gytrash

A new ransomware campaign targeting individuals and organizations in the UK and the US has been identified.

The attack, known as the “Prince Ransomware,” utilizes a phishing scam that impersonates the British postal carrier Royal Mail.

This campaign highlights the growing sophistication of cyber threats and the need for heightened vigilance among internet users...

Drew Crecente last spoke to his daughter Jennifer Ann Crecente on February 14, 2006. A day later, Jennifer, a senior in high school who was in an abusive relationship, was murdered by her ex-boyfriend, who was later convicted and is serving time in prison. That year, Crescente started a nonprofit in her name to prevent teen dating violence and now routinely monitors any piece of media coverage related to her.

But he was appalled when he received a Google Alert notification at 4:30 a.m. on Wednesday that somebody had created a chatbot on popular AI platform Character AI using his daughter’s yearbook photo and name.

“A grieving father should not have to find out that his dead daughter is being used to try and make money as a chatbot on some website,” he told Forbes. “It shocks the conscience, and it’s unacceptable behavior”...

A good scary movie makes us afraid of its ghosts. A great one sees ghosts for what they are—specters of the past. That past can be horrific, filled with darkness we can never quite outrun. Ghosts can also be seductive, drawing us back to a past that we ought to have outgrown, teasing us with the idea that we can visit long-dead people and abandoned places, if only in shadow. We love ghost stories, perhaps, because we love the idea that there’s life beyond the grave, and that the past is never really gone. But the logic of story ensures that the gift of that reassurance comes with a price, and reminds us to be careful what we wish for.

With the caveat that neither The Uninvited nor The Innocents, two of the absolute best of the genre, aren't streaming anywhere, here are a handful of the best and most interesting ghost stories...

• Dead of Night (1945)
• Blithe Spirit (1945)
• Carnival of Souls (1962)
• The Haunting (1963)
• Kwaidan (1964)
• Kuroneko (1968)
• The Stone Tape (1972)
• House (1977)
• The Changeling (1980)
• Beetlejuice (1988)
• Pet Sematary (1989)
• Candyman (1992)
• Ghostwatch (1992)
• Beloved (1998)
• The Sixth Sense (1999)
• The House on Haunted Hill (1999)
• The Others (2001)
• Spirited Away (2001)
• The Devil’s Backbone (2001)
• Session 9 (2001)
• A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)
• Lake Mungo (2008)
• The Innkeepers (2011)
• The Conjuring (2013)
• Personal Shopper (2016)
• A Ghost Story (2017)
• La Llorona (2019)
• His House (2020)
• I Was a Simple Man (2021)
• Deadstream (2022)

Now that we're officially in October, horror fans are scouring all of their services to try to find the best movies that will help prepare themselves for Halloween. Between the number of horror services out there and the vastness of these libraries, many of which are underwhelming titles, it can be a bit tricky to find something a subscriber might not actually be familiar with that's worth investing time in. While a variety of services offer up a long list of classic films that are well worth revisiting, some viewers who might be newer to the genre have the opportunity to check out under-seen experiences that are bound to become classics.

It might be hard to find horror titles the horror fanatics haven't already seen, but for anyone who might skip over some lesser-known titles to just look for recognizable experiences, we've got you covered. Whether we're looking at foreign horror, movies that never earned major promotional campaigns, or earlier efforts from filmmakers who have been given exciting opportunities in recent years, we know just what you should check out this October to celebrate some off-the-radar titles that are just as effective as major releases...

• The Autopsy of Jane Doe - Netflix
• Creep and Creep 2 - Netflix
• Drag Me to Hell - Prime Video
• The Eyes of My Mother - Hulu
• Hagazussa: A Heathen's Curse - Prime Video
• The House of the Devil - Prime Video
• I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House - Netflix
• I Saw the TV Glow - Max
• Immaculate - Hulu
• The Invitation - Prime Video
• The Killing of a Sacred Deer - Max
• Mandy - Hulu
• Monster Inside: America's Most Extreme Haunted House - Hulu
• Paranormal Activity 3 - Max
• Ready or Not - Hulu
• Saint Maud - Prime Video
• Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark - Netflix
• Trick 'r Treat - Max

Not counting a couple of spin-offs, this is the seventh feature in the V/H/S horror franchise, which since the first edition in 2012 have packaged together short films by different directors to tell creepy tales involving found footage or aliens (or both) as well as lots and lots of gore. Usually anything this many generations into its evolution is pretty exhausted – but this is pretty good, or at least in parts. It probably helps that Brad Miska, the producer behind the original concept, is still involved. More importantly, Miska has kept things fresh by finding new directors and writers for each edition, some of whom have gone on to make films on a bigger scale (such as Joe Swanberg, Ti West and Adam Wingard, all of whom contributed to the first V/H/S) or came aboard after having already become relatively successful just for the fun of it (Scott Derrickson).

Naturally, this latest package is a pretty mixed bag...

An upcoming documentary is set to shed light on the mysterious tale of a Manhattan housewife and mom-of-two who claimed she was abducted by a UFO in the late 80s.

The docuseries, titled The Manhattan Alien Abduction, tells the story of Linda Napolitano, who is convinced she was abducted from her bedroom in New York on November 30, 1989.

The series attempts to uncover the true story behind the UFO communities biggest mysteries - with Napolitano, who used the pseudonym Linda Cortile initially - directly involved with the documentary's creation.

The trailer, which was recently released online, contains interviews with Napolitano recalling what happened on the night that she said changed her life, as well as archival footage from the years following the alleged extra-terrestrial experience...

The late Queen dispatched her chief scientific advisor in the dead of night to investigate the latest crop circle formation, claims a new documentary.

Her Majesty is said to have sent a scientist to find out more about a new crop circle, widely said to be linked to UFOs, according to a new Prime Video film.

The King of UFOs, by UFO expert Mark Christopher Lee claims senior royals, including Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip and King Charles are passionately interested in the phenomenon.

And Lee recounts how, in the late 1980s, crop circle researcher Colin Andrews was with a Japanese film crew in Wiltshire when he got word that the Queen was interested in what was happening.

Just a couple of hours later Andrews saw a Rolls Royce turn up. Lee said Andrews half expected her Majesty to get out of the car, only to find out it was actually her chief scientific advisor...

The beach walkers and their playful dogs running in arcs on the rippled sand seemed blind to the casual alien in their midst. Anchored above the tideline, it wobbled slightly in the breeze, spiny green pods raised like medieval weapons.

“Casual aliens” are non-native species that occasionally escape from cultivation, grow for a while and then die off without establishing a population. Botanical jargon aside, the term’s otherworldly weirdness particularly suited this plant. Its thick, branching stems, jagged leaves and menacing seed cases reminded me of the man-eating specimen in Little Shop of Horrors. Though not carnivorous like the one in the musical, it could still kill.

Thornapple (Datura stramonium) is one of the most poisonous plants in Britain. It contains three potent alkaloid toxins that block the body’s neurotransmitters, causing intense nausea, delirium, coma and death. Originating in Central America but now widespread round the world, it’s part of the Solanaceae family, which includes potatoes, tomatoes and deadly nightshade. It’s relatively common in North America, where it’s known as jimsonweed...

Google's latest flagship smartphone raises concerns about user privacy and security. It frequently transmits private user data to the tech giant before any app is installed. Moreover, the Cybernews research team has discovered that it potentially has remote management capabilities without user awareness or approval.

Cybernews researchers analyzed the new Pixel 9 Pro XL smartphone’s web traffic, focusing on what a new smartphone sends to Google.

“Every 15 minutes, Google Pixel 9 Pro XL sends a data packet to Google. The device shares location, email address, phone number, network status, and other telemetry. Even more concerning, the phone periodically attempts to download and run new code, potentially opening up security risks,” said Aras Nazarovas, a security researcher at Cybernews...

... “The amount of data transmitted and the potential for remote management casts doubt on who truly owns the device. Users may have paid for it, but the deep integration of surveillance systems in the ecosystem may leave users vulnerable to privacy violations,” Nazarovas said...

Wildfires are burning through the carbon budget that humans have allocated themselves to limit global heating, a study shows.

The authors said this accelerating trend was approaching – and may have already breached – a “critical temperature threshold” after which fires cause significant shifts in tree cover and carbon storage.

“Alarmingly, the latest temperature at which, globally, these impacts become pronounced is 1.34C – close to current levels of warming [above preindustrial levels],” said the UK Met Office, which led the research...

... Climatologists say the already dire situation will deteriorate until humankind, particularly in the wealthy global north, stops burning fossil fuels.

"A warming world combined with deforestation has made for a dire drought situation in Brazil. Latin America's largest country is enduring its most intense and widespread drought in history.

What's happening?

Brazil's worst drought on record has helped fuel wildfires in the Amazon rainforest. The Pantanal, a region that encompasses the world's largest tropical wetland area, in August experienced a 3,901% increase in its fires compared to August 2023, Greenpeace noted, based on reporting by the country's National Institute for Space Research.

Smoke from wildfires made Sāo Paulo, one of the world's most populous cities with over 11 million residents and a metro area of 21 million, one of the top 10 most polluted major cities in the world in early September. According to Igarapé Institute authorities, over 50,000 wildfires were active in early September, per ABC News.

One of the factors behind Brazil's crisis is an overheating planet that just had its 15th straight month of record-breaking global temperatures. Deforestation in the Cerrado region, an expansive tropical and subtropical biome that covers over 20% of the country, is making matters worse. Trees help hold moisture in forest soil. A study published in Nature showed a direct link between deforestation and droughts.

Brazil relies on cascading moisture recycling for rainfall. CMR "describes moisture transport between two locations on the continent that involves re-evaporation cycles along the way," according to a paper published by the European Geosciences Union. This hydrological cycle is breaking down because of deforestation.

"You can put this in capital letters," said Luciana Gatti, a climate researcher at the space research facility, per The Washington Post. "It will get worse and worse. We are heading toward an apocalyptical situation, and unfortunately we only wake up at the last minute"...

Two environmental activists who glued themselves to a J.M.W. Turner painting at Manchester Art Gallery in July 2022 were acquitted today in a Manchester court. The pair affixed themselves to the frame of Tomson’s Aeolian Harp (1809) by Turner and sprayed “No New Oil” and the Just Stop Oil logo on the floor with chalk...

... “The district judge found that the action was proportionate in view of the climate crisis,” a Just Stop Oil statement says. "By contrast Phoebe Plummer and Anna Holland received sentences of 24 months and 20 months respectively from Judge Hehir at Southwark Crown Court last week for throwing cans of soup on the glass cover of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers in 2022.”