Birds Are Dying Mysterious, Violent Deaths in This Northern California Neighborhood—and No One Can Explain Why Residents of Richmond, a city in the Bay Area, say they have watched dozens of birds drop dead in recent months Mourning doves, European starlings, crows and other common backyard species have been found dead on a residential street in Richmond, California, in recent months. Pixabay Residents of a Northern California neighborhood are growing increasingly concerned about a string of mysterious—and often violent—bird deaths that seem to have no obvious explanation. In recent months, at least 50 birds have died along a residential street in Richmond, a city on the east side of San Francisco Bay. The deaths all seem to follow a similar pattern: After a bird lands on a specific stretch of power line, residents hear a loud popping sound, akin to a firecracker, reports KGO-TV’s Dion Lim. Then, they see the creature’s body fall to the pavement. A doorbell camera captured one of the strange fatalities on video, too. The inexplicable incidents have killed mourning doves, European starlings, crows and other common backyard species. “It’s pretty freaky and disturbing and very sad,” says Mark Hoehner, a 64-year-old marketing designer who lives in the neighborhood, to the San Francisco Chronicle’s Sarah Ravani. Officials with the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), which is responsible for the power lines in the neighborhood, say the birds are not being electrocuted and that they haven’t found any issues with the electrical equipment. Inspectors found the neighborhood’s power equipment to be “in good condition,” according to a statement from Tamar Sarkissian, a spokesperson for PG&E, as reported by the San Francisco Chronicle. “The pole at issue is compliant with avian safe guidance,” established by the Avian Power Line Interaction Committee, Sarkissian says in the statement. Birds dying at alarming rate in Bay Area neighborhood Watch on PG&E sent two bird bodies to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife for closer study. After conducting necropsies, department officials say they found no evidence that the birds had been electrocuted, per ABC News’ Bill Hutchinson. Instead, the birds’ injuries appear to have been caused by a pellet gun, BB gun or a slingshot. Photos of other dead birds found in the neighborhood also showed injuries consistent with trauma. The department also noted, however, that “the exact cause of the trauma to all of these birds could not be determined.” The idea that the birds are dropping dead from foul play doesn’t sit right with some residents. “I can’t fathom somebody could be that accurate all the time,” Jan Solomon tells KGO-TV. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife says its wildlife officers are continuing to investigate. John Gioia, an elected official who represents the city of Richmond on the Contra Costa Board of Supervisors, tells the San Francisco Chronicle his office also plans to send public works staffers to the neighborhood. “We just want it solved at the end of the day,” resident Maximilian Bolling tells KGO-TV. Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order on drug pricing threatens Roche’s planned $50 billion investment in the United States, the company said on Wednesday. Trump’s order, signed on Monday, directs drugmakers to lower prices of brand-name medicines to align with those in other wealthy nations. Analysts and legal experts say the policy would be difficult to implement. “Should the proposed EO (Executive Order) go into effect, Roche’s ability to fund the significant investments previously announced in the U.S. will be in question,” the company said in a statement. Roche said it did not expect the executive order to affect its business in 2025, and said it would continue engaging with the Trump administration and Congress. Roche in April announced it would invest $50 billion in the U.S. over the next five years, creating more than 12,000 jobs. It is among several drugmakers, including Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson and Novartis, to announce large-scale U.S. investments in response to Trump’s push to onshore pharmaceutical manufacturing. Novartis, another Switzerland-based big pharma company, said on Wednesday it had no plans to alter its U.S. investment strategy in response to the executive order. “We are working both in the U.S. and Europe to advocate for necessary changes, including reducing the role of PBMs (pharmacy benefit managers) and correcting significantly low pricing in Europe,” the company said in an emailed statement to Reuters. “These discussions will take time, and we do not expect any changes to happen quickly.” In the U.S., drug prices are shaped by complex negotiations involving PBMs that act as middlemen between drugmakers and health insurers and have been criticised for inflating costs. In Europe, countries generally have public health systems that negotiate directly with manufacturers and keep costs down. Since taking office, Trump has repeatedly threatened to levy tariffs on medicines and his administration is conducting an investigation into imports of pharmaceuticals in an effort to impose tariffs on national security grounds. —Maggie Fick, Reuters

Last year, Italian games studio Two Little Mice struck a deal to have Swedish tabletop publisher Free League distribute the Ennie-winning game Outgunned, which lets gaming groups play out heist or action movies like Ocean’s Eleven and Mission: Impossible. As part of that deal, Free League just released the first book in Outgunned’s genre line, Outgunned Adventure, which focuses on pulp films like Indiana Jones, The Mummy, and Tomb Raider. The standalone book uses Outgunned’s Director’s Cut RPG system, which has players roll between two and nine six-sided dice and score successes based on how many land on the same face. As the name suggests, characters are meant to be outmatched by dastardly villains they need to face through shootouts and fast talking. Failure is common, but PCs can “fail with style” — for instance, getting lost while searching for something might mean the players find something they weren’t expecting. Being too noisy on an infiltration might just lead to an exciting fight with a dangerous enemy they hoped to avoid. The $51 core rulebook includes 10 new roles, like Scoundrel, Technician, and Captain. Those combine with action movie tropes to provide a wide range of character options. You’ll explore ancient temples, run from traps, and fight on top of trains, while searching for treasure and solving mysteries. GMs looking to start playing quickly can pick up the $21 Fall of Atlantis three-part campaign — Disney’s Atlantis: The Lost Empire is another major influence on the game — and an Adventure Director Screen, which provides a quick rules reference. The print books come with PDF copies, fulfilled through DriveThruRPG.Like the base game, Outgunned Adventure was the product of a highly successful crowdfunding campaign, raising more than €480,000 last summer. Two Little Mice has also just kicked off a campaign for its next genre book, Outgunned Superheroes. It has already raised more than €224,000, and high pledge levels include other Outgunned products, including the Action Flicks setting books and the John Wick-inspired World of Killers.

It’s no surprise to me that financial services organisations missed the 17 January2025 deadline to be in compliance with the European Union’s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA). I personally have not met a CIO or CISO who thought this deadline was realistic. Even back in January, research from Orange Cyberdefense saw 43% of respondents in the industry admit they would not be compliant by the deadline. In March, Clear Junction revealed 86% of financial services organisations were not fully compliant and more worryingly Skillcast’s DORA readiness report showed huge variation in the resilience of these institutions’ IT infrastructures. The banking and lending subsector stood out as the least prepared for compliance while the financial transaction processing subsector was the most vulnerable to cyber threats. Given we have known this deadline was coming, why such inconsistency when it comes to readiness? The reality is that cyber security strategies are always dealing with moving targets. Today, your organisation could feel secure and in compliance with DORA, but tomorrow the vulnerability landscape could change. New threats are introduced all the time. For example, you could implement a new supplier technology which could create new vulnerabilities in the supply chain, or the regulations themselves could change. In the UK, we are still expecting the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill at some point this year. The Government has announced its proposals but it is still to be confirmed when it will come into effect. The reality is that many companies are still unsure what measures they need to take to establish DORA compliance, and it requires a significant amount of vigilance across IT infrastructures to understand your exposure. One area commonly overlooked or discounted is the Java environment. Given Java comprises 51% of the software code in the financial sector, companies should make sure to give their Java applications the appropriate consideration as this is where many compliance and security risks lie dormant. Azul’s 2025 State of Java Survey & Report revealed that 41% of respondents encounter critical production security issues within their Java ecosystems on a weekly or daily basis. While three years after the Log4j incident, 49% are still experiencing security weaknesses in production from the remote code execution (RCE) vulnerability. Financial institutions must ensure their Java footprint, and that of their third-party providers or services, complies with DORA regulations. As a result, investing in detection tools and post-breach response preparedness can help significantly reduce breach costs for financial firms and their customers. Together, they will have to take an inventory of the risks associated with their applications to ensure compliance and security. That risk could be amplified if organisations use unsupported versions of Java (and the underlying open source project for the Java programming language called Open Java Development Kit (or OpenJDK for short). In highly regulated industries, like financial services, where systems run on Java are supporting mission-critical applications, not ensuring your core systems are supported is highly risky, particularly as it exposes you to non-compliance with regulations like DORA. Read more about DORA We look at the new EU regulation for cyber resiliency, the role of IT asset management in auditing and third-party risks. Compliance regulations come into force on 17 January, but many in the financial services community are not ready. To guarantee compliance, players in the financial services industry must address these five pillars: Guarantee ICT risk management: Unsupported OpenJDK distributions can expose financial institutions to significant risks, such as unpatched security vulnerabilities and performance issues. It is necessary to have an OpenJDK distribution capable of providing security patches to ensure Java applications remain resilient and compliant with management requirements. Report incidents quickly: Not all OpenJDK distributions provide security updates and critical patch updates (CPU’s) at the same time leading to unreported and unnoticed incidents that can lead to non-compliance. Industry players must equip themselves with tools capable of providing continuous monitoring for vulnerabilities and unused or dead code in production. This allows organisations to quickly and accurately detect, report and remediate vulnerabilities. Carry out regular and rigorous penetration and security tests: Using outdated or vulnerable updates of Java may not accurately reflect production environments, leading to false security assumptions. It is therefore important to have up-to-date and tested Java distributions, including legacy versions like Java 6 and 7 and architectures like Windows x86 32-bit, enabling reliable and accurate testing environments for financial institutions. Strengthen third-party risk management. Affiliating with unsupported OpenJDK distributions by third parties increases the risk of security vulnerabilities and operational failures. It is necessary to ensure that third-party applications and services based on Java meet the highest security and performance standards, thereby reducing third-party risks. Participate in sharing information on cyber threats.  Using unsupported OpenJDK distributions may result in a lack of awareness about updates and security patches, relegating these applications and services to becoming a weak link in the information sharing chain. Organisations must ensure they are aware of the latest vulnerabilities and can share relevant threat intelligence with other entities to improve collective cyber security resiliency. Cyber security is essential for stable and high-performance business operations today. By ensuring a secure Java distribution, promptly addressing vulnerabilities, and continuously monitoring their Java environment, companies can make a large portion of their IT assets DORA-compliant and strengthen their resilience against cyberattacks. James Johnston is vice president of EMEA at Java specialist Azul. He is responsible for growing Azul's software revenues across EMEA. Prior to joining Azul, James has held a number of leadership positions with Cloudera, Fujitsu and HPE.  James has an honours degree in business studies from UWE.

With a continued emphasis on team-based collaboration, IBM leadership envisioned a place to bring its diverse business units under one roof in Manhattan. Once again, they tapped Gensler (the firm completed IBM’s Toronto office) to design the 270,000-square-foot headquarters in the Flatiron District. Located at One Madison Avenue, the new flagship centralizes the tech company’s New York workforce, highlighting a visionary, forward-focused culture. “We really start with the user experience and mapping those journeys, and there was an opportunity for impromptu connections between team members that didn’t always work together,” says John Budesa, studio director and senior associate at Gensler. The ground floor lobby features a striking 40-foot-long Quantum Wave sculpture that captures the energy within the space, a visual representation of emerging and future technologies. A reception area on the second floor includes the circular Blue Bar. A central gathering spot with sweeping views of Madison Square Park, it serves as a coffee bar during the day, and doubles as a cocktail bar after work hours. At the Innovation Studio, a dedicated customer-centric space with a range of briefing rooms, partners can co-create with staff members and experience IBM’s work first-hand. The headquarters accommodates more than 2,000 employees, so the workspace is divided into three key zones, which Budesa describes as “an ecosystem of spaces that support innovation,” offering flexibility and choice. Individual zones are ideal for independent, focused tasks, while collaboration areas are suitable for meetings. Community sections are places for relaxation or get-togethers with colleagues. These sectors have varied lighting and multiple types of furnishings throughout to support individuals as they perform tasks. There’s less rigidity, yet the pieces are not only limited to the ultra-soft lounge styles that have been favored in recent seasons. Seating in particular was chosen for comfortable efficiency, which for Budesa means that each chair is functional no matter where it is in the building. A prime amenities hub is on the 10th floor, with a full-service kitchen, café, and an auditorium that can host up to 300 people. IBM is also known as Big Blue, and pops of the brand’s cobalt tone are used strategically throughout the office to signal signature moments, whether on a wall covered with acoustic felt, or surrounding a staircase. Materials are deftly combined, referencing the bridge between man and machine. Wood and stone elements honor our connection to the natural world. In contrast, polished metals, reflective surfaces, and computer chip-like textures provide futuristic flair. The standout is a 25,000-square-foot outdoor oasis, designed in partnership with RGR Landscape. The largest commercial office terrace in the city, it boasts 40 species of live plants, half of which are native to New York. Enabled for work, every seat has power, and Wi-Fi is available. There are also areas that are perfect for large-scale events, and on the east side, more private settings allow people to recharge even in the midst of the bustling city. Budesa explains that the expansive headquarters was planned with seamless movement in mind as users navigate in and out of the various zones. “It’s about those dynamic environments that increase the caliber of the experience,” he notes. For more information on Gensler and IBM’s new hub, visit gensler.com. Photography by Alexander Severin.

An illustration of what the Amniote (early reptile) would look like from 350 million years ago. CREDIT: Martin Ambrozik. Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. One of the most impactful stories in evolution is getting a rewrite, thanks to the exciting discovery of the earliest known set of reptile footprints. Craig A. Eury and John Eason, two amateur paleontologists exploring the fossil-rich Snowy Plains Formation in Australia, found a rock with an intriguing set of fossilized prints. They brought the intriguing specimen to professional paleontologists, who soon discovered that the roughly 356 million-year-old fossilized claw prints likely belong to an amniote–an early reptile relative.  Though small in stature, amniotes were a large evolutionary leap forward towards land-dwelling, four-limbed animals called tetrapods. The age of these prints suggest that amniotes evolved millions of years earlier than expected, according to a study published May 14 in the journal Nature.  “I’m stunned,” Per Ahlberg, a paleontologist at Uppsala University in Sweden who coordinated the study, said in a statement. “A single track-bearing slab, which one person can lift, calls into question everything we thought we knew about when modern tetrapods evolved.” When fish grew legs Tetrapods include all vertebrates with four limbs that primarily live on land, including everything from frogs to turtles to eagles, to tigers to humans. Their story began as fish left the water between 390 and 360 million years ago. Their descendants began to diversify into the ancestors of modern amphibians and amniotes–the group that includes birds, reptiles, and mammals. Originally, the timeline for how this massive diversification of life occurred was fairly clear-cut. The first tetrapods evolved roughly 390 million years ago during the Devonian period. Amniotoes and the earliest members of the modern groups of animals we see today followed fishapods during the Carboniferous period. Previously, the earliest amniote fossils dated back to  about 320 million years old to the late Carboniferous. Based on this new evidence, researchers concluded the start of the point on the evolutionary tree where the ancestors of amphibians and amniotes split actually happened in the earliest days of the Carboniferous or 356 million years ago.   Proof in the prints The newly discovered 356 million-year-old sandstone slab from this new study potentially changes this entire timeline by about 35 to 40 million years. The well-preserved footprints of long-toed feet with distinct claw impressions at the tips dot the stone and are the earliest known clawed footprints. Two sets of tracks were identified on the stone, seemingly from the same animal.  Footprints are important for paleontologists, as they can indicate the types of behaviors an extinct animal may have exhibited. The team compared the ancient tracks with a modern water monitor (Varanus salvator) lizard, since they have similarly shaped feet to what is seen on the footprints. They examined the spacing between the front and hind footprints against that living lizard’s feet. With these measurements, the team estimates that the ancient amniote may have been around 2.5 feet long, but that the exact proportions of the animal are still unknown. “Claws are present in all early amniotes, but almost never in other groups of tetrapods,” Ahlberg said. “The combination of the claw scratches and the shape of the feet suggests that the track maker was a primitive reptile.” If this new interpretation is correct, it pushes the origin of reptiles, and thus amniotes as a whole, back by roughly 40 million years to the earliest Carboniferous. A new set of fossil reptile footprints uncovered all the way across the globe in Poland are also detailed in the study and bolster the evidence. These European footprints are not as old as the ones from Australia, but are still older than previous specimens.  “The implications of this discovery for the early evolution of tetrapods are profound,” John Long, a study co-author and paleontologist at Flinders University in Australia, said. “All stem-tetrapod and stem-amniote lineages must have originated during the Devonian period – but tetrapod evolution proceeded much faster, and the Devonian tetrapod record is much less complete than we have believed.” A place on the evolutionary tree According to the team, this recalibration of the origin of reptiles has a ripple effect on the whole timeline of tetrapod evolution. Tetrapods must be older than even the earliest amniotes, since it has a deeper branching point on the evolutionary tree.  “It’s all about the relative length of different branches in the tree,” said Ahlberg. “In a family tree based on DNA data from living animals, branches will have different lengths reflecting the number of genetic changes along each branch segment. This does not depend on fossils, so it’s really helpful for studying phases of evolution with a poor fossil record.” The fossil trackways with the different tracks on it highlighted. CREDIT: Flinders University The team believes that amphibians and ammonites split apart further into the Devonian period and were likely a contemporary of the primitive, transitional “fishapod” called Tiktaalik. This evidence indicates that a diverse group of tetrapods existed when only transitional “fishapods” were believed to be dragging themselves around muddy shorelines and starting to explore the land.  If this new theory holds, it is likely that the evolution of tetrapods from aquatic creatures to those fully living on land may have occurred even faster than previously believed.   “The Australian footprint slab is about 50 cm [1.5 feet] across,” said Ahlberg, “and at present it represents the entire fossil record of tetrapods from the earliest Carboniferous of Gondwana – a gigantic supercontinent comprising Africa, South America, Antarctica, Australia and India. Who knows what else lived there?”   “The most interesting discoveries are yet to come and that there is still much to be found in the field,” added study co-author and paleontologist Grzegorz Niedźwiedzki. “These footprints from Australia are just one example of this.” 

This week, President Trump traveled to the Middle East on a business and diplomacy mission, during which he greenlit the sale of hundreds of thousands of American-made AI chips to firms in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. These deals signal a major shift in the U.S.’s approach to cutting-edge AI technology. Previously, U.S. leaders had focused on limiting access to ultra-powerful chips, especially to countries that might pose national security threats. Now, Trump is using them as leverage for his larger trade ambitions. While Trump was at the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum in Riyadh—held in parallel with his visit—the White House announced that Saudi Arabia was committing $600 billion in investments in the United States, “building economic ties that will endure for generations to come,” Onstage at the conference, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang announced his company was entering a massive partnership with Humain, a new company owned by the Saudi kingdom’s Public Investment Fund, and sending them hundreds of thousands of chips. Rival chipmaker AMD announced its own $10 billion Saudi Arabian project. Another deal in the works could send hundreds of thousands of chips to the Emirati firm G42. While Trump allies heralded the deal as mutually beneficial to all parties, some national security experts have concerns about the longterm impacts of spreading these chips around the world. “AI chips should not be bargaining chips for broader trade deals,” says Janet Egan, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). “They underpin US AI dominance, and we have to be really careful to not make short term decisions that might be beneficial for trade in the near term, but cede AI leadership in the longer term.”Early this year the Chinese company Deepseek revealed that it had developed a very powerful model mostly using Nvidia chips obtained before the Biden administration closed an export loophole in 2023, heightening the intensity of the race. President Biden, in his final weeks, ratcheted up export controls, including limits on countries in the Gulf. Last week, the Trump administration ripped up those rules, with a spokesperson calling them “overly complex, bureaucratic” and saying they “would stymie American innovation.” They then switched to a new tack: linking countries’ access to AI chips with larger trade negotiations. Transitioning to a negotiation-based approach, the administration argued, could allow for more flexibility from country-to-country and allow Trump to secure key business concessions from Middle Eastern partners. Business and governments in the Middle East have massive ambitions for AI, aiming to position themselves at the forefront of this emerging technology. They benefit from several strategic advantages to do so, including access to boundless energy, free-flowing capital thanks to oil and sovereign wealth funds, and a lack of government restrictions—allowing them to rapidly push through massive infrastructure projects. But until now, the Middle East had lacked one crucial puzzle piece: Access to cutting-edge American chips from companies like Nvidia.Now, the amount of chips that U.S. companies will reportedly send to the UAE and Saudi Arabia is massive: “We're talking about something larger than any AI training system that exists in the world today," says Alasdair Phillips-Robins, a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Conceivably, the ultra-powerful models built with this training system could synthesize automated cyber-attacks, intelligence collection, and weapons development. This is potentially problematic to some U.S. analysts, given Saudi Arabia and the UAE’s close ties with China. In previous years, American spy agencies issued warnings that G42 could be a conduit for siphoning advanced American technology to China. G42 denied any connections to the Chinese government or military.“If you think about which country should be leading the future of potentially the most critical and transformative technology we've ever had, I would not want that to be a non-democratic authoritarian regime,” Egan says. On Tuesday, the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, led by Michigan Republican John Moolenaar, wrote on Twitter that the new chip deals “present a vulnerability for the CCP to exploit.” Sam Winter-Levy, another Carnegie Endowment fellow, worries that the deal will encourage U.S. AI companies to move to the Gulf, where they might get better deals on energy and avoid U.S. regulations and community pushback. Prominent U.S. companies have wasted no time in seizing the new opportunity presented by the Trump administration. OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, and AMD’s Lisa Su all attended the Saudi-U.S.Investment Forum. The AI startup Scale AI—which has a partnership with the U.S. government to develop AI safety standards—announced its intentions to open an office in Saudi Arabia. Google, too, advanced an AI hub in the country. "You could end up in a position where some large proportion of U.S. computing power has been offshored to a bunch of states that can wield leverage over U.S. foreign policy to shape it in ways that may not align with US national interests,” says Winter-Levy,. Winter-Levy also contends that these AI chip deals go against Trump’s past emphasis on an “America first” foreign policy approach. "This is offshoring data centers that could be built in the United States. This is offshoring chips that could be going to US tech companies,” he says. “It's hard to reconcile this with an America First approach to industrial policy or economic policy in general.”

Published May 14, 2025 10:00am EDT close ‘CyberGuy’ explains dark side of PayPal, how to stay safe Kurt Knutsson has advice to protect information from cybercriminals who are seeking new ways to gain login credentials and full control of computers and bank accounts. Online scams are becoming more dangerous and convincing every day. Cybercriminals are finding new ways to gain not just your login credentials but full control of your computer and your bank accounts.Take John from King George, Virginia, for example. He recently shared his alarming experience with us. His story is a powerful warning about how quickly things can escalate if you respond to suspicious emails.Here is what happened to John in his own words: "I mistakenly responded to a false PayPal email notifying me of a laptop purchase. The message looked real, and I called the number listed. The person on the phone gave me a strange number to enter into my browser, which installed an app that took control of my PC. A warning popped up saying 'software updating – do not turn off PC,' and I could see my entire file system being scanned. The scammer accessed my bank account and transferred money between accounts. He told me to leave my PC running and go to the bank, keeping him on the phone without telling anyone what was happening. I shut everything down, contacted my bank, and changed my passwords."John’s quick thinking in shutting down his computer and alerting his bank helped minimize the damage. However, not everyone is as lucky. Fake PayPal scam email (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)How this scam worksThis type of scam is known as a remote access scam. It often begins with a fake email that appears to come from a trusted company like PayPal. The message claims there is an issue, such as an unauthorized charge, and urges the victim to call a phone number or click a link. WHAT IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)?Once the scammer makes contact, they guide the victim to enter a code into their browser or install a program, claiming it will fix the problem. In reality, this grants the scammer full control of the victim’s computer. Once inside, scammers often search for sensitive files, access banking websites, steal login credentials or install malware to maintain long-term access. Even if the immediate scam is stopped, hidden malware can allow scammers to reenter the system later. A hacker at work (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)Key takeaways from John's experienceJohn’s close call highlights several important lessons.Fake emails are harder to spot than ever: Scammers create emails that look almost identical to real ones from trusted companies like PayPal. They copy logos, formatting and even fake customer support numbers. Always double-check the sender’s email address and verify communications by visiting the official website or app directly instead of clicking links inside emails.Remote access scams can escalate fast: Once scammers gain control of your device, they can steal sensitive data, move funds between accounts and install hidden malware that stays behind even after the scammer disconnects. It often takes only minutes for serious damage to be done, making fast recognition critical.Psychological pressure plays a big role: Scammers rely on creating a sense of urgency and fear. By keeping you on the phone and urging secrecy, they isolate you from help and rush you into making bad decisions. Recognizing when you are being pressured is key to breaking the scammer’s control.Fast action can make all the difference: By quickly disconnecting his computer and contacting his bank, John limited the scammer’s access to his accounts. Acting within minutes rather than hours can stop further theft, block fraudulent transactions and protect your sensitive information from being fully compromised.GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE A warning on a laptop home screen (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)How to protect yourself from remote access scamsTaking simple but strong security steps can protect you from falling victim.1. Never call a number listed in a suspicious email: Scammers often set up fake phone numbers that sound professional but are designed to manipulate you into handing over control or information. Always find verified contact information through a company's official website or app, not links/numbers provided in suspicious messages.2. Be skeptical of unusual instructions: No legitimate company will ask you to install software or enter strange codes to protect your account. If anything seems unusual, trust your instincts and stop the communication immediately.3. Install strong antivirus software on all devices: Antivirus programs can detect suspicious downloads, block remote access attempts and help prevent hackers from taking over your system. Having strong antivirus protection installed across all your devices is the best way to safeguard yourself from malicious links that install malware and attempt to access your private information. This protection can also alert you to phishing emails and ransomware scams, keeping your personal information and digital assets safe. Get my picks for the best 2025 antivirus protection winners for your Windows, Mac, Android and iOS devices.4. Use identity theft protection: These services monitor financial accounts, credit reports and online activity for signs of fraud, alerting you to suspicious transactions. See my tips and best picks on how to protect yourself from identity theft.5. React immediately if you suspect a scam: Disconnect your device from the internet, contact your bank or credit card company immediately and change your passwords, especially for banking and email accounts. Monitor your accounts closely for unauthorized activity and report the scam to the Federal Trade Commission as well as the company that was impersonated. Acting quickly can prevent further access and limit the damage scammers can cause.6. Use multifactor authentication (MFA): MFA adds a critical layer of security beyond passwords, blocking unauthorized logins even if credentials are stolen. Enable MFA on all accounts, especially banking, email and payment platforms, to stop scammers from bypassing stolen passwords.7. Update devices and software immediately: Regular updates patch security flaws that scammers exploit to install malware or hijack systems. Turn on automatic updates wherever possible to ensure you’re always protected against newly discovered vulnerabilities.8. Employ a password manager with strong, unique passwords: Avoid password reuse and use complex passphrases to minimize credential-stuffing attacks. A password manager generates and stores uncrackable passwords, eliminating the risk of weak or repeated credentials. Get more details about my best expert-reviewed password managers of 2025 here.9. Never share screen access or grant remote control: Scammers exploit screen-sharing tools to steal passwords and manipulate transactions in real time. Legitimate tech support will never demand unsolicited screen access; terminate the call immediately if pressured.10. Invest in personal data removal services: These services automate requests to delete your personal information from data brokers and people-search sites, reducing publicly available details scammers could exploit for phishing or impersonation. While no service promises to remove all your data from the internet, having a removal service is great if you want to constantly monitor and automate the process of removing your information from hundreds of sites continuously over a longer period of time. Check out my top picks for data removal services here.Kurt’s key takeawaysJohn’s story is a reminder that online scams are evolving quickly and becoming more aggressive. Staying skeptical, verifying all suspicious messages and acting quickly if something feels wrong can make the difference between staying safe and losing sensitive information. Protect your devices, trust your instincts and remember it is always better to be cautious than to take a risk with your security.CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPHave you or someone you know been targeted by a scam like this? Let us know by writing us at Cyberguy.com/Contact.For more of my tech tips and security alerts, subscribe to my free CyberGuy Report Newsletter by heading to Cyberguy.com/Newsletter.Ask Kurt a question or let us know what stories you'd like us to cover.Follow Kurt on his social channels:Answers to the most-asked CyberGuy questions:New from Kurt:Copyright 2025 CyberGuy.com. All rights reserved. Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson is an award-winning tech journalist who has a deep love of technology, gear and gadgets that make life better with his contributions for Fox News & FOX Business beginning mornings on "FOX & Friends." Got a tech question? Get Kurt’s free CyberGuy Newsletter, share your voice, a story idea or comment at CyberGuy.com.

Holy snooterpoots, Papa Smurf must be saved! Will his rescue come out of the BLUE? And what exactly is a snooterpoot? Find out as Paramount Pictures has just dropped a new trailer for its upcoming live-action / 3DCG hybrid musical feature, Smurfs. The Smurfs are headed to the real Earth – what could go wrong? - when Papa Smurf (John Goodman) is mysteriously taken by evil wizards, Razamel and Gargamel. Smurfette (Rihanna) leads the Smurfs on a mission save him. With the help of new friends – and lots of singing and dancing and doing all manner of blue-type things - the Smurfs must discover what defines their destiny to save the universe. The live-action / 3DCG hybrid film features an all-star voice cast including Rihanna, James Corden, Nick Offerman, JP Karliak, Daniel Levy, Amy Sedaris, Natasha Lyonne, Sandra Oh, Octavia Spencer, Nick Kroll, Hannah Waddingham, Alex Winter, Maya Erskine, Billie Lourd, Xolo Maridueña with Kurt Russell and John Goodman. Chris Miller (Puss in Boots and Shrek the Third) directs from a script written by Pam Brady (South Park), based on the characters and works of Peyo. Jay Brown, Ty Ty Smith, Robyn “Rihanna” Fenty, and Ryan Harris, p.g.a. produce. Cinesite is producing the animation and VFX. The Smurfs Movie hits theaters July 18. Check out the trailer now: Source: Paramount Pictures Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.

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