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‘Happy Gilmore’ Producer Buys Spyware Maker NSO Group
Research published this week indicates that North Korean scammers are trying to trick US companies into hiring them for architectural design work, using fake profiles, résumés, and Social Security numbers to pose as legitimate workers. The hustle fits into longstanding campaigns by the hermit kingdom to steal billions of dollars from organizations around the world using careful planning and coordination to pose as professionals in all different fields.
Under pressure from the Department of Justice, Apple removed a series of apps from its iOS App Store this month related to monitoring US Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity and archiving content related to ICE’s actions. As more apps are removed, multiple developers told WIRED this week that they aren’t giving up on fighting Apple over the decisions—and many are still distributing their apps on other platforms in the meantime.
WIRED examined increasing warnings from software supply chain security researchers that the proliferation of AI-generated software in codebases will create an even more extreme version of the code transparency and accountability issues that have come up with widespread integration of open source software components. And Apple announced expansions of its bug bounty program this week, including a maximum $2 million payout for certain exploit chains that could be abused to distribute spyware, and additional bonuses for exploits found in Apple’s Lockdown Mode or in beta versions of new software.
But wait, there’s more! Each week, we round up the security and privacy news we didn’t report in depth ourselves. Click the headlines to read the full stories. And stay safe out there.
The notorious spyware vendor NSO Group, known for developing the Pegasus malware, has faced financial issues since losing a long legal battle against the secure messaging platform WhatsApp as well as a lawsuit filed by Apple. Now, the company, which has long had Israeli ownership, has been purchased by a group of US-based investors led by movie producer Robert Simonds, who helped finance Happy Gilmore, Billy Madison, The Pink Panther, Hustlers, and Ferrari, among many other films. The deal is reportedly worth “several tens of millions of dollars” and is close to completion. Israel’s Defense Export Control Agency (DECA) within the Ministry of Defense will need to approve the sale. Use of mercenary spyware has increased within some US federal government agencies since the beginning of the Trump administration.
Hundreds of national security and cybersecurity specialists who work in the US Department of Homeland Security have faced mandatory reassignment in recent weeks to roles related to President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda. Bloomberg reports that affected workers are largely senior staffers who are not union eligible. Workers who refuse to move roles will reportedly be dismissed. Members of DHS’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) who have faced reassignment reportedly worked on “issuing alerts about threats against US agencies and critical infrastructure.” For example, CISA’s Capacity Building team has faced a number of reassignments, which could hinder access to emergency recommendations and directives for high-value federal government assets. Workers have been moved to agencies including Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, and the Federal Protective Service.
A recent breach of a third-party customer service provider used by the communication platform Discord included a trove of data from more than 70,000 Discord users that contained identification documents as well as selfies, email addresses, phone numbers, some home location information, and more. The data was collected as part of age verification checks, a mechanism that has long been criticized for centralizing users’ sensitive information. 404 Media reports that the breach was perpetrated by attackers who are attempting to extort Discord. “This is about to get really ugly,” the hackers wrote in a Telegram channel on Wednesday while posting the stolen data.
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement inked a $825,000 contract in May with TechOps Specialty Vehicles (TOSV), a Maryland-based company that manufactures equipment and vehicles for law enforcement. The company provides products including rogue cellphone towers that are used for phone surveillance and sometimes called “stingrays” or “cell-site simulators.” Public records reviewed by TechCrunch show that the agreement describes how the company “provides Cell Site Simulator (CSS) Vehicles to support the Homeland Security Technical Operations program” and is a modification for “additional CSS Vehicles.” TOSV also began a similar $818,000 contract with ICE in September 2024, prior to the start of the Trump administration. In an email to TechCrunch, TOSV president Jon Brianas declined to share details about the contracts but confirmed that the company does provide cell-site simulators. The company does not manufacture them itself, he said.
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Nutrition: Health benefits of peanuts
Wia dis foto come from, Westend61/Getty Images
Wetin we call dis foto, Groundnut wey pipo sabi as peanut Article Information Groundnuts, wey pipo also dey call peanuts, na legume wey full wit nutrients and pipo dey chop am boiled, roasted, or use am…
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VC wants to make science fiction fact • The Register
A venture capital fund is looking for ideas that are out of bounds for traditional investors, seeding technology that may only come to fruition decades down the line, but where researchers can show real results in the lab.
Deep Future…
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A pharmacovigilance study utilizing the FDA Adverse Event Reporting Sy
Introduction
Migraine is a common neurological disorder impacting about 14% of people worldwide, with a higher reporting frequency in women.1 Triptans, as selective serotonin 5-HT(1B/1D) receptor agonists, are commonly prescribed as the primary…
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Microsoft’s Copilot for Windows Gains Gmail Integration and Office File Support
Microsoft is rolling out a major update for its Copilot app on Windows, giving users more powerful productivity tools directly within chat. The upgraded AI assistant can now generate documents, connect with Gmail and Outlook, and export text…
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Brassic actor Steve Evets says playing Jim has been ‘dream job’
When actor Steve Evets was offered the role of foul-mouthed farmer Jim on a new Sky series, it was as easy yes.
“It’s a dream job,” says Evets, who has starred in films and TV series including Looking for Eric, One for Us and White Gold.
“They…
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From salt cuts to stress management: Cardiologist shares 7 proven and surprising habits to lower blood pressure before it strikes
High blood pressure, often dubbed the “silent killer,” quietly damages blood vessels and strains the heart long before symptoms appear. The good news, however, is that it can be managed—and even prevented—with conscious lifestyle…Continue Reading
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The Role of Anticoagulation in Acute Coronary Syndrome Patients with C
Introduction
Coronary artery ectasia (CAE) is defined as an abnormal dilatation – either diffuse or segmental – of a portion of a coronary artery to a diameter 1.5 times greater than that of an adjacent normal segment.1 Although CAE is…
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Perioperative Serplulimab Meets Primary End Point of EFS in Gastric Cancer
The phase 3 ASTRUM-006 trial examining serplulimab (Hansizhuang) plus chemotherapy as neoadjuvant/adjuvant monotherapy treatment in patients with gastric cancer met its primary end point of event-free survival (EFS), according to an announcement from Shanghai Henlius Biotech, Inc.1
Additional data from the interim analysis conducted by an independent data monitoring committee (IDMC) showed that serplulimab plus chemotherapy elicited a pathologic complete response (pCR) rate that was threefold higher than that achieved with placebo plus chemotherapy and also significantly reduced the risk of recurrence. The combination was noted to have an acceptable toxicity profile, with no new safety signals reported.
Based on these findings, the IDMC has recommended early submission of a new drug application for serplulimab.
“Surgery is the cornerstone of gastric cancer treatment, and perioperative therapy is critical to long-term survival,” Professor Jiafu Ji, of Beijing Cancer Hospital, stated in a news release. “This study is the first to confirm the feasibility of replacing adjuvant chemotherapy with mono-immunotherapy in the postoperative setting. It not only opens a new path to consolidate surgical outcomes and reduce recurrence risk but also paves the way for innovation in clinical practice.”
What Data Have Previously Been Reported With Serplulimab in Gastric Cancer?
Data from a study shared at the
2025 ASCO Annual Meeting indicated that when perioperatively serplulimab was given at a dose of 300 mg on day 1 every 3 weeks (Q3W) combined with chemotherapy comprised of oxaliplatin at 130 mg/m2 on day 1 and S-1 at 60 mg twice daily on days 1 to 14 Q3W for 3 cycles, 5 of 25 patients achieved a pCR; the major pathologic response rate was 40%.2 The median DFS and overall survival (OS) was not reached.The treatment-related adverse effects (TRAEs) that were most commonly experienced with the regimen were nausea, anorexia, thrombocytopenia, fatigue, and thyroid dysfunction. No TRAEs were grade 3 or higher in severity. The study authors concluded that the findings supported a place for immune-based neoadjuvant therapy in this setting.
Is Serplulimab Under Exploration in Other Cancers?
The randomized, double-blind, phase 3 ASTRUM-005 study (NCT04063163) randomized patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer to serplulimab at 4.5 mg/kg on day 1 plus carboplatin at an area under the curve of 5 on day 1 and 100 mg/m2 of etoposide on days 1 to 3 Q3W for up to 4 cycles followed by maintenance serplulimab at 4.5 mg/kg Q3W or placebo plus the same chemotherapy regimen.3
Data shared during the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting showed that those who received serplulimab (n = 389) experienced a median OS of 15.8 months (95% CI, 13.9-17.4) compared with 11.1 months (95% CI, 10.0-12.4) with placebo (n = 196), translating to a 40% reduction in the risk of death (HR, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.49-0.73; descriptive P < .001). The OS rates in the respective arms at 4 years were 21.9% (95% CI, 17.6%-26.6%) and 7.2% (95% CI, 3.8%-12.1%). The median progression-free survival with serplulimab was 5.8 months (95% CI, 5.6-6.9) vs 4.3 months (95% CI, 4.2-4.4), translating to a 53% reduction in the risk of disease progression or death (HR, 0.47; 95% CI, 0.38-0.57; descriptive P < .001).
Serplulimab plus chemotherapy elicited a confirmed objective response rate (ORR) of 68.9% (95% CI, 64.0%-73.5%), with a median duration of response (DOR) of 6.8 months (95% CI, 5.5-7.9). In the placebo arm, the confirmed ORR was 58.7% (95% CI, 51.4%-65.6%) and the median DOR was 4.2 months (95% CI, 3.1-4.2; HR for DOR was 0.45; 95% CI, 0.35-0.58; descriptive P < .001).
In June 2025, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency of the
United Kingdom approved serplulimab (Hetronifly) for use in adult patients with previously untreated, metastatic ES-SCLC.4 In February 2025, theEuropean Commission cleared serplulimab plus carboplatin and etoposide for frontline use in adult patients with ES-SCLC.5Serplulimab plus carboplatin and nab-paclitaxel (Abraxane) is also being evaluated in patients with previously untreated locally advanced or metastatic squamous non–small cell lung cancer. Data from the final analysis of the
phase 3 ASTRUM-004 trial (NCT04033354) indicated that the serplulimab combination significantly improved OS vs placebo plus chemotherapy (HR, 0.73; 95% CI, 0.58-0.93; P = .010).6 At the second interim analysis, the PFS benefit provided by serplulimab plus chemotherapy vs the control was maintained (HR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.42-0.67).References
- Phase 3 clinical trial of HANSIZHUANG plus chemotherapy meets primary endpoint in neoadjuvant/adjuvant gastric cancer, greenlighting early NDA submission. News release. Shanghai Henlius Biotech, Inc. October 9, 2025. Accessed October 9, 2025. https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/phase-3-clinical-trial-of-hansizhuang-plus-chemotherapy-meets-primary-endpoint-in-neoadjuvantadjuvant-gastric-cancer-greenlighting-early-nda-submission-302579744.html
- Zhan H, Liu L, Sun W, et al. Neoadjuvant serplulimab in combination with chemotherapy for locally advanced gastric or gastro-esophageal junction cancer. J Clin Oncol. 2025;43(suppl 16):4030. doi:10.1200/JCO.2025.43.16_suppl.4030
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