust in the US healthcare system, going as far as to voluntarily upload their medical scans to Elon Musk's potty-mouthed Grok AI for what are likely untrustworthy answers.UnitedHealth's role shouldn't be underestimated. The group is one of the largest health insurance companies in the world in terms of revenue, and the eighth largest corporation by market capitalization.In short, seeing the CEO of a notorious health insurance company which is currently facing a class action lawsuit for using an algorithm to deny rehabilitation care to seriously ill patients meet a violent end doesn't seem to have caused an outpouring of mourning."Thank you for choosing UnitedHealthcare for your healthcare needs," one Reddit user wrote in a facetious post, imitating the style of a letter from a health insurer denying coverage. "After a careful review of the claim submitted for emergency services on December 4, 2024, we regret to inform you that your request for coverage has been denied.""If you would like to appeal the fatal gunshot, please call 1-800-555-1234 with case # 123456789P to initiate a peer-to-peer within 48 hours of the fatal gunshot," another Reddit user wrote.Besides its reputation for denying health coverage, UnitedHealth has been embroiled in a number of controversies lately. In March, the insurer was hit with at least sixseparate class action lawsuits, accusing it of failing to protect millions from a massive personal data breach in February. The hack, kickstarted by a week-long ransomware outage, left countless healthcare providers in the cold, forcing hospitals to absorb massive upfront costs.In June, UnitedHealth shareholders filed a separate class action lawsuit against the company, alleging that they had bought stock at artificially inflated prices between March 2022 and February 2024.The company also faces an antitrust class action lawsuit relating to its failure to establish boundaries between its own two complementary businesses, Optum and UnitedHealthcare.In fact, Thompson was rushed to a hospital in New York City's Mount Sinai network a medical system that UnitedHealth removed from its network last year, to the chagrin of patients who relied on its care.Needless to say, there could be any number of reasons why the killer could have targeted Thompson. While the exact motive remains unknown, it's certainly possible the killer was looking for revenge."Yes, there had been some threats basically I dont know, a lack of coverage? I dont know details," Thompson's wife told NBC News. "I just know that he said there were some people that had been threatening him."UnitedHealth is set to bring in $280 billion in revenue this year. Shares are up around half a percent as of the time of writing.According to the US government, just over 27 million Americanscurrently lack health insurance.More on health insurance: Experts Alarmed by People Uploading Their Medical Scans to Elon Musk's Grok AIShare This ArticleImage by BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP via Getty ImagesRead This Next

Image by Getty / FuturismDevelopmentsCould a chatbot be your doctor someday? It's looking more likely than you'd think.In a recently published study, 50 doctors were asked to diagnose medical conditions from examining case reports, with some of them being randomly assigned to use ChatGPT to help with their decision making.During the experiment, the participating doctors were graded on not just the correctness of their final diagnosis, but on how well they could explain their thought process.Based on that criteria, the doctors who worked by themselves scored 74 percent on average, and those who collaborated with the AI chatbot to reach their diagnosis scored 76 percent.But both groups were vastly outperformed by something that never went to med school: ChatGPT, acting on its own, blew the human docs out of the water with an average score of 90 percent.The research, published in the journal JAMA Network Open, was small in scope the 50 doctors only examined six case studies but nonetheless has striking implications about the role of AI in the medical field and perhaps the biases held by human doctors."I was shocked at the results," study coauthor Adam Rodman, an internal medicine specialist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, said in an interview on the New York Times podcast Hard Fork. "My hypothesis going in was that people using [ChatGPT] would be the best. So I am surprised by this."These cases, based on real medical patients, were intentionally challenging. Nevertheless, ChatGPT overwhelmingly prevailed. According to Rodman, this could be as much of a testament to the AI model's capabilities as it is to a human doctor's stubbornness.The MDs using ChatGPT, for example, may have felt resistant to the chatbot's second opinion and dismissed it as wrong, doubling down on their first guess as a result.Another factor that could explain why the doctors lagged behind the technology is that they simply weren't familiar with using it.But Rodman pushed back against the takeaway that ChatGPT is more competent than your average human doc. "The difference is that the people who put the case together, like, the information, if you want to think about the prompts, were expert clinicians," he said on the podcast. "We organize it in such a way."In other words, human medical professionals did all the hard work of accurately gathering and presenting medical information in the final case reports something an AI can't do, at least yet. To declare that the AI obviously trumps the doctors is sort of like a chef taking all the credit for a tasty meal when they used someone else's recipe.The study was also primarily designed to test how effectively a chatbot could help doctors, which turned out to be not very much and not to demonstrate that AI was superior. In fact, similar studies have found ChatGPT to be terrible at diagnosing cases.What's striking, though, is that that the experiment was conducted a year ago using an older version of ChatGPT. The results could be even more impressive now."Maybe AI models are better at making diagnoses than human doctors. But I don't think that's the case with GPT-4 Turbo, which was the model that was used here," Rodman said. "But it's going to be true at some point, and we're quickly approaching that."Share This Article

Dec 05, 2024Ravie LakshmananCyber Espionage / MalwareThe China-linked threat actor known as MirrorFace has been attributed to a new spear-phishing campaign mainly targeting individuals and organizations in Japan since June 2024.The aim of the campaign is to deliver backdoors known as NOOPDOOR (aka HiddenFace) and ANEL (aka UPPERCUT), Trend Micro said in a technical analysis."An interesting aspect of this campaign is the comeback of a backdoor dubbed ANEL, which was used in campaigns targeting Japan by APT10 until around 2018 and had not been observed since then," security researcher Hara Hiroaki said.It's worth noting that MirrorFace's use of ANEL was also documented by ESET last month as part of a cyber attack targeting a diplomatic organization in the European Union using lures related to the World Expo.MirrorFace, also known as Earth Kasha, is the name given to a Chinese threat actor that's known for its persistent targeting of Japanese entities. It's assessed to be a sub-cluster within APT10.The latest campaign is a departure from the hacking group's intrusions observed during 2023, which primarily sought to exploit security flaws in edge devices from Array Networks and Fortinet for initial access.The switch to spear-phishing email messages is intentional, per Trend Micro, and a decision motivated by the fact that the attacks are designed to single out individuals rather than enterprises."Additionally, an analysis of the victim profiles and the names of the distributed lure files suggests that the adversaries are particularly interested in topics related to Japan's national security and international relations," Hiroaki pointed out.The digital missives, sent from either free email accounts or compromised accounts, contain a link to Microsoft OneDrive. They aim to lure recipients into downloading a booby-trapped ZIP archive using themes related to interview requests and Japan's economic security from the perspective of current U.S.-China relations.Trend Micro said the contents of the ZIP archive vary depending on the targets, adding it uncovered three different infection vectors that have been used to deliver a malicious dropper dubbed ROAMINGMOUSE -A macro-enabled Word documentA Windows shortcut file that executes a self-extracting archive (SFX), which then loads a macro-enabled template documentA Windows shortcut file that executes PowerShell responsible for dropping an embedded cabinet archive, which then loads a macro-enabled template documentThe macro-enabled document, ROAMINGMOUSE, acts as a dropper for components related to ANEL and ultimately launches the backdoor, while simultaneously incorporating evasion techniques that hide it from security programs and make detection challenging.One of the modules deployed via the dropper is ANELLDR, a loader that's designed to execute ANEL in memory. It's launched using a known method called DLL side-loading, after which it decrypts and runs the final-stage backdoor.A 32-bit HTTP-based implant, ANEL was actively developed between 2017 and 2018 as a way to capture screenshots, upload/download files, load executables, and run commands via cmd.exe. The 2024 campaign employs an updated version that introduces a new command to run a specified program with elevated privileges.Furthermore, the attack chains leverage the backdoor to collect information from the infected environments and selectively deploy NOOPDOOR against targets of special interest."Many of the targets are individuals, such as researchers, who may have different levels of security measures in place compared to enterprise organizations, making these attacks more difficult to detect," Hiroaki said. "It is essential to maintain basic countermeasures, such as avoiding opening files attached to suspicious emails."Found this article interesting? Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post.SHARE

The U.K. National Crime Agency (NCA) on Wednesday announced that it led an international investigation to disrupt Russian money laundering networks that were found to facilitate serious and organized crime across the U.K., the Middle East, Russia, and South America.The effort, codenamed Operation Destabilise, has resulted in the arrest of 84 suspects linked to two Russian-speaking networks Smart and TGR. In addition, 20 million ($25.4 million) in cash and cryptocurrency has been seized.Both the businesses are based in Moscow's Federation Tower, per The Telegraph, which is known to act as a hub for money laundering firms.Concurrent with the takedown and arrests, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned five individuals and four entities associated with the TGR Group."Through the TGR Group, Russian elites sought to exploit digital assets in particular U.S. dollar-backed stablecoins to evade U.S. and international sanctions, further enriching themselves and the Kremlin," said Acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley T. Smith.Describing it as an extensive sanctions evasion and money laundering network, the Treasury Department said the TGR Group has leveraged other illicit actors such as the Smart Group, which is headed by Ekaterina Zhdanova. In November 2023, Zhdanova was sanctioned for helping high-net-worth Russian nationals and cybercriminal crews launder cryptocurrency proceeds.Zhdanova has also been accused of offering services to individuals connected with the now-defunct Ryuk ransomware group, laundering over $2.3 million of suspected victim payments in 2021.The TGR Group is said to provide a wide range of illegal financial services, including laundering funds belonging to sanctioned entities, an unregistered service to exchange cash and cryptocurrency, accepting cash receipts and converting them into digital assets for clients, a prepaid credit card service, and concealing the source of funds to allow Russian elites to purchase property in the U.K.The NCA noted that the Smart network was used to fund Russian espionage operations between late 2022 to summer 2023. The exact nature of the malicious activity was not disclosed."Smart and TGR provide a service that enables Russian elites, and designated individuals and entities to access Western economies that would otherwise be denied to them through sanctions or other financial restrictions," the agency said."For the first time, we have been able to map out a link between Russian elites, crypto-rich cyber criminals, and drugs gangs on the streets of the U.K. The thread that tied them together the combined force of Smart and TGR was invisible until now."Found this article interesting? Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post.