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• MicroSD card survey tested 200 models to uncover fakes, performance gaps, and endurance failures
• Fake flash was common in cheap high-capacity cards, discarding data past true limits
• Name-brand cards generally outperformed off-brand models in speed, reliability, and total write endurance

One man has taken the task of testing microSD cards to a level most users would never entertain.

Over the course of a year, tech enthusiast Matt Cole bought and tested 200 different models, ranging from 8GB to 1TB, with a particular focus on identifying fakes, testing performance, and measuring durability.

Fifty-one of those cards failed during testing.

Writing over 100TB of data per day

Cole is the creator of The Great microSD Card Survey, a deep, evolving benchmark report (and a serious labor of love), that began in July 2023.

He built a testing rig with eight machines and nearly 70 card readers running continuously, writing over 100TB of data per day.

To date, the setup has written more than 18 petabytes of data to the cards under test conditions. Impressively, his entire effort is self-funded, although he does have an Amazon wishlist should anyone wish to buy him further cards to test.

Cole’s goal was to understand how these tiny storage devices differ across brand, price, and origin.

One of his main goals is to identify “fake flash,” where a card tells the host device it has more storage than it really does.

A 1TB card might really only store 8GB. Once that real limit is reached, new data is silently lost. He also highlights “skimpy flash,” where a card is technically real, but provides less usable space than advertised, a common issue even among name-brand cards.

His survey doesn’t stop at capacity. Cole also tested whether cards live up to their advertised speed class ratings, such as U1, U3, or V30.

He ran sequential and random I/O tests, then tracked endurance through repeated write and read cycles.

Some cards survived over 20,000 cycles, while others failed before reaching 500. Temperature monitoring was also part of the process, though it’s still unclear how much heat affects long-term performance.

Among the best microSD cards were the Kingston Canvas Go! Plus 64GB, PNY PRO Elite Prime 64GB, SanDisk Extreme 64GB, Delkin Devices HYPERSPEED 128GB, and Samsung EVO Plus 64GB.

These models performed well across multiple metrics and came close to advertised specs.

Cole’s blog includes charts and summaries to help buyers quickly find reliable options and it’s frankly a stunning piece of work. He’s not done yet either. Testing continues unabated, with more cards in queue, hopefully including some of the largest capacity models.

(Image credit: Matt Cole)More from TechRadar Pro

• We've rounded up the best microSD cards around
• And these are the largest microSD cards
• First 2TB MicroSD card is now on sale and no, it is not expensive at all

President Trump has announced that an Ultimate Fighting Championship bout will be held on the grounds of the White House next year, one of many events to be held to celebrate America's 250th birthday.

(Image credit: Alex Brandon)

Last week, a sad-eyed young man in an Apple Genius t-shirt said the six words no Apple aficionado wants to hear. "Your AirPods Pro 2," he said, "are borked".

He probably didn't use the word "borked", but that's what he meant: the right earbud was completely gone, and the left was on its way out too; my buds were out of warranty and I didn't have AppleCare on them either so I'd have had to replace both buds at full price. So you'd think I'd be rushing to Walmart or Amazon to take advantage of their $199 AirPods Pro 2 deals.

But I'm not, and I don't think you should either.

• See all of today's best Amazon deals

Why I'm keeping my AirPods Pro 2 powder dry

I'm hanging on for a few more days because while $50 off a pair of AirPods Pro 2 is a nice discount, it's not an amazing discount – and we've seen amazing AirPods Pro 2 discounts before.

Last summer, Amazon dropped the price of AirPods Pro 2 down to a very low $169. And last Black Friday it went lower still: AirPods Pro 2 were down to just $153.99 – and those were the USB-C ones, not the older Lightning ones.

Are you willing to hang on until next week in the hope that Amazon Prime Day will offer a bigger discount than $50 off the official price? I am.

The $153.99 price of Black Friday was an outlier, but they'd fallen to $159 on multiple occasions before that, and within in the last year their price has dropped below $175 on 10 occasions.

UK AirPods Pro 2 deals haven't been so spectacular, sadly: the AirPods Pro 2 dropped from the usual £229 to £179 just once, in December 2024, and they've only dipped below the £190 mark a handful of times. But today they're back up at £229, so I'd expect them to drop back down a bit next week, and for other places to match or exceed Amazon's discounting.

I'm not completely headphone-free, so while I do need to replace my AirPods Pro 2 pretty soon (I use them a lot for work, and for checking music mixes) I think the smart move is to wait for Prime Day next week to see how low they're going to go.

If they don't drop below the $199 mark then I haven't lost anything, but if they go much lower then buying a new pair is going to be a lot less painful.

Prime Day starts next week on Tuesday 8 July.

Amazon's early Prime Day sale - quick links

• Amazon Prime membership: free 30-day trial
• Amazon Devices: 50% off TVs, Echo & Fire Sticks
• Apple: AirPods + iPads from $99
• Back to school: deals from $5.99
• Beauty: 80% off toothbrushes & skincare
• Headphones: $120 off Bose, Apple & Sony
• Health: electric toothbrushes from $24.99
• Kitchen: 54% off Ninja, Nespresso & Keurig
• Laptops: record-low prices from $175
• Tablets: iPads and Samsung from $54.99
• Toys: 40% off Lego, scooters & Toniebox
• TVs: cheap TVs from $59.99
• Vacuums: Shark, Bissell & Dyson from $49.99

Russian missiles and drones hammered Kyiv in an overnight attack, the largest aerial assault on the Ukrainian capital since the war began more than three years ago.

(Image credit: Yehor Konovalov)

Immigration agents are raiding known hubs for Latino workers: day laborer gathering spots, street vendor corners and car washes. Legal advocacy groups say their tactics are unconstitutional.

(Image credit: Zaydee Sanchez for NPR)

• ExpressVPN has been hit by a class action lawsuit over alleged "illegal" auto-renewal fees
• A Californian customer accused ExpressVPN of automatically charging him a monthly fee without his consent
• Most popular VPN providers employ a similar auto-renewal system – a practice lawyers allege to go against California's consumer law

A customer in the US has sued VPN provider ExpressVPN over allegedly "illegal" auto-renewal fees.

Plaintiff Timothy Millar filed a class action lawsuit against ExpressVPN in California's Court on June 13, 2025, accusing the company of automatically charging him a monthly fee without his consent. Millar seeks to represent himself and all other California consumers who have been charged illegal auto-renewal fees at least once.

Despite a few exceptions, almost all the best VPNs on the market have a similar auto-renewal system in place to handle user subscriptions. Another provider, NordVPN, is facing a similar legal case in the US, as a law firm has already brought lawsuits on behalf of four plaintiffs so far.

What the lawsuit against ExpressVPN is about

As claimed by the lawsuit, Millar bought one month of the virtual private network (VPN) software in September 2022, thinking he was making a one-time purchase.

Yet, after his monthly plan expired, "Unbeknownst to him and without his consent, ExpressVPN enrolled him in an automatically renewing monthly plan," reads the suit, alleging that "that charge was illegal and should be refunded."

According to Miller's lawyers, such behavior is in clear contrast with the provider's obligations under California's Automatic Renewal Law (ARL). The law, in fact, requires companies adopting auto-renewal payment systems to provide "clear and conspicuous" disclosures about the auto-renewal plan and obtain "affirmative consent" to enroll consumers. Something that – the lawsuit claims – ExpressVPN failed to do "in nearly every way."

Furthermore, ExpressVPN is accused of violating the False Advertising Law by disseminating misleading advertisements about the automatically renewing nature of its plans.

Miller is now demanding a jury trial and monetary damages for himself and the proposed class.

TechRadar approached ExpressVPN for comments, and a company spokesperson shared this written statement: "We are aware of the filing in relation to a subscription from several years ago and intend to defend it. Unfortunately, we cannot comment on the specific allegations made in this complaint.

"ExpressVPN has always prioritized transparency and giving users clear information about pricing, billing, and auto-renewal – this information is clear and highly visible at each step of the checkout process.

"As a cybersecurity company, providing uninterrupted protection is important to our customers. This subscription model ensures that customers get the protection they need, without fail, on their devices. Customers can switch auto-renew off anytime via their account dashboards or by contacting support.

"We remain focused on delivering value to our users; ensuring they retain control over their digital privacy."

Time to ditch auto-renewal VPN plans?

(Image credit: Getty Images)

As mentioned earlier, NordVPN is also facing a lawsuit over alleged "illegal and deceptive" auto-renewal practices.

The Wittels McInturff Palikovic law firm has already presented legal complaints on behalf of four former NordVPN customers since April 2024 – and urges all NordVPN users who were charged for a subscription they did not want to come forward.

The same law firm has previously opened investigations into auto-enrollment practices against ExpressVPN, too, alongside Proton VPN and Private Internet Access (PIA). Yet, lawyers filed no lawsuit against these providers.

While it is still early to know if these ongoing class actions will change how VPN providers handle user subscriptions once and for all, there are a few exceptions on the market already that you can opt for instead of getting locked into an auto-renewal plan. Mullvad VPN, which axed all recurring subscriptions in 2022 in the name of users' privacy, is one of them.

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• First-look images of Android's upcoming Live Updates function revealed
• Similar feel to iOS Live Activities
• Live Updates is currently only functional in the latest Android 16 QPR1 beta, but should widely rolled out next quarter

Google unveiled its upcoming Live Updates feature at this year’s Google I/O event back in May, and though the Android 16 roll out has begun, it won’t be widely available for another few months.

In the meantime, Google has released new insights to its version of iOS’ Live Activities, including what kind of apps the feature will support.

Android 16’s Live Updates is similar to Live Activities in iOS, which displays timely information and ‘progress-style’ notifications on your lock screen that are updated frequently, meaning you won’t have to open apps to view their status. At the moment, Live Updates is only functional in the latest Android 16 QPR1 beta, but it’s expected to land with the wider Android 16 roll out later in the year.

Since it was first previewed at Google I/O, the functionality and appearance of the feature itself has remained ambiguous, but a recent post on the Android Developers page gives further details on what we can expect from Live Updates – including a first look at the feature in action.

(Image credit: 9to5Google)

In Android’s post, Live Updates will be used ‘for activities that are ongoing, user-initiated and time sensitive’. Similarly to Live Activities in iOS, Android 16’s Live Updates will support phone calls, food and rideshare tracking, and ‘active navigation’ for apps that show live trip progress such as Google Maps.

Google even goes into detail about how developers should show Live Updates when it comes to time sensitive notifications, using the following explanation:

‘A Live Update is often appropriate for activities that transition between Live Updates and normal notifications. For example, showing a boarding pass notification is appropriate many hours before a user's flight, but the notification should become a Live Update only when the user has a pressing need, such as when they have arrived at the airport or venue or once boarding has begun. In contrast, a Live Update isn't appropriate for tracking a package as the user doesn't need to constantly monitor this’.

Android has its boundaries

While Google has given us the long-awaited visual insight to Live Updates, the company has also been clear with app developers that the feature should not be abused.

In its post, Google has been quite explicit with this, stating ‘Don't use Live Updates to offer accelerated access to app functionality’. Ads, promotions, chat messages, alerts, upcoming calendar events, and quick access to app features have been deemed as ‘inappropriate uses’.

Now the only key detail that’s missing is an official roll out date for Live Updates. As mentioned above, Live Updates is only available with the latest Android 16 QPR1 beta but Android Authority’s findings hint that apps will start leaning into this function next quarter when the update is expected to go live.

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• Spider-Man: Brand New Day will reportedly start filming in August
• Tom Holland's next outing as the famous webslinger will initially be shot in Scotland
• The Marvel Phase 6 movie is currently due to be released in July 2026

The production wheels on Spider-Man: Brand New Day are finally ready to turn after reports emerged it'll start filming in August.

Cameras will begin rolling on Tom Holland's next big-screen outing as the famous Marvel superhero next month, according to two Scottish outlets. The Glasgow Times and Herald Scotland have indicated principal photography will get underway on August 2, with Glasgow acting as a cost-saving stand-in for New York City.

Both newspapers have reported that numerous roads will be inaccessible to vehicles (except for emergency services) and the public from July 28 until August 13. Production designers and set dressers will move in to alter the appearance of certain streets to give them an American feel before the Marvel Phase 6 movie's first scenes are filmed between August 3 and 8.

There's no word on which actors will be present on set to start shooting Spider-Man 4, but I'm hoping that some of my biggest questions about the forthcoming flick will be answered once filming begins.

What questions do I want answering when filming on Spider-Man 4 starts?

Spider-Man: Brand New Day's initial days of filming might reveal some surprising details about it (Image credit: Sony Pictures/Marvel Entertainment)

The main query I have is who's actually been cast in Spider-Man's latest adventure.

So far, Holland is the only actor confirmed to appear. He'll reprise his role as Peter Parker and his superhuman alter-ego, but the rest of the movie's cast remains a mystery.

Well, on the official confirmation front, anyway. There have been plenty of rumors, plus unofficial actor confirmations via the trades, about who'll show up in one of 2026's most anticipated new movies.

For example, Zendaya and Jacob Batalon have been linked with roles in Brand New Day. The pair last appeared in a Marvel film in 2021's Spider-Man: No Way Home, but they also played MJ and Ned Leeds in Holland's two other solo movies. Considering how the aforementioned flick ended, it's unlikely they'll have substantial roles this time around.

Elsewhere, Stranger Things star Sadie Sink is reportedly set to co-star alongside Holland in Spider-Man 4. There's no word on who she might portray, but Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) fans have their theories.

There are numerous other new and established MCU characters who could show up. Brand New Day may bring John Bernthal's Frank Castle/The Punisher to the silver screen for the first time. Mark Ruffalo's Bruce Banner/The Hulk has also been tapped to appear in Spider-Man 4 if online gossip columns are to be believed. There's speculation that three big Spider-Man villains could pop up in Brand New Day, too.

Away from its potential castings, I also want to know if it'll be another multiversal film or not. I'd prefer Brand New Day to be more of a street-level story for the wallcrawler, but considering No Way Home made over $1 billion globally thanks to its multiversal Spider-Man team-up, I wouldn't be surprised if some parallel universe shenanigans have been woven into its plot.

I don't expect Spider-Man 4's first few days of filming to confirm or deny any or all of these rumors. Nevertheless, whether some of them are officially addressed by Marvel and/or Sony, or we discover more details by way of any leaks that emerge from its set, I'm hoping we learn something new about its cast and plot ahead of Spider-Man 4's July 31, 2026 launch date.

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• Wix and Alibaba are fusing services
• Wix users get to easily tap into Alibaba’s B2B marketplace
• Alibaba users get to build great-looking storefronts easily

Alibaba and Wix have announced a new partnership, which will see customers of both platforms benefit from the other's features and services.

In a press release shared with TechRadar Pro, the two companies said the collaboration will fuse Alibaba’s wholesale ecosystem with Wix’s website builder and ecommerce infrastructure.

Under the deal, Wix merchants will get access to Alibaba’s B2B marketplace by simply downloading the Alibaba Seller App through the Wix Marketplace. Among other things, this will allow them to become Global Gold Suppliers, connecting directly with millions of verified global buyers.

At the same time, Alibaba’s sellers get to build branded B2B and D2C storefronts using Wix’s AI-powered solutions. Through the partnership, they will be able to use Wix’s ecommerce automation solutions, as well as built-in marketing, simplifying brand identity development and reaching a global audience - easily.

Win-win

The partnership centers around three key initiatives - seller App Integration for easy onboarding and cross-platform product syncing, curated sourcing from Alibaba.com's wholesale marketplace, tailored for Wix merchants, and access to Wix's AI suite for Alibaba.com sellers to quickly build and scale their digital storefronts.

Executives from both companies framed the move as a win for small businesses navigating the complexities of global trade.

“Our partnership with Wix simplifies the complexities of international trade,” said Kuo Zhang, President of Alibaba.com, “offering small businesses streamlined solutions for sourcing, selling, and expanding their global reach.”

For Nir Zohar, President of Wix, the move “opens powerful new opportunities for our users to tap into international wholesale markets, while also giving Alibaba.com merchants the ability to create stronger, more direct connections with their customers.”

The rollout will be phased, the two companies said in the press release, with a number of features and enhancements already planned for the future. Among them are AI-powered product discovery, automated onboarding processes, and intelligent product-matching tools.

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The Witcher 4 has now been officially revealed, with an announcement trailer confirming that the game will focus on Ciri as the main protagonist. This latest look does give us an idea as to the overall darker vibe of this new game, though it doesn't contain any hints on a possible release window.

Ever since developer CD Projekt Red announced The Witcher 4 and referred to the game with its codename of 'Polaris', fans have been studying the teaser image shared alongside the upcoming game's announcement. It depicts a Lynx medallion, and could point to a new Witcher school that'll feature in what is set to be the first in a new trilogy.

While we wait for further news on The Witcher 4, here's everything that's been revealed about the game so far. As more details are shared by the developer, you'll find this page updated - we're as excited as you are so can't wait to get more details.

The Witcher 4: cut to the chase

• What is it? The next mainline game in The Witcher series
• When can I play it? TBC
• What can I play it on? TBC
• Who is making it? CD Projekt Red

The Witcher 4 - what we know so far

(Image credit: CD Projekt RED)

There are few details available about The Witcher 4. The announcement official blog post only confirms it's in development and that it's being built in Unreal Engine 5. We do now have a trailer, which confirms Ciri as the protagonist. Even so, aside from an admittedly gorgeous cinematic sequence, the trailer holds few concrete details related to the story.

Unfortunately, you're probably not playing The Witcher 4 until 2027 at the earliest, according to CD Projekt's latest financial update. Hopefully it'll be well worth the wait.

Over the years, CD Projekt Red has said plenty about what a future Witcher game would involve:

"The first three 'Witchers' were by definition a trilogy, so we simply could not name the next game 'The Witcher 4'," Kiciński said in an interview. "This does not mean, of course, that we will leave the world of The Witcher."

It would appear that the team has since had a change of heart in this regard, with the game having been officially revealed as The Witcher 4. It's possible that this could be a placeholder name, but seeing as we're following an older Ciri, it does seem to follow The Witcher 3.

At the end of The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine, monster hunter Geralt was alive and well. Well, he was alive, at least. But his story arc had ended, the Wild Hunt was over. That doesn't mean he won't return in this new Witcher game, though we do now know that he won't be the main character.

The developer said as much back in 2013: "We are not killing the world and walking away from it, but we will definitely want to make this game the finale in a big way," executive producer John Mamais told Polygon. "We might even include Geralt in later games potentially. We just need to talk about it and figure out what we're going to do next."

In 2015, speaking to IGN, Senior Writer Jakub Szamałek confirmed that the studio felt that The Witcher 3 was a natural endpoint for Geralt: "[he] has had such an amazing adventure, and his saga is already so long and complex that this seemed like a good point to think about an appropriate finale for the story.”

The confirmation that the medallion shown in the game's announcement picture is a lynx certainly suggests that the game will take things in a new direction. Potentially, that introduces an entirely new Witcher school.

The author of the Witcher books, Andrzej Sapkowski, signed a new deal with the company to "further solidify their relationship". So. the studio is free to pull from any one of his short stories or novels. (If you want to get caught up, here's how to read The Witcher books in order.)

The Witcher 4 trailer

The Witcher 4 was fully revealed during The Game Awards 2024. The cinematic trailer, which can be viewed above, shows a young girl being prepared for sacrifice to a monster. Ciri intervenes, following the young girl and facing off against the creature. It's clear that Ciri is early on in her Witcher journey, but manages to best the monster in combat, making use of some new abilities.

So far, we've only had one trailer for The Witcher 4. Keep an eye on the official The Witcher YouTube channel for new trailers, or find them in this section once they are released.

The Witcher 4 engine

(Image credit: Unreal Engine)

This is a relatively massive factor that's confirmed for The Witcher 4, and one we're certainly excited about. Back in the Spring of 2023, the development team confirmed that The Witcher 4 would be built on Unreal Engine 5 - instead of the studio's own engine, REDengine.

The latter was used on The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 so has its merits, but, in brief, moving to Unreal Engine 5 means the studio has more access to wider features, solutions, and tools that can make environments more detailed, more realistic, and have a great sense of overall visual fidelity than ever before.

As a note, this does mark the beginning of a partnership with Epic but does not mean the game will be an Epic Game Store exclusive. This partnership lead to a technical demo reveal for The Witcher 4, showing off an early technical build of the game running on a base PS5 at 60fps (June 3, 2025). You can check out the video below:

The Witcher 4 FAQ

(Image credit: CD Projekt Red)Who will be the main character in The Witcher 4?

Ciri will be the main character in The Witcher 4. This was confirmed following the official reveal trailer that aired at the end of The Game Awards 2024.

Will The Witcher 4 be on PS5?

CD Projekt RED is yet to confirm The Witcher 4 platforms. Given that there's no release window, it's possible that we could be waiting until next-gen for it to launch. The Witcher 3 originally launched for PS4, Xbox One and PC, so we're expecting The Witcher 4 to be multi-platform as well, at least until the developers reveal otherwise.

Will Geralt be in The Witcher 4?

While The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and its two expansions rounded off Geralt's trilogy incredibly well, there has been a constant desire from fans to know whether Geralt will be in The Witcher 4.

Thanks to recent comments from Geralt's voice actor, it does seem that the character will feature in The Witcher 4, but won't be the protagonist. Spotted by VGC, Geralt's voice actor, Doug Cockle, spoke as a guest on a YouTube channel known as Fall Damage. During the spot, he revealed some rather interesting tidbits about the upcoming game.

"What we know is that Geralt will be part of the game, we just don't know how much," Cockle said during the interview. "The game won't focus on Geralt - it's not about him this time. We don't know who it's about, I'm excited to find out, I wanna know!"

Of course, we now know that The Witcher 4 will focus on Ciri, though hopefully we'll see Geralt in some form or another.

Has Ciri been recast for The Witcher 4?

Eagle-eared fans were quick to notice that Ciri sounds very different in the recent The Witcher 4 cinematic trailer, which debuted at The Game Awards 2024 last week. This led many to speculate online that the character has been recast.Now we know that this is definitely the case as, in a new statement given to gaming blog The Gamer, developer CD Projekt Red confirmed that Irish actor “Ciara Berkeley was cast as Ciri for The Witcher 4 Cinematic Reveal Trailer.”

The Witcher 4 news

(Image credit: CD Projekt RED)

Geralt voice actor says CD Projekt Red's decision to make Ciri the star of The Witcher 4 is 'really exciting'
Doug Cockle, the voice behind Geralt in the first three The Witcher games, has shared his enthusiasm for the switch to Ciri, saying there are "all kinds of reasons" that make the choice exciting, mainly for how her role in the books is portrayed.

The Witcher 4 officially announced at The Game Awards 2024
In a surprise turn of events, CD Projekt Red has unveiled the first official look at The Witcher 4 at The Game Awards 2024, and yes, Ciri is the playable protagonist.

CD Projekt Red announces The Witcher 4 has now entered "full-scale production"
CD Projekt Red has provided an update on the development of The Witcher 4, stating that the upcoming game is now in "full production".

The Witcher 4 will have a focus on freedom
Sebastien Kalemba, game director at CDPR, was speaking at the very end of 2023 about creating new takes on RPG gameplay and features for The Witcher 4. The intent is to push the boundaries of RPG games and there's a desire to "tell something more intense, with also more intense gameplay."

A huge chunk of CD Projekt Red's workforce is now working on The Witcher 4
At the end of November 2023, CDPR revealed via an earnings report that the production team working on The Witcher 4 had grown to around 330 people actively working on the game. This number is set to grow to over 400 by mid-2024 as production gathers real steam. As first reported at the time of this news, 330 represents just under half of CDPR's development staff.

CDPR is already running internal demos of The Witcher 4 on consoles
Learning its lesson from Cyberpunk 2077, the devs at CDPR are already going to great lengths to test their next project - and do so from the early stages. As reported by our sister site GamesRadar+, in an interview with Inven Global, CD Projeckt Red engineering director Colin Walder has confirmed that, learning from Cyberpunk 2077's disastrous launch on consoles in 2020, "For our next project, Polaris, we're already running our demos and internal reviews on the console from the very beginning." This means that The Witcher 4 is already being tested on consoles to ensure that when the day comes, it'll have a better chance at sticking its landing.

The Witcher 4 has its Game Director
Sebastian Kalemba, the former Lead Animator on The Witcher 3, has been announced as the Game Director for The Witcher 4. They announced this on Twitter, stating that they aim to 'raise the bar.'

Polaris, and a brand new trilogy
In early October 2022, CD Projekt RED announced a bunch of new titles via Twitter, including a new The Witcher trilogy. Polaris (what we've been calling The Witcher 4) will kick off the new saga, which will then play out over 6 years from the first release. This is obviously a huge undertaking, so we'll have to wait and see whether it pays off.

The Witcher 4 teaser image sparks many theories
When The Witcher 4 was first announced it used the image we have as our header here - that of a partially snow-covered Witcher medallion - and it sparked much debate about which school it was, and whether that gave anything away. As reported by our brethren at GamesRadar+ at the time, the medallion was initially thought to be of the School of the Cat - which would imply a connection to Ciri as she came into possession of one after seizing it from Leo Bonhart. However, this was then debunked on Twitter when community director Marcin Momot reacted positively to a fan asking whether it was actually the medallion from the School of the Lynx.

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• A huge leak has revealed Apple’s Mac plans for the next 18 months
• It contains data on close to 20 upcoming Mac desktops and MacBooks
• There are a few intriguing surprises nestled inside the leak

Apple is known for keeping its upcoming products a closely-guarded secret, but that doesn’t stop information leaking out from its fortress-like walls. That’s just happened again, and this time a mother lode of Mac data has seemingly emerged from inside the company’s labs.

This leak comes from AppleInsider, and the news outlet says it sourced it from “our own data and information shared with us.” It includes records on close to 20 of the best Macs that Apple is set to release over the next year or so, giving us a rare sneak peek at the company’s future plans.

AppleInsider’s sources shared product codenames and other related information, which AppleInsider has used to piece together what might be on the menu. In some cases, this takes the form of simple common sense: Apple is planning to upgrade all of its MacBooks to the M5 chip series, for example.

There are a few interesting tidbits, though, such as AppleInsider’s contention that an M5 iMac might be in the works, alongside a new Mac Pro with either an M3 Ultra or M5 Ultra chip. Both the iMac and the Mac Pro have gone years without a significant upgrade.

We can also glean an intriguing detail about Apple’s M6 MacBook Pro, which is likely to launch in late 2026. Rumors have claimed that this could come with an extensive hardware overhaul (including an OLED display), but the device’s alleged identifier numbers – K114 and K116 – imply that the laptop might retain its current size options.

If the 14 and 16 in K114 and K116 correspond to screen measurements, that suggests that the M6 MacBook Pro could be keeping its current 14-inch and 16-inch options.

Nearly 20 new Macs in the works

(Image credit: Mark Kauzlarich/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Almost all of the report’s device codenames could be matched with existing devices based on past releases.

For instance, the Mac mini with M4 Pro chip used the J773s model number, so the new J873s codename in AppleInsider’s data likely corresponds to an M5 Pro variant. Yet there was one mysterious device that could not be identified, and AppleInsider speculates that it could be the much-rumored MacBook powered by Apple’s A18 chip. Time will tell on that one.

Besides the expected models we’ve discussed above, AppleInsider’s report omitted model identifiers for a few Macs you’d expect to see. While the outlet discussed the Mac mini with M5 Pro chip, for example, it says it was not informed about the entry-level M5 Mac mini – although it added that this device is surely a given if the M5 Pro model is also in development.

There’s a lot of data to sift through in AppleInsider’s report, so we’ve put it into a table below for simple viewing. We’ve included predicted release dates alongside the Mac models, although these are only estimates and could change over time. The table only includes devices with identifier numbers provided by AppleInsider, so variants like the M5 Mac mini are not present.

Mac model

Predicted release date

Mac mini (M5 Pro)

2025

iMac (M5)

2025

14-inch MacBook Pro (M5 Pro)

Fall 2025

14-inch MacBook Pro (M5 Max)

Fall 2025

16-inch MacBook Pro (M5 Pro)

Fall 2025

16-inch MacBook Pro (M5 Max)

Fall 2025

Mac Pro (first variant, likely with Ultra chip)

Late 2025

Mac Pro (second variant, likely with Ultra chip)

Late 2025

Mac Studio (Max chip)

2026

Mac Studio (Ultra chip)

2026

13-inch MacBook Air (M5)

Early 2026

15-inch MacBook Air (M5)

Early 2026

14-inch MacBook Pro (M6 Pro)

Late 2026

14-inch MacBook Pro (M6 Max)

Late 2026

16-inch MacBook Pro (M6 Pro)

Late 2026

16-inch MacBook Pro (M6 Max)

Late 2026

MacBook (A18 Pro)

?

As this is all merely rumored information, we’ll have to wait to see how accurate it proves to be. Much of it lines up with previous reports, though, so it might not be entirely wide of the mark – which makes it a handy resource if you're thinking of upgrading your Mac in the near future.

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• Apps would hide on a device as soon as they're installed, to avoid removal
• They would serve unwanted, out-of-context ads to victims
• The apps were removed from the Play Store

A major ad fraud campaign comprising hundreds of Android applications has been discovered and dismantled, security researchers HUMAN have said.

The IconAds campaign worked by displaying ads without proper context, or user consent - and to make matters worse, once the apps were installed on an Android device, they would hide their icons from the users, making it more difficult to find and uninstall.

In total, the campaign counted 352 Android apps, and during peak activity, it had 1.2 billion bid requests a day, the researchers said.

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Smuggling through

We don’t know on how many devices the apps were installed, but we do know that they managed to sneak past Google’s defenses and into the Google Play Store, and the majority of traffic came from Brazil, Mexico, and the United States.

This has now been remedied, and these apps removed. However, it’s safe to assume that new ones will emerge soon: "Many IconAds-associated apps have short shelf lives before being removed from the Play Store," HUMAN researchers said.

"With the several evolutions of this threat, researchers expect continued adaptation, with new apps published and new obfuscation techniques added."

The campaign has been active since at least 2019, when the first apps were uploaded to the app repository.

Google’s mobile app store is generally considered safe. However, its defenses are not impenetrable, and every now and then, malicious apps get through, at least for a short while.

For that reason, users should never blindly trust apps, even when coming from such a reputable source. Instead, they should always mind the download count and user reviews. Newly released apps with fewer downloads have a higher chance of being malicious, and many cybercriminals spoof user reviews, so it is important to carefully read them. Nowadays, most of them are generated by AI and sound superficial and bland, and user accounts have generic names, often similar to one another.

Via The Hacker News

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• The EU Commission presented a Roadmap on how it intends to ensure that law enforcement has effective and lawful access to citizens' data
• Politicians seek to establish a precedent for the decryption of private data
• The Roadmap is part of the ProtectEU strategy, first unveiled in April 2025

EU law enforcement bodies could be capable of decrypting your private data by 2030.

This is one of the ambitious goals the EU Commission presented in its Roadmap on June 24, 2025. A plan on how the bloc intends to ensure police officers' "lawful and effective" access to citizens' data.

The Roadmap is the first step forward in the ProtectEU strategy, first unveiled in April 2025 – but privacy experts have already begun raising the alarm.

How the EU plans to achieve lawful access to data

ProtectEU represents the EU Commission's internal strategy to bolster the security of the European bloc in the years to come.

It stems from the work of the High-Level Group (HLG) carried on under the so-called Going Dark initiative. The group was tasked, by the EU Council in June 2023, to develop a strategic plan "on access to data for effective law enforcement."

Specifically, the group's final report, published in March 2025, referred to end-to-end encryption as "the biggest technical challenge" to the investigative work of law enforcement agencies, explicitly targeting the use of the best VPN services, encrypted messaging apps, and similar tools.

The Roadmap marks a key part of the strategy, providing more detail on how lawmakers plan to address what they refer to as "the growing challenges of accessing critical digital evidence" during criminal investigations.

(Image credit: Bjorn Bakstad, via Getty Images)

The plan focuses on six key areas:

• Data retention. The EU Commission is expected to carry out an impact assessment with the aim of extending the EU's data retention obligations and reinforcing cooperation between service providers and authorities.
• Lawful interception. Lawmakers seek to explore measures aimed at improving cross-border cooperation for lawful interception of data by 2027.
• Digital forensics. The goal here is to develop technical solutions that allow authorities to analyze and preserve digital evidence stored on electronic devices.
• Decryption. Next year, the EU Commission is set to present a Technology Roadmap on encryption to identify and evaluate decrypting solutions. These technologies are expected to equip Europol officers from 2030.
• Standardisation. The Commission is said to be committed to working alongside Europol, industry stakeholders, experts, and law enforcement practitioners to standardize the new approach to internal security.
• AI solutions for law enforcement. Lawmakers also seek to promote the development and deployment of AI tools by 2028. These solutions will enable authorities to lawfully and effectively process large volumes of seized data.

What the experts are saying

Experts have long warned against proposed plans to break encryption, meaning the technology responsible for scrambling data into an unreadable form to prevent unauthorized access.

Now, according to Internet Society's Senior Director, Robin Wilton, another move towards the decryption of private data is concerning.

"Efforts to develop decryption techniques almost inevitably introduce new vulnerabilities that could be exploited by anyone with the motivation and know-how; they may also encourage the 'hoarding' of vulnerabilities, which is contrary to good cybersecurity practice," Wilton told TechRadar.

These comments echoed previous warnings from technologists, cryptographers, and privacy advocates who were "deeply concerned" by the EU plan to weaken encryption.

The EU initiative Going Dark has now been launched by the EU Commission. They call it ProtectEU.It’s a rebranding of Chat Control. New name. Same old propaganda.The EU Commission’s goal is to “access encrypted data in a lawful manner, safeguarding cybersecurity and…April 4, 2025

A surge in cyberattacks worldwide has pushed government bodies, including the FBI and CISA in the US, to encourage citizens to switch to end-to-end encrypted services to fight back against these threats.

The European Commission itself even previously acknowledged encryption as a necessary measure to protect the integrity of cyberspace.

This is probably the reason why a similar proposal to create a backdoor into encryption, the so-called Chat Control bill, has been failing to attract the needed majority since 2022.

Now, lawmakers promise to be committed to finding the right balance between "allowing for efficient and future-proof solutions to facilitate law enforcement’s lawful access to digital information, while respecting the right to privacy and maintaining high levels of cybersecurity," said EU Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration, Magnus Brunner.

For Wilton, policymakers must never forget one simple fact: "Strong encryption isn’t the enemy of security – it’s the starting point for it."

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Peacemaker season 2: key information

- Releasing worldwide on August 21
- Comprises eight episodes
- First trailer unveiled in May
- Main cast all set to return
- Will also feature new and established characters in the rebooted DCU
- Plot synopsis revealed
- Addresses season 1's canonicity in the DCU
- Third season hasn't been greenlit yet

Get your dancing shoes on, because Peacemaker season 2 is just over a month away from being released. The John Cena-starring comic book TV series will launch worldwide on August 21, so you've still got time to learn more about the hit HBO Max show's return.

Indeed, this ultimate guide to all things Peacemaker will walk you through its sophomore season. You'll find more information on its first trailer, confirmed cast, story specifics, and potential impact on James Gunn and Peter Safran's rebooted DC Universe (DCU).

Full spoilers follow for Peacemaker season 1. Possible spoilers are also discussed for its follow-up.

Peacemaker season 2 release date

Counting the days until Peace on Earth. I just finished the DI & Mix on the Season Premiere yesterday and wow it’s one of my favorite things ever. DC Studios’ #Peacemaker Season 2 coming soon only on @StreamOnMax August 21. pic.twitter.com/df3yOcCsdnApril 7, 2025

Peacemaker season 2's release date was confirmed in April and it'll launch on HBO Max in nations where the streaming service is available on Thursday, August 21. It should air on Sky and Now TV in the UK, too.

This release date is in line with what Casey Bloys, HBO's TV chief, told journalists last November 2024, when he teased that the release window for Peacemaker season 2 would likely launch in August 2025.

Peacemaker season 2 trailer

Peacemaker season 2's first trailer was released publicly in May and there's quite a bit it revealed about this season's plot. Namely, that the titular metahuman will be hunted down by Rick Flag Sr – remember, Peacemaker killed Rick Flag Jr in 2021's The Suicide Squad movie – and, by way of a larger and/or multiversal Quantum Unfolding Chamber, cross over in the DCU from the now-defunct DC Extended Universe (DCEU).

The official trailer's arrival came six months after season 2's first footage was revealed by way of a 2025 HBO Max sizzle reel video. With DC Studios holding a panel for Peacemaker 2 at San Diego Comic-Con 2025, I fully expect a new trailer to drop around July 26/27, too.

Peacemaker season 2 cast

Emilia Harcourt and Chris Smith are part of season 2's cast roster (Image credit: Curtis Bonds Baker/Max)

Full spoilers follow for Peacemaker season 1.

Here's who you'll see in Peacemaker season 2:

• John Cena as Christopher Smith/Peacemaker
• Danielle Brooks as Leota Adebayo
• Freddie Stroma as Adrian Chase/Vigilante
• Jennifer Holland as Emilia Harcourt
• Steve Agee as John Economos
• Nhut Le as Judomaster
• Robert Patrick as Auggie Smith/White Dragon
• Viola Davis as Amanda Waller
• Frank Grillo as Rick Flag Sr.
• Tim Meadows as Langston Fleury
• Sol Rodriguez as Sasha Bordeaux
• Michael B. Rooker as Red St. Wild
• David Denman as TBC
• Isabela Merced as Kendra Saunders/Hawkgirl
• Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner/Green Lantern
• Sean Gunn as Maxwell Lord

Chukwudi Iwuji’s Clemson Murn/Ik Nobe Llok, who died in season 1 episode 7, notwithstanding, the fist eight actors are all reprising their role from the series' debut season. That's in spite of Patrick's Auggie Smith also perishing last season, but he's likely returning as a ghost who, as the season 1 finale indicated, will continue to haunt his son.

On the newcomer front, the headline news is Grillo – best known for playing Brock 'Crossbones' Rumlow in the Captain America movies – will appear as Flag Sr. Grillo voiced the character's animated form in season 1 of R-rated TV series Creature Commandos, which launched on HBO Max last December and was the DCU's first project.

Peacemaker season 2 will be the third time we've seen Rick Flag Sr in the DCU (Image credit: Jessica Miglio/Max)

As we'll soon learn about in James Gunn's Superman movie, which flies into theaters on July 11, Flag Sr is the new head of ARGUS, a government organization that keeps tabs on DC Comics' various metahumans. As for why Davis' Waller isn't ARGUS chief anymore, Gunn said (via Threads) that season 2 will address this.

Other cast additions include Rodriguez (Star Trek: Picard) and Meadows (Mean Girls) as Bordeaux and Fleury, who appear to be ARGUS agents. Denman's role is yet to be publicly confirmed.

A post shared by James Gunn (@jamesgunn)

A photo posted by on

Meanwhile, Rooker is on board as an original character called Red St. Wild, who is the character in the above Instagram image. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly (EW), Gunn said he'll be the antagonist of a secondary plot involving Eagly, Peacemaker's bald eagle sidekick. Gunn's brother Sean, Merced, and Fillion will cameo as the Justice Gang, too, and interview Chris Smith for a position on their corporately-managed team.

Lastly, there are rumors (per Cinemablend) that Joel Kinnaman could return as Flag Jr. As I mentioned earlier, Smith killed him in The Suicide Squad so, if Kinnaman does return, he may do so as another apparition that Smith's guilty conscious creates. Oh, and Gunn also told EW: "There might even be one really, really, really big cameo near the end of the show", so place your bets on who that'll be.

Peacemaker season 2 story synopsis and speculation

Peacemaker season 2 is set a couple of years after its predecessor, according to DCU co-chief James Gunn (Image credit: Jessica Miglio/Max)

Full spoilers follow for Peacemaker season 1. Potential spoilers are also discussed for season 2.

Here's Peacemaker season 2's official logline: "The new season follows Christopher 'Chris Smith, aka Peacemaker, the vigilante superhero as he struggles to reconcile his past with his newfound sense of purpose while continuing to kick righteous evil-doer butt in his misguided quest for peace at any cost."

Before we dive into more potentially spoiler-filled story territory, let's address the question on every fan's mind: will Peacemaker season 2 feature a new, dance number-esque intro sequence that'll surely go viral on TikTok? In short: yes.

"I'm very happy with it," Cena told Collider. "I want to say so much more, but I’ll just say I'm very happy with it. Everyone was super enthused and also understood how important it is this time around, and I really hope that shows. I know the show is great. In my mind, the opening number is great. I hope the world agrees."

"I'll give you an exclusive," Gunn also told EW. "You get to see Eagly try to dance, so that's really something. He is not the best at it, but he tries to really join in the dance sequence at the end. He's got a little pose this time."

Langston Fleury (right) will replace Smith as this season's primary "a*****e", Gunn says (Image credit: Curtis Bonds Baker/Max)

But back to season 2's actual plot. "It essentially picks up where season 1 left off," Gunn told a fan on Threads, although he added that there’ll be "a couple of minor differences". Per EW, Gunn also said "a couple of years" have passed since last season's finale. Those "minor differences" are to be expected, especially in light of the fact that seasons 1 and 2 exist in completely different comic book universes.

Speaking to IGN, though, Gunn said of season 1's canonicity in the DCU: “The truth is almost all of Peacemaker is canon with the exception of The Justice League [who cameo at the end of season 1]. We will kind of deal with [that in season 2]". Gunn also teased (via EW) that the Quantum Unfolding Chamber, which we saw last season, "is the center of the story in Peacemaker season 2" and is likely to reveal how this series crosses over into and merges with the DCU.

Chris Smith will spend much of this chapter trying to stay out of Flag Sr's reach, too. Indeed, Flag Sr will be on a "mission of justice" to avenge his son's death. ARGUS' new chief has plenty of resources at his disposal – given his own military background, he's no slouch, either – so expect Peacemaker 2.0's story to largely center around this cat and mouse game as Flag Sr pursues the man who murdered his only child.

As for what lies in store if (or, rather, when) the pair physically and verbally clash, Grillo told Collider: “We do get into it. I’m not going to give anything away. It’s an interesting thing about Peacemaker and his perspective about my son, and what his feelings are about himself because of that. So, we did get into some tangles, but I don’t know that people are going to expect what’s to happen."

The Justice Gang won't take Smith's application to join their team seriously (Image credit: HBO Max/DC Studios)

Smith will continue to contend with other moments his own trauma-laced past, including accidentally killing his older brother, dealing with his xenophobic and uncaring father (albeit from beyond the grave), and securing peace no matter who dies in the process.

He redeemed himself somewhat by helping to put a stop to the Butterflies in season 1 – so much so that, as the DCU Chapter One show's first trailer reveals, he'll even try and join the DCU's Justice Gang, which we'll first see in 2025's Superman. It seems, though, that it'll take more than one world-saving mission to remove the 'anti' part of his anti-hero facade.

"He's basically interviewing for membership in the group," Gunn said to EW, "But, they just mock him the entire time, so he's not taken seriously. He's still considered a punchline among all of the other metahumans, so he's starting the season in a bad place. As are all of our heroes, all of the 11th Street kids – well, everybody but Vigilante, who just always seems to be okay with everything."

Freddit Stroma's scene-stealing character is back for more R-rated action in season 2 (Image credit: Jessica Miglio/Max)

Hopefully, every member of the 11th Street Kids will not only get their moment to shine in one of the best HBO Max shows' sophomore outing, but also be explored in more detail, too, especially from emotional and psychological perspectives.

"[Season 2 ] is all about the twists and turns," Gunn told EW. "It's about the surprises we find out in episode 1, 6, and 8. And it's a very, very emotional season – there's a lot of comedy like the first season, but there's also a lot of emotion in it, and it's really good."

How will Peacemaker season 2 impact the wider DCU?

Peacemaker season 2 will address how John Cena's titular character will join the DCU (Image credit: HBO Max/DC Studios)

The short answer is: I don't know. Once Peacemaker season 2 is out in full, we'll have a much better idea of how its story will affect the DCU moving forward.

For now, all Gunn has said (via EW) is "I developed it [season 2] along the way, in conjunction with the other DC projects that we're doing, so it's very much connected to Superman and it's very much connected to what comes after."

Right now, there are only three live-action projects in development at DC Studios: Supergirl (formally known as Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow), Lanterns, and Clayface. Of that trio, Lanterns is arguably the production that'll be most impacted by Peacemaker 2, especially with Fillion's Gardner set to have a role in the DCU's Green Lantern TV show.

How the other two movies or other unannounced DC Studios projects are affected remains to be seen. But, with Peacemaker season 2's launch date fast approaching, we won't have to wait much longer for answers.

For more DC Comics-based coverage, read our guides on how to watch the DC movies in order, how to watch the Superman movies in order, how to watch the Batman movies in order, and our ranking of the best Batman movies.

One night last November the traffic graphs at sports-betting firm, 1win, went vertical. Hours later the lines flattened, LEDs flicked green, ticket closed. End of story—until forensics showed that, while terabits of junk battered the perimeter, someone tip-toed off with 96 million customer records. The fireworks were loud enough that nobody heard the vault door click.

The culprit? Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks.

What was once digital vandalism—flood the pipe, claim bragging rights—has evolved into outright misdirection, hogging every console and CPU cycle while the real break-in unfolds elsewhere.

DDoS Attacks Today

Carriers that once saw two DDoS incidents a day now log hundreds, and 44% of these attacks are over in under five minutes. Blink and you miss the smoke screen—plus the burglary behind it.

Why the surge? Because a 100-gig “booter” subscription (to DDoS-for-hire services) costs less than Netflix. And because botnets ship pre-assembled: for instance, Eleven11bot drove hijacked webcams to launch record-breaking DDoS attacks, peaking at 6.5 Tb/s in February. That’s more than ten times Mirai’s original, 2016 record.

Attackers don’t show up to smash the furniture; they keep you chasing alarms while they lift the valuables—exfiltrating data, dropping ransomware, wiring in next week’s back-door.

Many teams let their guard down once the second latency graphs sag to normal, unaware they’re celebrating on the wrong lap. Stateful firewalls, last-minute ACLs (Access Control Lists), and a heroic operator attempt to handle raw volume right up to the moment an attacker overloads the very gear meant to stop them.

Picture the firewall as a nightclub bouncer armed with an exquisitely detailed guest list. Flood the door with a million party-crashers and the clipboard becomes decoration. In the chaos, the bouncer waves everyone through.

That reflex is fail-open.

Fail-open isn’t magic—it’s physics. Cram the firewall’s state table with a volumetric SYN flood and, once memory pegs, the firmware panics and slips into bypass, in a last-ditch attempt to keep links alive and traffic flowing. If the inspection daemon seg-faults under the strain, the chassis bridges traffic until it restarts. Kill the power or flap a link and the hardware relay shorts the ports together.

From the security operations center (SOC) chair, it’s eerie: logs go silent, session counters plunge, line-rate traffic barrels on, and NetFlow suddenly shows inbound RDP the policy never touched. The attacker didn’t avoid your defenses; they used them as the on-ramp.

What To Do Next

MITRE’s ATT&CK playbook spells it out: adversaries have been observed launching DDoS “to support other malicious activities, including distraction.” In other words, getting the service back up is merely Act I.

Four moves that can help your team keep the fireworks outside:

1.Baseline the who and the why, not just the how much

It’s midnight. Five thousand no-name IP-cams halfway across the globe all at once decide your Domain Name System (DNS) authoritative name-server is their new best friend. Bandwidth may not spike massively, but intent screams: cameras don’t spontaneously flood DNS.

Your detection engine should instantly flag anomalies like “Devices that typically whisper Network Time Protocol (NTP) are suddenly screaming DNS.” Layer flow data onto BGP, turning suspicious cameras into red dots on a heat map.

2.Let automation throw the first punch—under a minute, or it’s too slow

No human can out-type a terabit flood. Hand the reflex to silicon—gear that fires back before you’ve even seen the spike.

The second packets-per-second cross your threshold, edge routers should automatically shed malicious traffic or redirect it to mitigation gear, reverting when conditions stabilize.

3.Give your firewalls an airbag—let a stateless layer eat the crash

Firewalls are brilliant chess players with one fatal flaw: every new flow grabs a square on a state table, and that board is only so big. Fill it, and the box either drops everything or—worse—fails open. As a safeguard, bolt on a stateless “airbag” a hop upstream. It doesn’t care about SYNs or sequence numbers; it cares about the who and what—five thousand white-label cameras suddenly pelting your DNS server, for instance.

The second that odd waveform appears, the airbag inflates: drops the anomalous traffic on device or punts the junk to a scrubber. No sessions to track, no table to exhaust; just raw line-rate math absorbing the impact while the firewall keeps pondering the finer stuff: TLS fingerprints, strange HTTP verbs, and bots masquerading as browsers.

4.Audit the bouncers—make sure none of them silently swing the rope aside

Fail-open is a configuration choice, not a cosmic constant. Dramatically unplugging boxes mid-attack isn’t necessary; review your configurations instead. Verify each inline device explicitly states how it behaves if software crashes, links fail, or power dies. Anything set to silently bypass traffic without approval belongs at the top of tomorrow’s change list.

DDoS fireworks dazzle, but nobody robs the vault just for the spectacle. Spot the diversion, stay clear-eyed, and keep the attackers outside looking in. Next time the sky lights up, keep at least one eye on the basement door.

We've listed the best small and medium business (SMB) firewall software.

This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro's Expert Insights channel where we feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today. The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/news/submit-your-story-to-techradar-pro

The fallout from “Liberation Day” has reignited a critical conversation across Europe: how long can the EU, UK and other European nations afford to tie their digital future to American tech monopolies? For years, Europe has depended on US hyperscalers to power its infrastructure, manage its data, and now, fuel its AI ambitions. But with America’s erratic leadership casting fresh doubt over the future of Europe’s tech sector, businesses are being forced to confront the real risks of over-reliance.

New research from Civo found that 84% of UK IT leaders are concerned that geopolitical developments could threaten their ability to access and control their data. As US tech giants scramble to offer reassurances, including recent pledges from Microsoft to uphold Europe’s digital resilience, the bigger question remains: can Europe afford to deepen its dependencies on the US?

In the midst of all this doubt, Europe has a window of opportunity to reclaim its technological sovereignty and reduce its exposure to the political and commercial whims of US. tech giants. There has never been a better time to build a more balanced, competitive, and resilient digital economy - one that hands back control to businesses.

Here are five key actions Europe must take to make that vision a reality:

1. It’s time to take sovereignty seriously

According to Civo’s research, 61% of UK IT leaders say that sovereignty is s strategic priority. But while European governments have talked a good game on sovereignty, action has been inconsistent. Take the UK, for example: while outside of the EU and operating under different data and competition laws, earlier this year it unveiled its AI Opportunities Action Plan.

Within this, Starmer’s government promises to build sovereign datacenters and AI Growth Zones. Yet at the same time, the UK has courted massive investments from US. hyperscalers like Microsoft and AWS to expand their UK footprints.

This contradiction underlines the urgent need for clear policy guardrails. Sovereignty is about so much more than just data localization; it’s about ensuring full legal, operational, and technical control over the UK’s critical digital infrastructure. That means building and backing a domestic cloud and AI industry that operates under European law with shared European values.

2. Close the loopholes created by the US. CLOUD Act by avoiding it altogether

The US. CLOUD Act grants American authorities sweeping access to data held by US. hyperscalers, no matter where in the world that data is stored. This reality undermines Europe’s data protection laws, including GDPR, and puts sensitive public and private sector information at risk of unwanted foreign interventions.

Europe needs to strengthen legal frameworks that guarantee immunity from extraterritorial laws like the CLOUD Act. That means recognizing and supporting providers headquartered in Europe, fully subject to European jurisdiction, that offer complete transparency about where data is stored and who has access to it.

3. Build a sovereign AI ecosystem

The rush to adopt AI has only deepened Europe’s dependency on US. firms. Most AI models today are trained, deployed, and monetized by a small handful of US hyperscalers. As a result, European businesses feeding data into these models often have no visibility into how their information is used, stored, or commercialized. So it’s not surprising that 68% of UK IT leaders now say they will only use AI services where they have complete certainty over data ownership.

Europe must invest in an open, sovereign AI ecosystem. One that gives users full control over their data and AI workloads. By championing sovereign AI, Europe has an opportunity to empower organizations to develop innovative AI on their own terms, without surrendering control to black-box systems operated overseas.

4. Reform the economics of cloud

The European cloud market has been stifled by opaque pricing structures, restrictive egress fees, and aggressive credit lock-ins that keep customers tied to US hyperscale platforms. This has made it difficult for new entrants and challengers to compete and for customers to switch providers without facing significant financial and technical penalties.

Encouragingly, 60% of UK organizations say they are no longer reliant on a single cloud provider, showing that many are already moving towards multi-cloud and hybrid models to regain choice and control.

The public sentiment is overwhelmingly clear: Europe must establish economic policies that level the playing field. This could include mandating pricing transparency, regulating unfair egress fees, or incentivizing organizations to migrate to sovereign providers. A competitive market benefits everyone. It drives innovation, reduces costs, and gives businesses genuine choice.

5. Build bridges, not barriers: Uniting Europe’s digital strengths without shutting out the world

Underinvestment remains one of Europe’s biggest barriers to digital progress. As Mario Draghi’s landmark report on European competitiveness makes clear, the status quo is no longer sustainable. Without coordinated action, Europe risks falling behind in the race to build productive, secure, and globally competitive digital industries.

While the EU and the UK have taken different regulatory paths, from evolving data governance frameworks in Brussels to post-Brexit policies in Westminster, both face the same challenges: underinvestment, regulatory misalignment, and a shortage of skilled talent are holding back sovereign cloud and AI projects across the continent.

The Draghi report calls for a new era of sustainable competitiveness and open strategic autonomy, one where Europe builds the foundations to compete globally while staying true to its values of fairness, resilience, and collaboration.

Digital sovereignty must be part of this vision, but it cannot be achieved in silos. It needs harmonized regulations, shared investment in skills and infrastructure, and cross-border collaboration to scale European alternatives that are open where it counts and protected where it matters.

But there are signs of progress. Initiatives like EuroStack, a growing coalition of policymakers, businesses, and researchers, are working to open the European market to support local digital industries to clear the path to achieving digital sovereignty.

Similarly, projects like Open Euro LLM are advancing open-source, GDPR-compliant AI models that align with Europe’s values, while still remaining open to international contributions and partnerships.

Sovereignty starts now

Let’s be clear: digital sovereignty does not mean closing the door on international partnerships or shutting out global innovation. As one of the world’s leading economic regions, the continent of Europe will always need to collaborate with partners around the world, but that collaboration must happen on Europe’s terms and not in ways that compromise control, economic, or geopolitical resilience.

Building genuine digital sovereignty means strengthening Europe’s digital foundations so that it can engage with the global tech ecosystem from a position of strength, not dependency. It means creating an environment where businesses have real choice, where data stays protected by local laws and values, and where European innovation isn’t at the mercy of foreign policy shifts or opaque corporate interests.

We have a chance to rebalance the market, encourage competition, and put fairness and transparency at the heart of Europe’s digital future. But that window won’t stay open forever. The time for action is now.

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This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro's Expert Insights channel where we feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today. The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/news/submit-your-story-to-techradar-pro

• IdeaLab confirms it suffered a data breach, offers identity theft protection and credit monitoring
• Recently-departed ransomware operators Hunters International took responsibility
• The decryption key were recently published

Technology startup incubator IdeaLab has confirmed suffered a cyberattack in which it lost sensitive company files.

The organization confirmed the news after an extensive investigation that took almost a year, noting in a data breach notification letter sent earlier to affected individuals the attack most likely took place on October 4 2024, when cybercriminals accessed its network and stole sensitive information on current and former employees, current and former support service contractors, and their dependents.

We don’t know exactly how many people were affected by this attack, or what the nature of the data is. IdeaLab just said the attackers took people’s names, in combination with “variable data”.

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Smuggling through

Still, it offers affected individuals complimentary identity theft protection services through IDX, which includes 24 months of credit and dark web monitoring, a $1 million identity fraud loss reimbursement policy, and fully managed identity theft recovery services.

At the same time, the media reported that a ransomware operation known as Hunters International took responsibility for the attack, adding the stolen data to its leak site, likely after a failed extortion attempt.

Allegedly, the leaked archive was 262.8 GB in size, and contained 137,000 files. Interestingly enough, earlier today Hunters International announced it was disbanding, apologized for the inconvenience caused, and shared decryption keys for all of its victims. It’s safe to assume IdeaLab is included in this list, as well.

The motive behind the shutdown remains in the domain of speculation, with multiple security outfits believing the group was simply rebranding in order to hide its tracks from law enforcement and cut ties with previous affiliates.

Researchers from Recorded Future, Group-IB, and many others, have pointed out that Hunters International recently launched a parallel operation called World Leaks, that does not deploy encryptors and just focuses on extortion.

Via BleepingComputer

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Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Friday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Friday, July 4 (game #488).

Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #489) - hint #1 - today's themeWhat is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Every second counts

NYT Strands today (game #489) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• PERSON
• HOME
• ROOT
• SHAKE
• SWOON
• MATE

NYT Strands today (game #489) - hint #3 - spangram lettersHow many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 11 letters

NYT Strands today (game #489) - hint #4 - spangram positionWhat are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First side: left, 4th row

Last side: right, 6th row

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #489) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #489, are…

• CLOCK
• WATCH
• CHRONOMETER
• HOURGLASS
• SUNDIAL
• SPANGRAM: TIMEKEEPERS

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 1 hint

My first thought when I saw the theme “every second counts” was the TV show The Bear, as that phrase has appeared many times across all four seasons.

However, I soon realized that was very niche and we were actually looking for a much more literal interpretation.

Suffering a bad case of letter blindness, I took a hint after finding dozens of words that we weren’t looking for. CLOCK unlocked the rest of the board in a matter of minutes.

Until this puzzle, I didn’t actually realize what a CHRONOMETER was, I just thought it was a posh wristwatch. But the main thing this search got me thinking about is how we build our entire life around time, but we have so few TIMEKEEPERS – as evidenced by the fact that this search includes SUNDIAL and HOURGLASS. It’s almost as if we haven’t got enough time to invent new ways to keep time. 

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Friday, July 4, game #488)

• BURGERS
• SALAD
• COLESLAW
• BRATS
• BEANS
• WATERMELON
• SPANGRAM: BARBECUE

What is NYT Strands?

Strands is the NYT's not-so-new-any-more word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable that has been running for a year and which can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

I've got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you're struggling to beat it each day.

Looking for a different day?

A new Quordle puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Friday's puzzle instead then click here: Quordle hints and answers for Friday, July 4 (game #1257).

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,100 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #1258) - hint #1 - VowelsHow many different vowels are in Quordle today?

• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 4*.

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #1258) - hint #2 - repeated lettersDo any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?

• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 0.

Quordle today (game #1258) - hint #3 - uncommon lettersDo the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?

• No. None of Q, Z, X or J appear among today's Quordle answers.

Quordle today (game #1258) - hint #4 - starting letters (1)Do any of today's Quordle puzzles start with the same letter?

• The number of today's Quordle answers starting with the same letter is 0.

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #1258) - hint #5 - starting letters (2)What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• H

• S

• D

• T

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #1258) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1258, are…

• HAVEN
• SNAKE
• DREAM
• TORUS

Unlike Scrabble, where you put down an invented word on the off-chance that it could be in the dictionary, Quordle lets you enter as many fake words as you like before you hit on a real one.

That was the case for me today with TORUS, which looks like a bad spelling of Taurus but is (I just found out) a geometric shape like a donut.

Maybe my school geometry lessons were not all they should have been, but I can always appreciate a donut. Mmmmm, donuts…

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Daily Sequence today (game #1258) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1258, are…

• OUTGO
• CRUSH
• SHIED
• BLUER

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1257, Friday, 4 July: FAVOR, SKUNK, GAWKY, FLUFF
• Quordle #1256, Thursday, 3 July: DANCE, EYING, GLAZE, EGRET
• Quordle #1255, Wednesday, 2 July: INANE, SCOUR, ELITE, ULCER
• Quordle #1254, Tuesday, 1 July: REBAR, YEARN, FORTH, CROWD
• Quordle #1253, Monday, 30 June: INGOT, INFER, TAPIR, CLUED
• Quordle #1252, Sunday, 29 June: MIRTH, APTLY, SCRUB, SMACK
• Quordle #1251, Saturday, 28 June: AWOKE, SMOKY, DEVIL, SWING
• Quordle #1250, Friday, 27 June: SPEAK, EAGLE, AVERT, SUING
• Quordle #1249, Thursday, 26 June: SLUMP, REBUS, GUAVA, MONEY
• Quordle #1248, Wednesday, 25 June: SOGGY, CLASH, MODEM, SQUAD
• Quordle #1247, Tuesday, 24 June: QUALM, SQUIB, AXIAL, FLACK
• Quordle #1246, Monday, 23 June: PIXEL, FJORD, STEAL, EXIST
• Quordle #1245, Sunday, 22 June: WREST, CRAZE, PAPAL, SCION
• Quordle #1244, Saturday, 21 June: BUDDY, GROUT, BEGIN, MADAM
• Quordle #1243, Friday, 20 June: BRAID, DULLY, HASTE, LURID
• Quordle #1242, Thursday, 19 June: BRUSH, ISLET, FRUIT, PRIVY
• Quordle #1241, Wednesday, 18 June: MEDIA, SHARK, GUPPY, MOURN
• Quordle #1240, Tuesday, 17 June: LEAPT, PRISM, ADMIN, WHINE
• Quordle #1239, Monday, 16 June: RETRY, SCALD, DINGO, FEIGN

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Friday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Friday, July 4 (game #754).

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #755) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• SHORT
• PINE
• FOLD
• LAUNDRY
• LONG
• BUCKET
• BURN
• STING
• TO-DO
• SCHEME
• STIR
• RACKET
• BEAT
• ITCH
• HUSTLE
• BLEND

NYT Connections today (game #755) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: Scams
• GREEN: Mix it up
• BLUE: Can’t live without you
• PURPLE: Jot it down

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #755) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: CON GAME 
• GREEN: COMBINE, AS BAKING INGREDIENTS 
• BLUE: YEARN 
• PURPLE: KINDS OF LISTS 

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #755) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #755, are…

• YELLOW: CON GAME HUSTLE, RACKET, SCHEME, STING
• GREEN: COMBINE, AS BAKING INGREDIENTS BEAT, BLEND, FOLD, STIR
• BLUE: YEARN BURN, ITCH, LONG, PINE
• PURPLE: KINDS OF LISTS BUCKET, LAUNDRY, SHORT, TO-DO

• My rating: Easy
• My score: 2 mistakes

I’m classifying today’s Connections as easy, but I still struggled with it.

The purple group should have been simple, aside from the fact that there are many KINDS OF LISTS and I included two wrong ones – BURN and LONG – before I found the correct quartet.

I am a serial writer of TO-DO lists, none of which I ever complete. I saw a video recently where some terrifying life optimizer was saying that people like me should write two lists – their regular long to-do list, then another list with the three most important things from the to-do list.

It makes sense to me but I'll never remember to do it – I’ll have to put it on my BUCKET list. 

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Friday, July 4, game #754)

• YELLOW: PARTS OF A WHEEL HUB, RIM, SPOKE, TIRE
• GREEN: MILITARY CLOTHING DESCRIPTORS CAMO, DRAB, FATIGUE, KHAKI
• BLUE: USED IN VENTILATION DUCT, EXHAUST, HOSE, PIPE
• PURPLE: FAIL TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF, AS AN OPPORTUNITY BLOW, LOSE, MISS, WASTE

What is NYT Connections?

NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.

On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.

It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.

It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.