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• I interviewed two Assassin's Creed Shadows devs and asked what they're excited for fans to experience
• One dev focused on the recruitment in-game
• Another highlighted the new way that Shadows is telling its story

Excitement for Assassin’s Creed Shadows is growing as we race toward the game’s March 20 release date.

I recently visited Ubisoft Quebec to go hands-on with the game and get a behind-the-scenes look at development. During my visit, I spoke to key developers and quizzed them on their favorite elements of the game that have not been spoken about much up until now but they were most excited for fans to see.

I first talked to associate game director Simon Lemay-Comtois, who identified something about the people you’ll find out in the world in Assassin’s Creed Shadows.

“I think the allies that you can recruit, like their individual stories and personalities, and the actors who play some of them is the coolest bit that we have not yet revealed fully.”

This relates to the party of extra characters you can collect in Shadows who will take up residence in the Hideout area of the game after you meet them.

Game Director, Charles Benoit, then looked towards the narrative when I asked him the same question, saying the most exciting thing we’re yet to see more of is “the way the stories unfold.”

“I think players will really like the story structure”, referring to the game’s use of flashbacks for both characters to understand their backstories, as well as the dual perspective on the world and narrative more generally.

“So you have a mix of exploring and doing the open world and then leaving [and seeing] past events of their life. And I think the way it’s structured is pretty cool and pretty different from other Assassin’s Creed games, so I can't wait to see what people will think about that”.

The story is something I’m really keen to learn more about myself. Even after several hands-on hours with the game, and experiencing plenty of intrigue and interesting hooks, I’m still in the dark about what’s going on in the game.

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• An AMD exec has explained why RDNA 4 GPUs won’t launch until March
• The reason is to ensure the drivers are fully honed and FSR 4 is more widely supported
• On top of that, there’s a mention of making sure plenty of RX 9070 stock is on hand

AMD has provided a reason why the launch of its RX 9070 graphics cards was announced as happening in March 2025, when the hope – based on chatter from the grapevine, and quite a lot of it – was for an earlier release in Q1.

As made clear by David McAfee on X, AMD’s VP and GM of Ryzen CPU and Radeon graphics, the company is “taking a little extra time to optimize the software stack for maximum performance and enable more FSR 4 titles.”

I really appreciate the excitement for RDNA4. We are focused on ensuring we deliver a great set of products with Radeon 9000 series. We are taking a little extra time to optimize the software stack for maximum performance and enable more FSR 4 titles. We also have a wide range…January 22, 2025

So, AMD is tuning graphics drivers to work as well as possible with the incoming RX 9070 offerings, and to bring more PC games into the fold of being supported by FSR 4.

Furthermore, the exec from Team Red also indicates that building up stock is part of the equation when it comes to pitching the launch of RDNA 4 GPUs later in Q1, rather than earlier.

Analysis: A new tack from AMD – don’t rush, get it right?

This second announcement in short order from McAfee appears to serve a few possible purposes. Of course, on a surface level, it’s good to be kept up to date with what’s going on, and to hear why Team Red is taking more time on this. And I think this is something AMD needed to clarify, as there were a lot of rumors bubbling around what’s happening behind closed doors with RDNA 4.

One of the more frustrating elements of the ‘delay’ of RDNA 4 – which isn’t strictly a delay, seeing as AMD only ever said Q1 2025 for the launch, and that can be as late as March (though admittedly, not any later) – was the apparent appearance of multiple RX 9070 models at retailers. Seasoning needed to be sprinkled over those sightings, naturally, but there were a number of photos, all of which looked authentic enough (it seemed unlikely they were all fakes somehow). These led to some bewilderment and frustration as to why AMD isn’t just ‘getting on with it’ as it were.

McAfee indirectly addresses this with his latest comment, in the mention of some retail partners having “started building initial inventory” but that there’s much more to come. This explains those photo leaks and also assures us that there’ll be plenty of RDNA 4 stock on hand – also playing into, and capitalizing on, the worries that Nvidia won’t have a decent level of inventory for its RTX 5000 graphics cards (at least not initially for RTX 5090 and 5080 models).

All of this is deflecting away from the rumor that AMD has gotten involved in price wrangles with retail partners (who already ordered and received RX 9070 models or at least some stock) after seeing Nvidia’s unexpectedly low MSRPs for Blackwell desktop GPUs.

Furthermore, another concern aired about RDNA 4 was that support for FSR 4 might be thin on the ground to begin with, especially compared to DLSS 4, as Nvidia has a lot of support right out of the gate.

So, it does make sense to address this, and more broadly focus on making the RX 9070 launch as good as it can be – in terms of FSR, drivers, and stock availability. Granted, the fact that the RTX 5070 should already be out in February, and fully tested, to allow for better pitching of the price of the RX 9070 and its XT sibling, is obviously a benefit here too. (If AMD hasn’t yet finalized the price – which, given the overall picture, seems likely to be the case).

This main thrust of making the RDNA 4 launch a high-quality affair also chimes with what Moore’s Law is Dead (MLID) just shared in his latest video (see above). The YouTuber notes that AMD has switched strategy under Jack Huynh (Senior VP of Computing and Graphics) to avoid rushing out products when the market – or launches from rivals – demands them to arrive, and instead, take the time to get the hardware fully right.

And I can’t argue with that strategy because, well, it fully makes sense, and MLID’s sources also make it clear that they aren’t worried that RX 9070 models might disappoint.

So, while I’d like to buy a new mid-range GPU sooner rather than later, I’m just going to have to be patient, as will everyone else. Because even if that is a bit frustrating, if RDNA 4 pans out very well as a result, it will, of course, be worth the wait.

Via VideoCardz

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Our Samsung Galaxy Unpacked live coverage may have wrapped up, but we’re still feeling the excitement of seeing the new Samsung Galaxy S25, S25 Plus, S25 Ultra, and all-new S25 Edge revealed unto the world.

The new flagship Galaxy lineup brings with it a handful of upgrades for each of the three models, with increased RAM, new AI tools, and the blazing-fast Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset.

One of the upgrades that caught my eye during the livestream was the announcement of a new storage tier for the baseline S25, which now comes in a 512GB storage option in addition to the existing 128GB and 256GB variants – but, for some reason, not in the US.

The 512GB storage tier was previously limited to the Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus and S24 Ultra. But this small change gives UK and Australia-based customers a lot more flexibility when it comes to finding the right sizing and storage capacity for them.

The S25 Plus measures 6.7 inches diagonally, so getting more storage previously meant picking up a rather large phone. Keen photographers, gamers, or long-term users who prefer a smaller Galaxy phone now have the option of carrying around half a terabyte of storage in the form of the 6.2-inch S25.

At £959 / AU$1,599, I actually think this high capacity handset is very reasonably priced. It certainly undercuts the 512GB model of the iPhone 16, which comes in at a hefty $1,099 / £1,099 / AU$1,949. Overall, a very pro-consumer choice – good job, Samsung.

However, part of me thinks Samsung could have gone a little further with this year's baseline Galaxy flagship when it comes to storage. Though it may seem crazy to say to those of us who can remember the days of 16GB being the default, I think we’re getting close to the logical end of the 128GB default.

Having plenty of storage space is important as we continue to rely on our phones for day-to-day tasks. (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

With generative AI offering new ways to create different types of content, and phone makers continuing to focus on high-resolution mobile photography, users have more ways to fill up their storage than ever before. This, combined with the deflation of component prices over time should, in my opinion, spell the end of 128GB flagships sooner rather than later.

Though still enough space for light to medium users, the baseline S25's 128GB storage option now sticks out like a sore thumb in the company’s lineup. I’d love to have seen Samsung push forward and break this standard before it becomes noticeably outdated.

Of the ‘big three’ phone makers – Apple, Samsung, and Google – Samsung is especially renowned for fitting its phones with high-spec components. A higher standard storage would’ve given the S25 an edge over the Pixel 9 and iPhone 16, both of which sport 128GB as standard and both of which won’t be upgraded until much later in the year.

Still, I’m happy with the lineup we’ve got – as mentioned, this is one of the most competitively priced baseline flagships on the market, and if raising the standard storage tier would incur a price hike then perhaps keeping it steady was the right move. And those who pre-order an S25-series phone get a storage upgrade on the house anyway, doubling your storage for no extra cost.

Our Samsung Galaxy Unpacked live blog is winding down, but for a rundown of the events be sure to check out our Samsung Galaxy Unpacked recap. And for our initial impressions of the new Galaxy phones, be sure to check out our hands-on Samsung Galaxy S25 review, hands-on Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus review, and hands-on Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra review.

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• Researchers discover large supply-chain attack targeting Chrome extension developers
• Dozens have been compromised, resulting in possibly millions of victim users
• Researchers urge users to patch or uninstall certain extensions

Hackers have managed to compromise dozens of legitimate Google Chrome extensions in what appears to be a highly sophisticated supply chain attack.

As a result, millions of browser users are at risk of data theft, identity theft, wire fraud, and more, cybersecurity researchers at Sekoia has said.

The researchers said the attack starts with a very convincing phishing attack, in which the threat actors impersonated Google Chrome Web Store support. They sent emails to Chrome extension developers, warning them about violated store policies, and having their work removed from the store unless they “extended their privacy policy”. Obviously, the email came with a link, leading to a legitimate Google OAuth authorization page, built for a malicious application

Facebook Business and other targets

Victims who would log in would actually share their login credentials with the attackers, who would use the access to poison their work and compromise the extensions.

Sekoia says that the threat actors were going after Facebook Business accounts, API keys, session cookies, access tokens, account information, and ad account details. In some cases, it was added, the crooks were going after ChatGPT API keys and user authentication data, as well.

The team traced the campaign back to at least March 2024, with the possibility of earlier activity, too.

Some of the more popular extensions that were targeted include GraphQL Network Inspector, Proxy SwitchyOmega (V3), YesCaptcha assistant, Castorus, and VidHelper – Video Download Helper. The full list of attacked extensions can be found on this link.

The number of affected individuals is measured in hundreds of thousands, or even millions, and mostly revolves around the number of downloads of these plugins. Most of the poisoned solutions have been pulled from the Chrome Web Store already. However, users are still advised to remove, or update, affected extensions, to versions released after December 26, 2024, and reset important account passwords, especially for Facebook and ChatGPT.

Via The Register

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• Making Ciri the star of The Witcher 4 is "a really good move" according to Geralt's voice actor, Doug Cockle
• Cockle thinks continuing the saga with Ciri is interesting due to her presence in the books
• Doug Cockle will reprise his role as Geralt in The Witcher 4

CD Projekt Red's decision to make Ciri the star of The Witcher 4 is "a really good move" according to Geralt of Rivia's voice actor.

The Witcher 4 was finally revealed last month alongside a gritty cinematic trailer showcasing our first look at a brand new saga starring Ciri as the titular Witcher protagonist.

According to narrative director Phillipp Weber, the decision to make Geralt's adopted daughter the next playable character was made "a very long time ago" and since she was set up in the original Andrzej Sapkowski novels, the development team thought it "was the natural evolution of what we’ve already been making for so long".

Doug Cockle, the voice behind Geralt in the first three The Witcher games, has also shared his enthusiasm for the move, saying there are "all kinds of reasons" that make the choice exciting, mainly for how her role in the books is portrayed.

"I'm really excited," Cockle remarked in a recent interview with IGN. "I think it's a really good move. I mean, I always thought that continuing the Saga, but shifting to Ciri would be a really, really interesting move for all kinds of reasons, but mostly because of things that happen in the books, which I don't want to give away because I want people to go read.

"So yeah, I think it's really exciting. I can't wait. I can't wait to see what they've done."

The Witcher 4 doesn't have a release window just yet, but CD Projekt Red has since confirmed that Doug Cockle will reprise his role as Geralt in the role-playing game (RPG). We also know that it will introduce new regions but that the map will remain "more or less the same" size as The Witcher 3's.

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• Severance star Tramell Tillman has teased what's in store for Seth Milchick in season 2
• This season's premiere revealed that Milchick had been installed as the Severed Floor's new boss
• Tramell says his character "doesn't know if he's ready" to fill predecessor Harmony Cobel's boots

Severance actor Tramell Tillman has teased what we can expect to see as part of Seth Milchick's season 2 arc.

Speaking to me around one month before Severance season 2's debut on January 17, Tillman hinted that the Apple show's next chapter will be a high-stakes affair for his character.

Major spoilers immediately follow for Severance season 1's finale and this season's premiere. Turn back now if you're not caught up.

Season 2 has already shown that Milchick may not be up to the task of Severed Floor manager (Image credit: Apple TV Plus)

In the first episode of the hit Apple TV Plus series' sophomore outing, it was revealed that Milchick had been promoted by Lumon Industries in the supposed five-month gap between season 1's ending and this season's opening entry. Indeed, after Harmony Cobel was ousted as Severed Floor manager last season, Milchick has been installed as her replacement, so he's now overseeing the division that Mark and other members of the Macrodata Refinement (MDR) team work in. You can remind yourself what else happened in this season's first installment via our Severance season 2 episode 1 recap.

But I digress. Last season, the charming but menacing Milchick had Cobel to hide behind if anything went wrong on his watch. Now that he's the Severed Floor's new boss, though, the buck stops with him – and that, according to Tillman, will present numerous challenges to his authority and skillset. Oh, and likely drive up his stress levels significantly.

This new position of leadership is a foreign one to him

Tramell Tillman, Severance actor

"He's got a lot of work to do," Tillman mused. "You know, he's been thrust into this position very rapidly. At the end of season 1, there's no Severed Floor manager, so I'm the only one left [that Lumon can turn to]. Seth has been tapped to step in so, as great a mentor as Harmony has been to him, Seth has to take up the reins and we'll see how he deals with that.

"The stakes are incredibly high. This new position of leadership is a foreign one to him, and I think there's a part of him that doesn't know if he's ready. So, we'll see if he rises to the occasion."

If you've only just found out that Severance's latest season is out now on one of the world's best streaming services, you'll want to read all about it in my Severance season 2 guide, especially with episode 2 releasing tomorrow (January 24). Alternatively, read my Severance season 2 review for some clues about the mystery-thriller's next few chapters, or check out more of my coverage in the articles linked below.

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Cybercrime continues to be a major global concern. Cybercriminals are using ever more sophisticated approaches and exploiting every possible means to intercept valuable data or disrupt IT systems. Organizations targeted and impacted by these attacks, including businesses, critical entities, governments and entire economies are being left facing serious financial consequences and operational disarray. According to estimates from Statista’s Market Insights, the global cost of cybercrime is expected to surge in the next four years, rising from $9.22 trillion in 2024 to $13.82 trillion by 2028.

One channel used by hackers that is fast becoming a key concern is the IT supply chain. Cybercriminals are exploiting vulnerabilities at third parties of an organization's supply chain such as vendors, suppliers and logistics and transportation companies in order to infiltrate the organization’s IT systems or access physical components destined to be implemented in products. Speculation that the recent device attacks in Lebanon were the result of third-party tampering highlights the crucial need to better secure not only software supply chains but also hardware. But how much of a threat does the IT supply chain really pose and what can be done to minimize the risks?

The weakest link

The SolarWinds cyberattack in 2020 which compromised the systems, data, and networks of thousands of organizations including the US government is the most notorious example of a wide-scale software supply chain attack. But despite the exposure of the case and acknowledgement of the need to address the issue of securing the supply chain, there have been numerous others. These include attacks on Okta, Norton, 3CX, JetBrains, Airbus and Microsoft, all of which have been equally crippling to the enterprises affected. Since 2021, cyberattacks targeting supply chains have surged 431%, according to a report published last year by insurance provider Cowbell. And industry analysts see little signs of the issue abating; Gartner predicts that the costs from these attacks will rise from $46 billion in 2023 to $138 billion by 2031.

For organizations and enterprises, the threat of exposure to attack through the supply chain is a major cause for concern. Unlike the full visibility and control they have over their own systems, to date organizations have had little reassurance that their suppliers and partners have implemented the same high standards of security. Indeed, a recent white paper published by Reuters and Cargowise, highlighted how 94% of supply chain executives were concerned about vulnerabilities in their technology stack, with 24% very or extremely concerned.

Regulators seek to bring standardized security to the supply chain

Such is the concern around the threat posed by the IT supply chain that authorities are starting to bring in regulation to curb the number of incidents. In October this year the new EU Network and Information Security version 2 (NIS2) Directive came into force. This new legislation was brought in to establish a uniform and improved level of cybersecurity across European Union countries. Critically, along with organizations operating in sectors such as public administrations, transport, energy, health and banking, companies supplying goods or part of IT supply chains must also adhere to NIS2.

NIS2 will surely help to raise greater awareness of the need to secure network infrastructure and ensure security measures are adhered to throughout the IT supply chain. However, beyond compliance with the new ruling, organizations and technology providers ultimately need to take responsibility for ensuring their prized data - and that of their customers - has the highest level of protection against theft or system attack. But how do they go about this?

Mitigating the risk of attack via the supply chain

Each enterprise or organization has its own unique supply chain composed of relevant third parties required to bring its specific solutions or services to market. As such there is no ‘one way’ of securing the supply chain, however there are measures that all enterprises should undertake to ensure their supply chains - both for software and physical components or products - are as watertight as possible, these include:

Screening suppliers: before selecting suppliers, comprehensive vetting should be undertaken to verify security practices and ensure trustworthiness Periodic audits: Carrying out regular audits and checks on supply chain partners will ensure they are maintaining the expected security measures SLAs: Implementing contractual security requirements with logistics providers to ensure they have appropriate security measures in place such as tamper-proof seals on trucks Monitoring status of goods in transit: Technologies such as RFID and AI can help to track the location and status of goods throughout the logistics flow.

The use of Gen AI to better monitor location of hardware during transit

The integration of Gen AI into logistics operations is proving not only to make IT hardware supply chains more effective, but also more significantly more secure. Thanks to its ability to extract data, process and structure unstructured data, like emails, it provides an unprecedented level of visibility into the flow of goods, tracking both their location and ownership at every stage.

The integration of Gen AI means that logistics teams are always aware of where shipments are, who is responsible for them, and can quickly respond to potential security threats even before an incident occurs. This level of insight and control is invaluable for organizations seeking peace of mind that all elements in their supply chain are well protected at every stage of production and transfer and that they do not pose any risk of being intercepted or tampered with.

As cybercrime continues to evolve in sophistication and scope, the threat posed by vulnerabilities within the IT supply chain cannot be overlooked. Organizations must confront the reality that their security will only ever be as strong as the weakest link in their supply chain. New regulations such as NIS2 will be critical to ensuring an adequate and standardized approach to security across the supply chain. However, for their own peace of mind and to ensure the integrity of their products and safeguard their valuable data, organizations should look to diligently select supply chain partners, create a culture of transparency and use advanced technologies to ensure accurate tracking and monitoring of sourced components and products. In light of the unrelenting levels of cybercrime today, investing in supply chain security and resilience in order to protect themselves from attack is a relatively small price to pay.

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• A security researcher discovered a way to abuse how Cloudflare cached certain images
• The method could allow outsiders to partially de-anonymize people
• The bug was quickly fixed, Cloudflare assures users

Experts have found a way to partially de-anonymize a person and find out their general location by simply sending them a picture on certain messaging platforms.

This is according to a 15-year-old cybersecurity researcher named Daniel, who recently found a vulnerability in Cloudflare’s content delivery network (CDN).

In theory, the vulnerability is simple. Cloudflare wants people to receive their messages, and multimedia, as quickly as possible. For that reason, images that are being sent go through a data center that’s nearest to the recipient. If the attacker could learn which data center that is, they could get a solid picture of their target’s location.

A 200-mile radius

“One of Cloudflare's most used feature is Caching. Cloudflare's Cache stores copies of frequently accessed content (such as images, videos, or webpages) in its datacenters, reducing server load and improving website performance,” Daniel explained.

“When your device sends a request for a resource that can be cached, Cloudflare retrieves the resource from its local datacenter storage, if available. Otherwise, it fetches the resource from the origin server, caches it locally, and then returns it. By default, some file extensions are automatically cached but site operators can also configure new cache rules.”

“If you live in a developed country, there's a good chance the nearest datacenter to you is less than 200 miles from you.” Since some apps, like Signal, or Discord, show the image’s thumbnail in the notification, it makes this a zero-click vulnerability.

Daniel further explained Cloudflare returns information about a request’s cache status in the HTTP response, including the airport code for the closest airport to the data center.

Next, he used a bug in Cloudflare Workers, and used a tool called Cloudflare Teleport, forcing requests through a specific data center.

A few months after the bug was discovered, Cloudflare patched it up, telling BleepingComputer it was disclosed in December 2024, and “immediately resolved.”

“The ability to make requests to specific data centres via the "Cloudflare Teleport" project on GitHub was quickly addressed – as the security researcher mentions in their disclosure. We believe bug bounties are a vital part of every security team’s toolbox, and continue to encourage third parties and researchers to continue to report this type of activity for review by our team."

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