A North Carolina man was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison for selling the personal information of over 7 million elderly Americans to Jamaican scammers.

57-year-old Troy Murray (who used the Steve Dixon pseudonym) pleaded guilty in January 2026 to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and was sentenced Thursday to 121 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and ordered to forfeit $5,2 million.

Prosecutors said that Murray’s alias was so widely known among Jamaican scammers that it was referenced in a 2022 song lyric by a Jamaican musical artist.

According to court documents, between 2016 and 2023, Murray sold lead lists containing the names, phone numbers, physical addresses, and email addresses of elderly Americans to scammers in Jamaica and elsewhere, who used the information to commit lottery fraud.

Murray earned hundreds of thousands of dollars annually after typically charging $500 per list of 100 to 300 names. After the wire transmission services he used blocked him from their platforms, he asked his “clients” to pay him in prepaid gift cards instead.

He allegedly sent at least 22,000 lead lists over the years-long scheme, generating more than $5.2 million for himself and causing victim losses exceeding $9.5 million.

Murray used the illegal proceeds to purchase farm equipment, vehicles, and precious metal collectibles, and also sent some of these funds to his son, Cutter Murray, for personal and business expenses.

In June 2025, the Justice Department also revealed that Murray’s son will plead guilty to one count of money laundering for receiving and laundering $1.6 million of the fraudulent funds he obtained.

Murray’s sentencing comes as elder fraud continues to surge nationwide. According to the FBI’s 2025 Internet Crime Report, elderly Americans aged 60 and older filed over 200,000 fraud complaints last year, representing a 37% increase over 2024.

Affected elderly victims have also reported total losses of nearly $7.8 billion, a 59% year-over-year rise, with the average loss per complainant reaching $38,500.

This week, the U.S. Justice Department also filed insider trading charges against a Google security engineer, accusing him of using confidential company data to place bets on the cryptocurrency-based decentralized prediction market Polymarket.

Automated pentesting tools deliver real value, but they were built to answer one question: can an attacker move through the network? They were not built to test whether your controls block threats, your detection rules fire, or your cloud configs hold.

This guide covers the 6 surfaces you actually need to validate.

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As the Senior Vice President of Software Engineering, Craig Federighi is the main guy who can alter the future of iOS, macOS, and AI for Apple. This is what you need to know about the guy with the fantastic hair.

While Tim Cook is the best-known face of Apple, Craig Federighi comes in a very close second. A long-time presenter for the company during events, especially at WWDC, he is synonymous with the company’s software launches and operating system updates.

That’s handy, since he is Apple’s Senior Vice President of Software Engineering. In that prominent role, he manages and guides the development of operating systems, apps, interface changes, and future technologies.

Despite having such a major role in the company, and being one of the top candidates for the role of the next CEO after Tim Cook, he’s also considered one of the more fun members of leadership. His playful presentation style and a willingness to use humor has led to him becoming a walking, talking meme.

Here’s the story of Craig Federighi, the software chief who is also referred to as “Hair Force One.”

Before, after, and before Apple again

Born in San Leandro, California, Federighi was introduced to computing by his mother, urging him to try out some Apple IIs at school. It led to him saving up for a TRS-80 Color Computer and a life in tech.

He attended the University of California, Berkeley, receiving a bachelor of science in electrical engineering and computer science in 1991. This was quickly followed by a master of science in computer science in 1993.

While at Berkeley, he wrote a technical report on a “Distributed Hierarchical Storage Manager for a Video-on-Demand system” for the ECCS Department in 1994.

Craig Federighi’s slo-mo run during WWDC 2022. Image Credit: Apple

He also unexpectedly encountered Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who had left Apple at the time. Jobs had visited Berkeley, showing off the NeXTcube and recreating the Mac product launch to the attending students.

The performance was influential, as Federighi then decided that he would rather work for NeXT and not Apple. Indeed, he did join NeXT and worked on the Enterprise Objects Framework, allowing applications to connect to databases.

NeXT was then acquired in 1996 by Apple, and Enterprise Objects Framework was absorbed into Apple WebObjects framework.

A few years later, Federighi cut his time short at Apple, departing his role as director of engineering. Instead, he jumped ship in 1999 to Ariba, a Palo Alto-based tech services company.

In his ten-year tenure at Ariba, he moved from being vice president of Internet Services to the role of executive vice president. He eventually became chief technology officer and then ended his time at Ariba as its the “user interface technology evangelist”.

A few years after Federighi’s departure from Ariba in 2009, the company was acquired by SAP SE, which is still in operation.

Back in Apple

Federighi’s second stint at Apple started in 2009, joining the company to lead its macOS engineering teams. This took place just after the development of macOS Snow Leopard.

Oddly enough, WWDC 2009 was the first instance of Federighi being involved in a presentation. He took to the stage to demonstrate Snow Leopard’s new features.

This was followed by a demonstration of macOS 10.7 Lion, which in turn led to further on-stage presentation appearances.

By March 2011, he was promoted as the vice president of Mac Software Engineering at the company, taking over from Bertrand Serlet. He became senior vice president of Software Engineering one year later, as part of a wider executive shakeup by CEO Tim Cook.

Craig Federighi waking a MacBook up. Image Credit: Apple

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After the exit of Scott Forstall in 2012, Federighi was given a wider remit than just Mac software. He was made the leader for the development of both iOS and OS X.

While other executives would expect to see a progression in their job title, this hasn’t been the case for Federighi. Fourteen years later, he is still listed on Apple’s Leadership site as SVO of Software Engineering, reporting directly to Tim Cook.

The static job title doesn’t mean there wasn’t any change in the role. In 2017, a leadership change led to Federighi becoming the overseer of Siri.

After a poorly received introduction of Apple Intelligence as the company’s first salvo in the AI war, Federighi gained another responsibility. In December 2025, Federighi was put in control of the AI teams, including the AI models team.

High visibility, high hair

Ever since his WWDC 2009 stage appearance, Federighi has become a major presence in Apple’s software-related presentations.

This included appearing during WWDC 2013 to show iOS 7 and OS X Mavericks, doing the same in WWDC 2014 for iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite.

An early WWDC appearance for Craig Federighi – Image Credit: Apple

The WWDC 2015 presentation was a major one for Federighi, as he hosted the vast majority of the two-hour keynote. This involved launching iOS 9 and OS X 10.11 El Capitan, as well as the introduction of Swift.

Later that same year, he demonstrated the 3D Touch feature of the iPhone 6S.

Craig Federighi with a unique guitar. – Image Credit: Apple

He was also the executive who introduced the name convention change for macOS 10.12 Sierra at WWDC 2016, as well as iOS 10 and lock screen widgets.

In the 2017 Apple Special Event, he was set to demonstrate the new Face ID feature in the iPhone X, but it failed during the live presentation. It was later determined to be a mistake caused by other Apple employees triggering it previously.

His string of WWDC appearances continued apace with 2018’s iOS 12 and macOS 10.14 Mojave. He has handled the operating system introductions at WWDC ever since.

While a staple at WWDC, he has appeared during other Apple events too, including a silent cameo during the September 2020 event. The November 2020 event clip of him waking a MacBook from sleep quickly became a meme.

Being meme-worthy isn’t usually the forte of executives at a company, with the use of comedy frequently failing in most cases and becoming cringeworthy. However, in the case of Federighi, most of his presentations have included a lot of funny and meme-adjacent moments.

Federighi found that being funny worked for his style of presentation, and leaned into it heavily. Somehow, it worked even more.

A famous long-time example of his humor is his reference to the “Crack Product Marketing Team” going on wild adventures to come up with the next macOS version name.

However, sometimes the comedy goes to almost absurd lengths, and with high production values, too.

For example, the WWDW 2022 presentation had Federighi descend on a CGI elevator like a spy, throwing a basketball over Apple Park, and accidentally walking in on an Apple Fitness+ workout.

Later in the presentation, a speedy-running section had a slow-motion section, with Federighi pulling off a “Blue Steel” stare to camera and running his fingers through his hair to the tune “Thoughts About You.” While a heavy-handed reference to being referred to by fans as “Hair Force One,” it’s one that worked and instantly became a meme.

This continued into WWDC 2023 with the playing of a triple-necked guitar, followed by skydiving and parkour in 2024. WWDC 2025 had him driving a Formula One car on the roof of Apple Park’s main building while talking to a non-plussed Tim Cook.

The humor and his great hair make Federighi seem like the cool uncle of the Apple leadership team. While others are also moving to appear more fun to customers, it seems that Federighi will be the center of WWDC attention for some time to come.

Fed on Privacy and Security

As the man in control of software at Apple, Federighi has a deep-seated interest in both ensuring user privacy is maintained and for Apple’s platforms remaining secure. It’s a stance that he has maintained throughout his tenure.

An early example of this was an opinion by Federighi published in March 2016, explaining why Apple wasn’t willing to weaken encryption despite a public demand from the FBI. He reasoned that Apple was trying to be one step ahead of criminal attackers, and found the FBI and other security agencies to be “pressing us to turn back the clock to a less-secure time and less-secure technologies.”

Two years later, a 2018 statement from Federighi responded against even more calls to weaken end-to-end encryption by adding a backdoor. Weakening security “makes no sense” when consumers rely on Apple’s products to keep their personal information safe, he insisted.

Federighi’s stance hadn’t changed by 2020 either, calling Apple’s dedication to privacy akin to treating it as if it were a fundamental human right during WWDC of that year.

The introduction of App Tracking Transparency also had Federighi’s backing, saying it was part of Apple’s core values, and that it wouldn’t damage advertisers as much as they claimed it would. He later expressed that ATT should give users a “meaningful choice” about their privacy.

Craig Federighi talking during a WWDC keynote – Image Credit: Apple

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Trying to maintain user privacy while getting tasks complete is a hard balancing act for Apple, as it found in 2021 by introducing iCloud Photos image assessment and Messages notification features. They were intended as mechanisms to protect children online and curb the spread of child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

Within days, Federighi spoke about the introduction, saying that the child protection message was “widely misunderstood” because Apple wasn’t clear enough in its messaging. He acknowledged that the announcement of multiple elements together had the response of people wrongly believing Apple was scanning their iPhone for images.

This didn’t stop civil rights groups around the world from demanding Apple drop the child safety plans altogether.

His insistence of maintaining privacy has also led to him criticizing some if the capabilities of Apple’s own software. Especially when framed around the alternative App Store debate in Apple’s long-time lawsuit with Epic Games.

In 2027, Federighi told a court that macOS security wasn’t as good as iOS, in part because of its use of one App Store on iOS. Multiple app stores are “regularly exploited on the Mac,” Federighi claimed, and there was “a level of malware on the Mac that we don’t find acceptable.”

The tight security of iOS meant it had a “dramatically higher bar for customer protection” that the Mac could not meet.

He later railed against forcing Apple into allowing the side-loading of apps on iPhone, as it would “take away consumers’ choice of a more secure platform.”

It’s a belief that has strengthened during the age of AI and Apple Intelligence. Following the September 2024 “It’s Glowtime” event, Federighi explained that Apple had to go through multiple breakthroughs to bring Private Cloud Compute to life, protecting user data while embracing the new technology.

Ultimately, Federighi firmly believes that maintaining security and privacy for Apple users will be a “battle we will be fighting for years to come.”

Developing development and platforms

Fostering development of the app ecosystem is another of Federighi’s all-important roles as the software chief. His WWDC appearances implies he wants there to be more developers, but Apple’s announcements have also been an important factor too.

In December 2015, when the Swift programming language was made open source, he said he wanted everyone to learn it as a primary language. He wanted it to be usable everywhere, “from scripting to apps for mobile down to writing code in the cloud.”

That same month, he promoted the “Hour of Code” initiative to get everyone coding. He admitted at the time that he first tried coding when he was 10, adding that programming should be considered the “next level of literacy.”

He then went on to say that there would be deep Swift integration in iCloud and for Mac development, with it already being used on the dock of El Capitan.

In 2019, Federighi helped usher in iPadOS as a fork of iOS, all to give the iPad a “truly distinct experience.” He said it was “not an iPhone experience, it’s not a Mac experience,” and so something new had to be created for it.

Craig Federighi introducing Catalyst at WWDC – Image Credit: Apple

He also said that Catalyst would help boost the quality of both Mac and iPad apps, by helping iPadOS apps be ported over to the Mac platform.

In an unusual move, Federighi responded to an email from an aspiring programmer in 2019, which was shared on Reddit. The response to being asked for advice for would-be programmers included dedicating time to study while at university, to “go broad and deep” in the area, and to focus on teamwork.

This occurred during a time when Apple was reportedly shifting its development strategy for iOS 14 to cut down on the number of buggy releases coming out of Cupertino. Federighi and other department chiefs kicked off the initiative, explaining new processes where buggy code was disabled and flagged in testing.

The introduction of Apple Silicon was also a big moment for Federighi, due to having to manage the upcoming transition away from Intel chips. On the performance of the M1 chip, he boasted “We overshot” on performance, as well as expressed disbelief on the battery performance.

Later that year, he even said that it was possible to run an ARM version of Windows in emulation, but that it was “really up to Microsoft.”

Of course, Federighi has had to deal with repeated rumors of a combination of macOS and iPadOS into a single operating system. In 2025, he insisted that iPads won’t be running macOS anytime soon, despite the addition of macOS-like productivity elements.

Doing so would harm the touch experience on the iPad and lose what made it special.

The AI era

The slow rollout of Apple Intelligence and the mishandling of the Siri overhaul have been a big problem for Apple. However, it seems Federighi had a lot to do with Apple getting going with AI in the first place.

A June 2024 report claimed that Apple’s AI efforts led by John Giannandrea struggled for various reasons, including a lack of resources. Betting on the laid-back Google-like team wasn’t enough to catch up, and forced other teams to wade into AI, resulting in a piecemeal and incoherent approach.

Apple apparently started to turn things around when Federighi forced changes. After spending Christmas 2022 playing around with Microsoft Copilot, he became an AI convert.

This resulted in his team of software engineers being given resources to pursue AI and generative AI. He was also apparently involved in a deal that led to ChatGPT’s integration into Siri.

Craig Federighi in a skydiving skit – Image Credit: Apple

Federighi was bullish on AI, but certainly didn’t claim that Siri would suddenly become a sentient being. In October 2024, he said that improvements were on the way for Siri, but sentient-like actions weren’t on the roadmap.

In April 2025, it was revealed that the great AI internal shakeup and managerial reshuffle led to Siri being put under the oversight of Federighi more directly than it had been.

By June 2025, Apple viewed itself as being in a much better position when it came to AI. Federighi explained that contextual Siri with App Intents was actually working, and that Apple didn’t need to deliver every technology on Earth.

That is, while no-one doesn’t look at Apple as a major shopping destination like Apple nor a competitor to YouTube, the world somehow expected Apple to make an AI chatbot.

As AI continues to become a major element of modern-day computing, Apple can at least thank Federighi for stepping up, forcing change, and pushing Apple’s AI work on from its previously perilous position.

It doesn’t seem that Federighi will be heading out of the company anytime soon, even with the change to the inbound CEO John Ternus in the fall. Here’s hoping he does stick around to make Siri great again.

Thanks to the ever-rising number of scammers and spammers, answering a phone call or email from an unknown sender can be pretty daunting. Personally, I treat any unexpected call with a healthy dose of suspicion.

Deepfakes and AI scam calls are making it harder to parse malicious messages from the real thing. And with more than half of Americans affected by fraud in 2025, it’s more important than ever to keep your lines of communication secure.

Enter Surfshark: as our Surfshark review notes, it comes with a suite of tools to help you dodge scams and spam while keeping your identity safe online.

What’s more, we’ve got an exclusive deal that gives you $10, $20, or $30 in Amazon gift cards when you sign up for Surfshark Starter, Surfshark One, or Surfshark One+.

As well as offering the typical functions of a VPN – accessing content in other countries and enhancing browsing privacy – Surfshark comes equipped with a full suite of security tools that cover everything from calls to email to ad-blocking.

Surfshark Starter is currently available for $1.99 per month with a 27-month plan (paid up-front at $53.73, representing 24 months plus 3 extra). That’s an 87% saving over the pay-monthly cost, which totals $417.15 across the same time frame.

Surfshark One and Surfshark One+ up the price to $2.49 per month and $4.19 per month, respectively, when purchased as 27-month plans. Surfshark One adds a web content blocker and antivirus, while Surfshark One Plus offers web data removal via Incogni and up to $1 million in identity theft coverage.

As mentioned, all three tiers of Surfshark come with a selection of great security tools. As our Surfshark VPN review notes, Starter is far from a ‘lite’ version of the Surfshark experience, with full VPN, ad blocker, and ID protection features. Keep reading for a full breakdown.

What other options are there?

Surfshark is our pick for the best cheap VPN, and its unlimited device coverage is hard to ignore, but it’s not without its competitors, some of which go further in key areas.

Proton VPN’s Stealth protocol, for example, makes it easy to hide the fact you’re even using a VPN, which could be useful in countries with tighter VPN regulations or censorship laws.

For a little more cash, NordVPN is our pick for the best VPN overall, offering particularly excellent streaming performance. And for those on tighter budgets who just need a basic VPN, PrivadoVPN’s limited free service might be enough to get by – though it lacks Surfshark’s range of security features.

The Traitors New Zealand is finally back for a third season after being put on hold last year. Madeleine Sami takes over hosting duties from Paul Henry, who will not be part of Season 3.

A total of 21 contestants will play the game of trust and betrayal, but above all strategy, for a chance to win real money. They’re divided into two groups – Faithfuls and Traitors – and the latter are secretly chosen by the host.

Bad referee calls have become one of the NBA’s most frustrating recurring storylines, especially during the playoffs when every possession gets dissected online within seconds. Now, the league appears ready to lean much harder into artificial intelligence in an attempt to reduce controversial officiating decisions and calm growing fan anger around inconsistent calls.

According to recent comments from Adam Silver, the NBA is actively exploring how AI can improve officiating, replay analysis, and decision-making during games. The discussion comes at a time when criticism surrounding referees has intensified across the league, particularly as social media clips and slow-motion replays make every missed whistle instantly visible to millions of fans.

The NBA wants AI to assist officials instead of replacing them

Speaking about the future of officiating, Silver suggested AI could eventually help identify incorrect calls in real time and support referees during games rather than fully replacing human officials. The league reportedly sees artificial intelligence as a tool that could improve consistency, reduce human error, and make officiating decisions more accurate under pressure.

The NBA already relies heavily on technology through replay centers, player tracking systems, and advanced analytics. However, AI integration would take that much further by potentially analyzing movement patterns, contact, positioning, and foul situations instantly during live gameplay.

One of the league’s biggest concerns appears to be maintaining trust in officiating. Referee criticism has exploded in recent years as fans increasingly accuse officials of inconsistency, bias, or simply missing obvious calls during critical moments. The rise of sports betting has also intensified scrutiny around officiating decisions, since controversial calls can directly affect wagers alongside game outcomes.

Silver acknowledged that officiating remains one of the most difficult parts of professional basketball because referees must make split-second decisions while tracking ten players moving at extreme speed. AI, according to the NBA’s thinking, could act as an additional layer of support capable of processing far more visual information simultaneously than a human crew.

At the same time, the league does not appear interested in removing referees entirely. Instead, AI would likely function more as an intelligent assistant integrated into replay systems, game reviews, and real-time officiating support.

Why this matters

The NBA’s interest in AI reflects a much broader trend happening across professional sports. Leagues worldwide are increasingly experimenting with technology to reduce controversy and improve fairness.

Tennis already uses automated line-calling systems, football leagues are heavily dependent on VAR, and baseball continues to expand automated strike-zone testing. Basketball may now be heading toward its own AI-assisted officiating era.

For fans, the appeal is obvious. Fewer missed calls could mean fewer games overshadowed by officiating controversies rather than actual basketball. However, the idea is also controversial. Many fans already complain that replay reviews slow games down too much. Introducing AI into officiating could create concerns around over-analysis, delays, or removing the human element that has always existed in sports.

What happens next

The NBA is still in the early stages of exploring how AI could fit into officiating workflows, and there is currently no timeline for full implementation. Still, the league’s direction is becoming increasingly clear. As AI tools improve, the NBA appears determined to use technology more aggressively to protect the credibility of officiating and reduce fan frustration.

Whether AI can actually solve the referee problem is another question entirely. But for a league constantly battling viral outrage over bad calls, even partial improvements may be enough to justify the experiment.