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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 Monday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Monday, June 30 (game #484).

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

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… ... Center of attraction

NYT Strands today (game #485) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• LIKE
• SLICE
• HOUR
• AROUSE
• PUSH
• BLAME

NYT Strands today (game #485) - hint #3 - spangram lettersHow many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 13 letters

NYT Strands today (game #485) - hint #4 - spangram positionWhat are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First side: left, 6th row

Last side: right, 7th row

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

NYT Strands today (game #485) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #485, are…

• SLIDE
• CAROUSEL
• TRAIN
• FUNHOUSE
• SCRAMBLER
• SPANGRAM: AMUSEMENT PARK

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 1 hint

I struggled with today’s word search, mainly due to so many of these words having one than one meaning.

A hint at the start gave me SLIDE, but the theme clue of 'Center of attraction' didn't give me any hint as to what the overall concept was. I went in search of more random words to earn me another hint and stumbled across CAROUSEL after getting non-game word 'arouse'.

That gave me an idea of what I needed to do, finally, but I couldn't work out what the last answer was. Eventually I managed to fashion it into SCRAMBLER – but without knowing what it meant.

I thought a scrambler was a type of motorcycle. Instead it’s one of those rides that has different names around the world – in the UK we cause it a twister, but Australians are going to be equally puzzled as they call it a cha cha, according to Wikipedia.

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

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Monday, June 30, game #484)

• JASMINE
• CLEMATIS
• WISTERIA
• SWEETPEA
• MOONFLOWER
• SPANGRAM: CLIMBER

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.

• Spotify is celebrating 10 years of Discover Weekly by rolling out two new big upgrades
• Along with a fresh design revamp, Discover Weekly playlists now have genre control functions
• The new upgrades have started rolling out

Spotify’s Discover Weekly playlist was the platform’s first personalized music discovery feature, and it’s just got two brand new upgrades for Premium subscribers to celebrate its 10th anniversary – including a much-needed genre filter function.

Since 2015, Discover Weekly has been one of the music streaming service’s most-used features for new music discovery, and has been Spotify’s landmark feature, paving the way for functions such as Daylists and AI DJ.

With weekly updates that show you a range of new songs and artists, Spotify has described it as ‘the playlist that makes Mondays something to look forward to’. While Discover Weekly has never been my go-to feature, there’s no denying that it has changed the game with new music discovery on Spotify, and its new upgrade makes it even more of a personal experience.

New look, new genre filters

For starters, Discover Weekly has got a new visual upgrade that stands out from other playlists in your Made For You hub, such as your Release Radar. In addition to the playlist’s weekly updates, its graphics will also be updated every Monday, giving you a new look each time – but this isn’t the only exciting upgrade.

Prior to rolling out in Discover Weekly, Spotify brought sub-genre filter functions to Liked Songs, Offline Backup playlist, and New Releases hub. Now Discover Weekly is getting the same treatment.

In the new upgrade, you’ll now be able to use new control functions at the top of your Discover Weekly playlist, allowing you to search through up to five different genres based on your listening history. Based on which genre you select, this will generate a 30-track playlist to bring you one step closer to your next favorite song or artist.

(Image credit: Spotify)

As mentioned, Discover Weekly isn’t one of those features in Spotify that's been able to entice me – I don’t think I’ve used it since it was first launched 10 years ago.

But one of my favorite additions to Spotify is the sub-genre control function, which I use constantly in other playlists and hubs, and now that it’s found a new home in Discover Weekly, I’m going to have to do some rethinking.

How to find Discover Weekly

(Image credit: Future)

Before you dive into your newly upgraded Discover Weekly playlist, make sure that you have the latest version of the Spotify app installed. If you do, you’re free to dive right in.

Go to the Search hub in the Spotify app, and from there, scroll down slightly and tap your Made For You hub. Once you’re in, scroll down again until you see the section titled Discover New Music, which will show your Release Radar and Discover Weekly playlists. Tap Discover Weekly, and start your journey into new music discovery.

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Netflix (aka one of the best streaming services) knows how to keep us movie and TV buffs on our toes by bringing a wave of fresh titles each month – and now it's time for its July schedule.

Last month, we saw the final season of Squid Game, one of the best Netflix shows, as well as its usual array of blockbusters. July looks no different, with 48 brand new movies, including a handful of new Netflix Originals like the long-awaited comeback of Happy Gilmore. We're excited to see the return of original cast members Adam Sandler and Julie Bowen, as well as newcomers Margaret Qualley and Ben Stiller.

Netflix is also doubling down on its Trainwreck series of documentary features following the success of Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy, which was one of my June 2025 streaming picks. Over the next few weeks Netflix is releasing an additional five new Trainwreck documentary movies and since I thoroughly enjoyed its account of the Astroworld tragedy, I can't wait to binge them all.

Everything new on Netflix in July 2025

Arriving on July 1

17 Again (movie)
Annie (movie)
Attack on London: Hunting The 7/7 Bombers (Netflix original documentary)
Blow (movie)
Born on the Fourth of July (movie)
Captain Phillips (movie)
The Deer Hunter (movie)
Friday Night Lights (movie)
Here Comes the Boom (movie)
The Hitman’s Bodyguard (movie)
The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard (movie)
Horrible Bosses (movie)
The Karate Kid (movie)
The Karate Kid (movie)
The Karate Kid Part II (movie)
The Karate Kid Part III (movie)
Mission: Impossible (movie)
Mission: Impossible II (movie)
Mission: Impossible III (movie)
Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (movie)
Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (movie)
Mom seasons 1-8 (TV show)
The Notebook (movie)
Pacific Rim (movie)
PAW Patrol seasons 2-3 (TV show)
Portlandia seasons 1-8 (TV show)
The Sweetest Thing (movie)
Tangerine (movie)
Trainwreck: The Cult of American Apparel (Netflix original documentary)
V for Vendetta (movie)
White Chicks (movie)
Yellowjackets season 2 (TV show)
Zathura: A Space Adventure (movie)

Arriving on July 2

The Old Guard 2 (Netflix original movie)
Tour de France: Unchained season 3 (Netflix original documentary)

Arriving on July 3

Countdown: Taylor vs. Serrano (Netflix original series)
Mr. Robot seasons 1-4 (TV show)
The Sandman season 2 volume 1 (Netflix original series)

Arriving on July 4

All the Sharks (Netflix original documentary)

Arriving on July 5

The Summer Hikaru Died (Netflix original series)

Arriving on July 8

A Star Is Born (movie)
Better Late Than Single (Netflix original series)
Nate Jackson: Super Funny (Netflix original comedy)
Quarterback season 2 (Netflix original series)
Sullivan's Crossing seasons 1-2 (TV show)
Trainwreck: The Real Project X (Netflix original documentary)

Arriving on July 9

Building The Band (Netflix original series)
The Gringo Hunters (Netflix original series)
Mad Max: Fury Road (movie)
Under a Dark Sun (Netflix original series)
Ziam (Netflix original movie)

Arriving on July 10

7 Bears (Netflix original series)
Brick (Netflix original movie)
Leviathan (Netflix original series)
Off Road (Netflix original series)
Sneaky Pete seasons 1-3 (TV show)
Too Much (Netflix original series)

Arriving on July 11

Aap Jaisa Koi (Netflix original movie)
Almost Cops (Netflix original movie)
Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano 3 (Netflix live event)
Tyler Perry's Madea's Destination Wedding (Netflix original movie)

Arriving on July 14

Apocalypse in the Tropics (Netflix original documentary)
SAKAMOTO DAYS season 1 part 2 (Netflix original series)

Arriving on July 15

Entitled season 1 (TV show)
Jaws (movie)
Jaws 2 (movie)
Jaws 3 (movie)
Jaws: The Revenge (movie)
Trainwreck: Balloon Boy (Netflix original documentary)

Arriving on July 16

Amy Bradley Is Missing (Netflix original documentary)
Mamma Mia! (movie)
Wanted (movie)

Arriving on July 17

Catalog (Netflix original series)
Community Squad season 2 (Netflix original series)
UNTAMED (Netflix original series)

Arriving on July 18

Almost Family (Netflix original movie)
Delirium (Netflix original series)
I’m Still a Superstar (Netflix original documentary)
Superstar (Netflix original series)
Vir Das: Fool Volume (Netflix original comedy)
Wall to Wall (Netflix original movie)

Arriving on July 19

Eight for Silver (movie)

Arriving on July 21

The Hunting Wives season 1 (TV show)
The Steve Harvey Show seasons 1-6 (TV show)

Arriving on July 22

Trainwreck: P.I. Moms (Netflix original documentary)

Arriving on July 23

Critical: Between Life and Death (Netflix original documentary)
Hightown seasons 1-3 (TV show)
House of Lies seasons 1-5 (TV show)
Letters From The Past (Netflix original series)

Arriving on July 24

A Normal Woman (Netflix original movie)
Hitmakers (Netflix original series)
My Melody & Kuromi (Netflix original series)
The Sandman season 2 volume 2 (Netflix original series)

Arriving on July 25

Happy Gilmore 2 (Netflix original movie)
Trigger (Netflix original series)
The Winning Try (Netflix original series)

Arriving on July 28

The Lazarus Project seasons 1-2 (TV show)

Arriving on July 29

Dusty Slay: Wet Heat (Netflix original comedy)
Trainwreck: Storm Area 51 (Netflix original documentary)
WWE: Unreal (Netflix original series)

Arriving on July 30

Conversations with a Killer: The Son of Sam Tapes (Netflix original documentary)
Unspeakable Sins (Netflix original series)

Arriving on July 31

An Honest Life (Netflix original movie)
Glass Heart (Netflix original series)
Leanne (Netflix original series)
Marked (Netflix original series)
The Sandman season 2 (Netflix original series)

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• Scattered Spider may be moving its focus to the US
• The FBI has warned the airline and transport industry to remain vigilant
• Two airlines have already been breached in June 2025

The Scattered Spider cybercriminals are now targeting US airlines and transportation after moving its crosshairs from UK retailers, the FBI and security firms are warning.

The group previously hit Marks & Spencer, Co-op, and Harrods causing widespread system outages and empty shelves.

The FBI advisory warns it had “recently observed” cyberattacks that shared similarities with the aforementioned attacks, with Google’s Mandiant and Palo Alto Networks’ Unit 42 echoing the bureaus’ warning.

Scattered Spider switches targets

The group’s members include English speaking young adults who are financially motivated. The group uses phishing and social engineering techniques to gain access to networks where they wreak havoc, steal data, and deploy ransomware. There is no organized structure to the group with the members being part of a wider organization known as “the Com”.

The FBI’s warning follows two cyber incidents affecting airlines this month. Hawaiian Airlines reported a cyberattack on June 26, and Canada’s WestJet released a notice that it had detected a cyber incident on June 13. The group could target other organizations directly, or breach third-parties in the supply chain to gain access.

“Anyone in the airline ecosystem, including trusted vendors and contractors, could be at risk,” the FBI statement warns.

“The FBI is actively working with aviation and industry partners to address this activity and assist victims. Early reporting allows the FBI to engage promptly, share intelligence across the industry, and prevent further compromise. If you suspect your organization has been targeted, please contact your local FBI office,” the statement says.

Back in May 2025, Google’s Threat Intelligence Group (TIG) also warned that Scattered Spider was starting to move its focus over to the US.

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WiZ Gradient Floor Lamp: two-minute review

First impressions account for a lot, and I think I was expecting far less from the Wiz Gradient Floor Lamp based on its freshly out-of-the-box appearance. As its shaft and base are composed entirely of relatively lightweight plastic, the build has a feel that almost borders on flimsy. Undisturbed, the lamp stands perfectly fine, but if you have a pet or a little one tearing through your living space, it’s not difficult to imagine them sending the lamp toppling. So, keep that in mind when deciding where to place it.

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(Image credit: Abigail Shannon)Image 2 of 2

(Image credit: Abigail Shannon)

While it may not feel premium, the lamp doesn’t feel so cheap that I’d worry about its lifespan. I reckon the WiZ Gradient Floor Lamp could withstand years of clumsy folks knocking it over. So, unless you particularly value the feel and finish of metal, a plastic smart lamp gets the job done just fine. Actually, it does a lot better than just fine: the seven-segment RGB LCD creates a fabulous wave of color across the room that transforms the mood of the space surprisingly well.

In terms of brightness, the WiZ Gradient Floor Lamp lags behind equivalent products from its competitors. For reference, the Govee Floor Lamp Pro is 2,100 lumens, whereas the Philips Hue Gradient Signe sits at 2,500. Your initial instincts might tell you ‘bigger means brighter means better’, but that’s not strictly true. Given that this variety of floor lamp is meant to be placed in a corner and used as ambient light that washes across the walls, you’re not necessarily going to be looking for an output that’s particularly blinding.

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(Image credit: Abigail Shannon)Image 2 of 3

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(Image credit: Abigail Shannon)

I respect that it’s actually quite difficult to conceptualize exactly how bright 1,000 lumens are, so I'll try to give you some point of reference: it’s enough to provide solid task lighting for an entire medium-sized room. Given that a WiZ Gradient Floor Lamp is very unlikely to be granted the role of ‘big light’ and is instead mainly for localised mood lighting, I’d say 1,080 lumens is perfectly adequate. Maybe those other lamps are compensating for something.

Historically, I’ve not been a big fan of operating smart lights with their associated apps. Obviously, I’ll hop on to do day-one setup and to tweak settings, but by and large, I much prefer importing devices into the Home app or controlling them using my Alexa. But after using WiZ’s app, I was struck by how few ‘smart home app sins’ it actually committed. The UI is clean and easy to navigate, and there aren’t any obtrusive popups, unsubtle attempts to get you to buy more products, or superfluous social features.

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(Image credit: Abigail Shannon)Image 2 of 2

(Image credit: Abigail Shannon)

In fact, the sole problem I had with the app was when trying to pair my device for the first time. When you set up a device manually, it prompts you to define your device type. Apparently, the WiZ Gradient Floor Lamp falls under the category of a luminaire. Listen, I’m big enough to admit it: I had no idea that luminaire was just a synonym for light fixture. And so, when I saw that category on the app, I assumed it referred specifically to the WiZ Luminaire Mobile Portable Light – and I feel like the icon of a stout little table lamp just led me further astray. This might be a me-specific problem, and maybe I just should pick up a thesaurus more often, but I really wouldn’t be surprised if you also spend 10 very confused minutes trying to register your lamp as a LED strip.

Alongside the usual combination of static and dynamic light displays, the WiZ Gradient Floor Lamp also has a music sync feature. Well, it does with a little help. The device doesn’t have a microphone of its own, so it relies on you to open your app and use your phone’s mic instead. Crucially, that means that your music has to be coming from another audio source than your phone. Placing my phone beside a speaker to control my lamp felt a tad too much like a Rube Goldberg machine for my liking, and frankly, the whole process felt a bit silly.

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(Image credit: Abigail Shannon)

But if I’m being honest, I think music sync can afford to be silly. After all, it – at least in my experience – is a sort of novelty that you might pop on during a house party or to be particularly annoying to the people you live with.

WiZ Gradient Floor Lamp: specifications

Designed for

Indoors

Connectivity

Wi-Fi (2.4GHz only), Bluetooth

Smart home compatibility

Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Matter

Light color

RGBIC

Height

4.7 feet / 1.4 meters

Brightness

1,080 lumens

Color temperature

Color segments

7

WiZ Gradient Floor Lamp: price and availability

• Price: £79.99 / $92.26 (not available in Australia)
• Where to buy: WiZ website (available in the UK only), Amazon

You can pick up the WiZ Gradient Floor Lamp on Amazon US for about $90. Unfortunately for stateside folks, it seems like the gradient version isn’t available on the WiZ site at the moment (don’t get it confused with the dual-tone floor lamp!). In the UK, the WiZ Gradient Floor Lamp is available to purchase directly from WiZ and on Amazon for £79.99.

If you’ve been in the market for smart lights for any amount of time, I’m sure you’ve come across products from Philips Hue. After all, the brand delivers a premium ecosystem that consistently tops best smart lights lists. However, forking out $50 for a single colored smart bulb really isn’t for everyone.

As a more budget-friendly alternative to Philips Hue, I’m well familiar with Nanoleaf and Govee products – they’ve taken up some serious real estate in my apartment up to this point – but they aren’t the only company developing cut-price options for folks who love smart lighting. In fact, WiZ (whose products are made by Signify, the same parent company as Philips Hue) sits one rung further below those competitors in terms of price, dropping the barrier of entry to having a beautifully illuminated, smart living space impressively low.

Should you buy the WiZ Gradient Floor Lamp?Buy it if

You need a smart light that’s kinder to your wallet

It’s a little too easy to rack up a hefty bill when putting together your smart light setup. Thankfully, WiZ products are a more economical choice that allows you to add more goodies to your basket while still staying on budget.

You want ambient lighting

The WiZ floor lamp delivers intense luminescence up close, but that’s not really its intended use. It does its best work when faced up against a wall or a corner, where it fills your living space with a cozy, diffused glow.

You’re looking for a large light source

WiZ also has a number of smart lights that can be mounted on your wall or planted on your table, but if you want something that’s going to make a real impact in your living space, bigger is better.

Don't buy it if

You’ve committed to another ecosystem (without Matter integration)

Mixing and matching products is thankfully easier than ever, thanks to the Matter standard. However, you might own devices that aren’t Matter-enabled. In that case unless you plan to upgrade your entire set-up – buying a new smart light outside of your chosen ecosystem is probably not worth the trouble.

You really value a premium finish

While the WiZ Gradient Floor Lamp is a pretty top-notch product for under $100, WiZ had to cut corners somewhere. Thankfully, that’s mostly resulted in superficial downgrades; but still, some folks really appreciate the look and feel of the finer things in life.

WiZ Gradient Floor Lamp: also consider

While you’re shopping around, you’ll probably want to check out some alternatives. The Philips Hue Gradient Signe and Govee Floor Lamp Pro are sort of like the bougee cousins to the WiZ Gradient Floor Lamp: sporting very similar features and form factors, albeit at a more premium price.

WiZ Gradient Floor Lamp

Govee Floor Lamp Pro

Philips Hue Gradient Signe Floor Lamp

Price

$92.26 / £79.99

$199 / £219

$329 / £279

Designed for

Indoors

Indoors

Indoors

Connectivity

Bluetooth, Wi-Fi

Bluetooth, Wi-Fi

Bluetooth, Zigbee

Smart home compatibility

Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant & Matter

Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant & Matter

Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant & Apple HomeKit (Matter compatible if used with Hue Bridge, sold separately)

Height

1.4m / 4.7ft

1.7m / 5.5ft

1.4m / 4.7ft

Brightness

1,080 lumens

2,100 lumens

2,500 lumens

Color temperature

2,200K-6,500K

2,200K-6,500K

2,000K-6,500K

How I tested the WiZ Gradient Floor Lamp

• I trialled both automatic and manual setup methods
• I operated the lights using voice commands, Apple’s Home app, and the Wiz app
• I tested the device’s music sync and automation functions

For three weeks, the WiZ Gradient Floor Lamp sat pride-of-place in my home office, where it illuminated my walls with both dynamic and static light effects almost daily. My primary means of operating the lamp was through voice commands to my Amazon Alexa, but I also activated it using the WiZ app and Apple Home app.

In evaluating the WiZ Gradient Floor Lamp, I made a direct effort to compare it to other floor lamps on the market, as well as to the broader array of experience I had with smart lights in general. For more details, see how we test, rate, and review at TechRadar.

First reviewed June 2025

• Project Hail Mary's first trailer has been released
• It shows Ryan Gosling as a 6th-grade science teacher who "can't even moonwalk" sent to save Earth
• Amazon MGM Studios will release the movie in March 2026

The first trailer for Project Hail Mary is here, giving us our first look at what the new sci-fi action-adventure film has in store for us and it looks like everything I could have hoped for from this book adaptation.

Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (The Lego Movie, and products of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse), the upcoming movie will see Ryan Gosling (Barbie) play confused science teacher Ryland Grace who wakes up in spaceship light years away from Earth without any memory of how he got there.

As Grace slowly regains his memory, he begins to piece together that he's been sent on a last-ditch mission to find out what's been making our galaxy's sun die. But there's still a lot of unanswered questions like, why has a science teacher been sent to rescue the planet? Can he solve the world-ending problem in time? And what is the unknown life form that's in space with him?

Drew Goddard has adapted the screenplay from Andy Weir's novel, which is the second Weir adaptation following The Martian – and looking at the trailer, it seems like a lot of the book's comedy elements have been kept in the script, which is great to see as Gosling's sly sense of humor is ideal for this role.

Going by the brief clips we have of Gosling in the trailer, it looks like the wry comedy from the diary cams that we saw in The Martian will also be a part of Project Hail Mary.

This marks the first trailer for Project Hail Mary to be released as part of the movie's promotion. Amazon MGM Studios previously revealed that the new Ryan Gosling sci-fi movie will be released on March 20, 2026, in a poster it unveiled last Friday (June 27), ramping up even more excitement for this sci-fi spectacle.

The big sci-fi movies coming in 2026

It's not just Project Hail Mary that sci-fi fans have to look forward to next year. From, Dune: Messiah – Denis Villeneuve's final movie in the blockbuster trilogy – to Jon Favreau's big-screen version of Star Wars' The Mandalorian, 2026 is shaping up to be a big year for new movies in the genre.

Marvel theoretically has two films from Marvel Phase 6 coming throughout the year, with Spider-Man: Brand New Day in July and Avengers: Doomsday in December – though we'll see if anything changes there, since originally Doomsday was supposed to come out first.

In June, DC will take centre stage as Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow is expected to fly into cinemas along with another superhero flick inspired by a DC comic book, Masters of the Universe. Amazon MGM Studios' live-action adaptation of the He-Man world is being directed by Travis Knight (Bumblebee).

In fact, it seems Amazon's movie-making business is behind a lot of the new sci-fi offerings that are coming to theaters in 2026, as it's also involved in Timur Bekmambetov's (Wanted) upcoming sci-fi thriller Mercy starring Chris Pratt and Rebecca Ferguson.

Even Steven Spielberg is stepping back into the genre with a new film that many reportedly speculate will be a UFO adventure. All we know so far is that the untitled project is due to be released in 2026 and that it will star Emily Blunt, Domingo, Josh O’Connor, Colin Firth and Eve Hewson.

Looking at the schedule of what's been announced so far, Project Hail Mary will be among the first new sci-fi movies to watch in 2026 (Mercy is lined up for a January release), kicking off a space opera feast for the eyes.

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You might not need to sterilize your baby's bottle as often as you think.

 The Opera web browser has included a simple free VPN for a very long time, but it only protects your browser traffic, has almost no features and is generally very slow.

Opera has now unveiled Opera VPN Pro, a true system-wide VPN which allows you to protect all your app traffic on up to six Android, Windows or Mac devices.

The service is accessed from the Opera browser rather than a standalone app, in much the same way as the free VPN: tap a button on the address bar and connect. But it's an entirely different service underneath.

• Want to try Opera VPN Pro? Check out the website here

You can now select countries (and sometimes cities), with 33 countries available. You're able to choose OpenVPN or IKEv2 protocols, depending on the platform. And rather than route your traffic through Opera's overloaded free servers, Opera VPN Pro uses the same network as NordVPN, delivering much better speeds (more on that below).

There still aren't a lot of features (more on that below, too), and there's no iOS app yet, but the price is certainly right. Opera VPN Pro is $5.99 billed monthly, around half the price of some monthly plans. It drops to $2.99 a month on the six-month plan, and only $1.99 billed annually, a tiny $23.88 for a full year's protection.

Opera doesn't keep any logs on its users (Image credit: Opera)Privacy

Most VPN providers make huge efforts to convince you of their bullet-proof privacy, and that you'll be entirely safe with their service. Opera is, well, a little more cautious. Here's the relevant part of its privacy policy:

"VPN Pro is provided by a third-party service provider... Data communicated through VPN Pro will be encrypted and routed through one of thousands of servers... However, we do not promise that the service is absolutely secure. Despite our best efforts and the best efforts of our provider, criminals or other bad actors may still be able to access your data."

Is that worrying, unusually honest, or both? We're not quite sure, but it's something to bear in mind: Opera VPN Pro doesn't offer any big privacy promises, and it's probably not the best choice for privacy-critical tasks.

Opera says VPN Pro is a no log service, explaining: "We do not collect or store records of web pages you visit or links you click on in the servers dedicated for this Service."

Sounds promising. And as Opera VPN Pro is based on NordVPN's much-audited servers and network, we'd be reasonably sure that there's nothing harmful going on here. But Opera hasn't put its own apps or infrastructure through any audits of their own, so right now there's no evidence to back this up. We're left to take the company's words on trust.

To get started using Opera VPN, you'll just need to download the latest version of its browser (Image credit: Opera)Windows app

While Opera VPN Pro can now protect your entire Windows device, it's still accessed entirely from the Opera browser. You must download and install Opera, launch it whenever you need protection, and click a VPN icon in the address bar to control the app.

That's a relatively heavyweight solution (installing an entire browser requires far more resources than a simple standalone client), but once you've launched the app, it looks and feels much like any other VPN offering.

The location list is very barebones and basic (Image credit: Opera)

Opera VPN's dashboard is simple and free from clutter, which is just what we like to see. There's a connect button, and tapping the location option displays a list with all of your recent connection points at the top, as well as Opera VPN's server list. This is where you can pick and choose where you'd like to put your pin in the map.

There are no city-level locations, however, and no favorites system. This isn't a massive red flag, but it is a small quality of life feature that most top-rated VPNs include as standard, these days.

You get some settings to play with, but hardly any and it's very basic stuff (again) (Image credit: Opera)

The only other feature is a Settings icon. Tapping this displays a VPN Pro section in Opera's general Settings page. This is even more basic than the location list, with little more than a couple of account management options and a reconnect feature (which automatically restarts if the VPN fails).

The app doesn't make any mention of protocols. Our investigations revealed it used a standard Windows IKEv2 connection, slower than WireGuard, but properly configured for maximum security.

Opera VPN Pro doesn't have a kill switch, but does use a reconnect feature – although that's bugged, sadly (Image credit: Opera)Kill switch

The Opera VPN Pro website has no mention of a kill switch, and our tests showed why: it doesn't seem to have one. When we forcibly closed our Windows VPN connection, Opera displayed a 'Disconnected' message and reconnected within seconds, but it didn't block our internet and our device traffic wasn't protected.

This reconnect feature is welcome, and reduces your data exposure. It's no substitute for a working kill switch, though, and our tests revealed it had an odd 'feature' (or bug) of its own.

Suppose you've finished with Opera VPN, closed the browser, and you're connected to something else via a different Windows network connection – maybe a secure login for a work system. We’ll call this service X.

We noticed that if we forcibly closed X’s connection, then Opera VPN Pro acted like this was a failure in its own service, popped up a warning and tried connecting to its own network. But X was trying to reconnect, too. Sometimes Opera connected first, sometimes X, and sometimes that connection failed after a few seconds, presumably because the two systems were fighting over who was in charge, and they’d both try reconnecting again.

This may not happen much in real life. If you’re not using a second connection, it may never happen at all. But just the fact that the app can make such a fundamental mistake is a concern, and we’re left wondering what other issues might be lurking somewhere in its code.

We use a number of different speed tests to determine the performance of each VPN we review (Image credit: Ookla)Performance

We tested Opera VPN Pro's speeds with Windows systems in both UK and US locations, using multiple speed tests, over several sessions. That's a minimum of 120 individual checks, and it's often considerably more.

The results were relatively ordinary at 230-280Mbps. That's about what we expect for an IKEv2 connection (Atlas VPN also managed 230-240Mbps in recent testing, Hotspot Shield 220-260Mbps). However, WireGuard-equipped VPNs are typically two to three times as fast, and Surfshark and TorGuard reached 950Mbps+ in their last tests.

Opera's VPN has always been about privacy and security more than accessing geoblocked content, so we didn't expect much from our unblocking tests. And sure enough, it gave us very mixed results in both the UK (unblocked BBC iPlayer, couldn’t even access ITV or Channel 4) and Australia (succeeded with 9Now, failed with 10 play).

But the service went on to surprise us everywhere else, unblocking Netflix in the US, UK, Australia, Canada and Japan, as well as Amazon Prime Video and Disney Plus: a very capable record.

If you’re looking for even more, though, ExpressVPN, Hide.me, Ivacy, NordVPN, PureVPN and Surfshark all unblocked 100% of our sample sites in their last tests.

Opera's Help Center is distinctly underwhelming (Image credit: Opera)Support

The Opera Pro VPN support site is just about as basic as we've seen, with a tiny number of extremely short articles containing almost no useful details at all.

We opened the article 'Can I use Opera VPN Pro on my Laptop/Desktop computer?' hoping to find step-by-step guides to setting up the service, for instance. ExpressVPN has seven in-depth tutorials on Windows alone, but Opera's article was 58 words long, and said little more than 'it's available for Windows 8 and MacOS 10.15 or later, just download Opera Browser to use it.'

Live chat is available, but only Monday to Friday, 8am to 4pm (CEST). You can leave a message and the support team will respond by email, but officially this could take up to 48 hours.

We posted a test question explaining that Opera VPN Pro connected for us, but then we weren't able to access the internet on any apps until the connection was closed. That's typically a DNS-type issue, but would the agent give us any kind of detailed response to help figure that out?

The good news is the reply arrived quicker than expected, in around 18 hours. The bad news is it included nothing but the most generic advice that anyone with more than five minutes VPN experience would figure out for themselves: uninstall and reinstall, or try it on another device.

Opera VPN Pro has too many shortcomings to recommend the service (Image credit: Opera)Final verdict

Opera VPN Pro is a nice extension of the free Opera VPN service. It's capable of unblocking Netflix, thanks to a decent spread of servers, but dedicated streamers will be disappointed with its overall unblocking power. Opera VPN is somewhat basic when it comes to features, too, especially compared to our top-rated services. If you're looking for an all-rounder, you'll be happier elsewhere.

• We've highlighted all the best VPNs

Mozilla VPN: quick menu

1. Features
2. Mozilla VPN pricing
3. Privacy and logging
4. Audit
5. Apps
6. Settings
7. Kill switch
8. Mac app
9. Mobile apps
10. Performance
11. Mozilla VPN review: Final verdict

Mozilla VPN might've been a standalone Firefox browser extension once upon a time but, since then, it has become a full-blooded VPN service capable of giving your online security a significant boost.

The network has expanded recently and now offers 600+ servers across 73 locations in 43 countries.

• Want to try Mozilla VPN? Check out the website here

Mozilla VPN is powered by Mullvad's speedy and secure network. Some companies keep quiet about the fact that they're reselling someone else's service, not Mozilla. Click the 'see our full list of servers' link on the Mozilla VPN website, for instance, and it takes you to the server list on Mullvad's site. 

You can elect to use ad or tracker-blocking DNS servers (Image credit: Mozilla)Features

Mozilla VPN's feature list has grown considerably since launch. Now, the service competes well with many big VPN names. The network is P2P-friendly, for instance (we torrented successfully on three test locations), support for the speedy WireGuard protocol optimizes performance, and there's a kill switch to protect you if the VPN drops. Multi-Hop VPN enables connecting to the VPN from one location and exiting from another, making it even more difficult for others to track your activities. There is also split tunneling support (called App Exclusions here) that allows you to decide which apps are protected by the VPN and which use your regular internet connection.

Other highlights include IPv6 support, and the ability to choose an ad or tracker-blocking DNS server, or to use your preferred DNS.

Firefox users get an unusual bonus in support for Multi-Account Containers. Each Firefox tab can be connected to a separate VPN location, so instead of forever connecting, changing location, and disconnecting, you can just switch to whatever tab you need. This Mozilla blog post has more details.

There are still weaknesses. Mozilla VPN only supports the WireGuard protocol, so if that won't connect on your network, you're out of luck. There's no support for manually setting up the service on routers or anything else. Additionally, you still can't set up the apps to automatically connect when you access public Wi-Fi, either.

There's no live chat support, but Mozilla does have a decent number of support articles. You can also send questions to the support team from the website if you're in serious trouble.

Only five devices can be registered to use the VPN at one time (Image credit: Mozilla)

We spotted one potential annoyance. Although Mozilla VPN says it works with up to five devices, that means specific, registered devices. If you use the service on two mobiles, two laptops, and a tablet, for instance, you can't use it on a new device until you've signed out of one of the others.

• How does Mozilla VPN shape up with the best Firefox VPN extensions

Payment methods include PayPal as well as cards (Image credit: Mozilla)Mozilla VPN pricing

Mozilla VPN is priced at a reasonable $9.99 for its monthly billed account, dropping to $4.99 on the https://vpn.mozilla.org/.

Although that's not expensive overall, keep in mind that you're paying for access to Mullvad's servers. Sign up for Mullvad instead and you'll pay a flat rate of €5 a month (around $5.50), whatever the length of your subscription.

Payments are accepted via card and PayPal only.

If you sign up and the service doesn't work for you, no problem, you're protected by a 30-day money-back guarantee. There are no sneaky catches or exclusions, as far as we can tell and we spent quite some time looking. If you're unhappy, just tell the company within the first 30 days, and you'll get a refund.

Mozilla VPN puts user privacy first (Image credit: Mozilla)Privacy and logging

Mozilla sells its VPN partly on being from 'a name you can trust' and that's a major plus. Even if you think Mozilla's reputation comes largely from not being Google or Microsoft, it's still way ahead of many VPNs in the trustworthiness stakes, and its partner, Mullvad, is one of the most privacy-focused providers around.

The Mozilla VPN website makes its general approach very clear – ''Your privacy comes first'', ''We don't store your online activity logs on our servers'' – and the company provides more information in a brief Privacy Notice.

The firm collects your IP address when you sign up and use the service, along with technical information about the setup such as the app version, operating system, hardware configuration, and interaction data. Interaction data includes the time that you log in, when the app requests the server information, and other stuff. Mozilla says the IP is only held temporarily, although it doesn't explain how long 'temporary' might be.

If you're unhappy with this, you can disable some of it. Our Windows app installer asked us whether we wanted to send usage data to Mozilla, making it clear what was going on, and giving us a chance to say 'no, thanks'. If you don't notice the installer option, you can also turn this off later in the settings.

Mozilla points users to the Mullvad Privacy Policy for more detail and that explains there's no logging of traffic, DNS requests, IP addresses, session times, or bandwidth used.

Mozilla VPN was given a thorough audit by Cure53 (Image credit: Mozilla)Audit

Mozilla says all the right things about privacy, but users shouldn't be left to take any provider's words on trust. We like to see some independent evidence that a VPN is living up to its promises.

In August 2021, Mozilla provided just that by publishing the results of a second Cure53 audit into its service.

This didn't look at the servers, but Cure53 did have an in-depth look at the apps, including the source code.

Cure53's report was positive overall, saying that only a single medium scale vulnerability was uncovered, and that the apps had 'grown significantly in security' since its last review.

Overall, we think the audit is positive news in a number of ways. The scope was significant, covering all Mozilla's apps; the company shared its source code; the audit results were reasonable, and it published the report in full. We give Mozilla a lot of credit for putting itself under that level of scrutiny, something which most VPNs still haven't done.

Mozilla VPN is available across a number of platforms (Image credit: Mozilla)Apps

Signing up with Mozilla VPN begins by providing your email address and age to create a Firefox account. Although most providers also ask you to register with your email address, Mullvad doesn't need any personal details at all, which could be another reason to just buy it from Mullvad directly.

With the account set up, we handed over our cash and the website directed us to the Downloads page. We grabbed a copy of the Windows app, which was downloaded and installed within seconds.

This is the user interface of Mozilla VPN's Windows app (Image credit: Mozilla)

Mozilla VPN's Windows offering has a straightforward and very standard interface. A small console displays your default location, and you can click this to select another. A big On/Off switch connects and disconnects you as required, and icons plus a status display make it clear when you're protected, and when you're not.

The client doesn't have an 'Automatic' setting where it chooses the fastest server for you, and there's no Search box, filtering, or Favorites system to quickly find your most-used locations. Getting connected takes a little more scrolling and clicking than we'd like. There's some compensation in Mozilla's use of the ultra-speedy WireGuard protocol, which typically got us connected in 1-2 seconds.

Our connection stress testing caused the app to get stuck at this point (Image credit: Mozilla)

The app didn't perform as well in our connection stress tests, where we see how a VPN can handle awkward network situations like no internet connection, when another VPN is connected, and so on. It occasionally hung on ‘Connecting' or ‘Disconnecting' screens for so long that we had to restart to recover.

If you're only ever accessing the same few very standard Wi-Fi hotspots, you might instantly connect each time, and this won't matter at all; however, if you're traveling more widely, you could find Mozilla VPN has the occasional connection issue. If you're signing up for the trial, use your time to test the service on as many different networks as you can to see how it works for you.

Unfortunately Mozilla VPN has very few settings (Image credit: Mozilla)Settings

We started by looking at Mozilla VPN's Windows split tunneling system. This enables setting up specific apps to use your normal internet connection rather than the VPN, which can be handy to improve performance or fix problems like banking apps not running if you seem to be in another country.

A DNS Settings screen allows you to choose DNS servers that block ads, trackers, or both, and you can also enter a custom DNS server of your own.

A 'Privacy features' page allows selectively blocking ads, trackers, and malware. We turned everything on and tried accessing 156 common trackers. Mozilla VPN blocked a very acceptable 115, including all the most important such as Google and Facebook.

Switching to malware, we tried accessing 379 very new malicious websites and watched as Mozilla VPN blocked 99.2% (it missed only three.) Even ad blocking worked better than we expected, with our VPN-enabled connection scoring 90% protection in one test (that's better than uBlock Origin.)

A Notifications page includes an option to display an alert if you connect to an unsecured Wi-Fi network. That's useful, although more powerful apps can automatically connect to the VPN as required, too.

A handful of more technical features include the ability to use port 53 for connections, which might help you use the service in countries or on networks where a VPN is normally blocked. 

As we mentioned above, there's no option to change protocol but otherwise, there's a fair amount of configurability here and Mozilla VPN certainly outperforms many competitors.

Mozilla VPN's Windows client has a kill switch but there is no option to turn it on or off (Image credit: Mozilla)Kill switch

While Mozilla's Windows client has a kill switch, there's no option to turn it on or off or tweak how it works. That's good for security, as there's no way you can accidentally disable it. Still, this could be bad news if the kill switch causes some problems on your device, as there's no way to try and fix that.

We ran a few tests and found the kill switch correctly blocked our internet if the VPN connection dropped.

We did notice problems in some extreme situations. If one of Mozilla's Windows services fails, for instance, protection is lost but the kill switch doesn't kick in. The app warns the user about the disconnection but there's a chance their identity and some traffic will be exposed.

Problems like this aren't common and while you may never encounter them in real-world use, they suggest Mozilla's Windows app isn't the best at handling unusual network conditions. We're left wondering what other issues might be lurking under the hood.

The Mac app looks like the Windows build, and offers some useful touches (Image credit: Mozilla)Mac app

Mozilla VPN's Mac app looks and feels almost identical to the Windows version and that's both good and bad. On the plus side, it's exceptionally consistent. Learn how the app works on one platform and you'll have no problem using it on the other. On the downside, it means the Mac inherits all the same Windows limitations. There's no 'Fastest server' option to automatically choose the best location, no Favorites system, and no choice of protocol, for instance. It's also missing Mozilla's 'App Exclusions' split tunneling feature.

The app does have a few interesting touches. It also includes Mozilla's effective ad, tracker, and malicious website blocking DNS. It can also give you notifications if you connect to unsecured Wi-Fi. Other apps go further – the best VPN software can automatically connect when you access untrusted networks – but these are still features worth having.

Put it all together, and although it's not exactly powerful, this is a decent Mac app. It's simple to use and worked well for us. It connected quickly and delivered decent performance all-round.

Mozilla VPN's Android app is very much built the same as the Windows client (Image credit: Mozilla)Mobile apps

The Mozilla Android and iOS apps are near clones of the desktop builds, easy to use but with few features.

Browsing the menus, we managed to spot some differences between the desktop clients. For example, the Android app supports the split tunneling feature which isn't supported on Mac, allowing you to choose specific apps that won't have their traffic routed through the VPN.

The iOS app doesn't have split tunneling (not Mozilla's fault, it's not supported on iOS), but you do still get ad, malware, and tracker blocking DNS and some basic notification settings.

Mozilla's mobile apps aren't exactly exciting then, but like the rest of the range, they're not bad either. They all do a reasonable job of the VPN essentials, and if that's all you need, they might be good enough.

Mozilla VPN put in an okay performance in our speed testing (Image credit: Speedtest.net)Performance

Mozilla VPN focuses primarily on its privacy-boosting tools and, unfortunately, our hands-on unblocking tests made this crystal clear. We were unable to access popular platforms, including Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, BBC iPlayer, and Disney+.

We managed to check out ITV and Channel 4 however, as well as Australia's 9Now, but this is a pretty disappointing spread of sites.

This means that Mozilla VPN just doesn't cut it as a streaming VPN – which could be a massive red flag for prospective users looking for a well-rounded service. NordVPN, ExpressVPN, and Surfshark all aced our unblocking tests, able to access virtually every streaming site we threw at them.

Our performance tests found Mozilla's WireGuard-powered download speeds peaked at 360Mbps. That's far behind the likes of NordVPN, Surfshark, and Windscribe. All these VPNs reached 950Mbps+ in their last tests. If your regular internet connections only ever reach a fraction of that speed, or you're using a VPN to protect normal browsing or streaming, Mozilla VPN is fast enough.

The company ended on a positive note in our final privacy checks, as multiple test sites found Mozilla VPN blocked all DNS and WebRTC leaks.

Mozilla VPN review: Final verdict

Mozilla VPN benefits from a well-known and trusted brand, but it can't quite compare to our top-rated services when it comes to features, unblocking power, and value for money. Ultimately, unless you're a die-hard Mozilla fan, you'll be better off looking elsewhere.

• We've also highlighted the best VPN providers of 2025

The movie lands in theaters March 20.

• Still no confirmation if the data breach affected customers
• Data stolen varies from person to person but generally includes sensitive PII
• INC Ransom assumed responsibility for the attack

When cybercriminals struck Ahold Delhaize in November 2024, they stole sensitive data on more than 2.2 million people, the company has revealed.

The food retail behemoth confirmed the news in a new form, recently filed with the Maine Attorney General’s Office, which did not specify if, among the stolen documents, was information belonging to its customers.

However, it did say they may have included internal employment records for both current and former employees. The combination of stolen data varies from person to person, but generally, it includes full names, postal addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, government-issued ID numbers, bank account numbers, health information, and other employment-related information.

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Customer concerns

Ahold Delhaize confirmed suffering a cyberattack which forced it to shut down parts of its IT infrastructure.

As a result, some of its grocery stores and pharmacies, mainly those in the United States, could not service their customers properly. The company operates a variety of supermarket, convenience store, and online grocery brands across Europe and the United States, including brands like Food Lion, Stop & Shop, and Giant.

It operates some 7,910 stores across Europe, the United States, and Indonesia, and serves around 72 million customers weekly. In late April 2025, it confirmed the attackers stole sensitive files, and said it was investigating the matter.

The company never announced the name of the attackers, but a group calling itself INC Ransom added Ahold Delhaize to its dark web extortion page in April 2025

At that time, it leaked a sample of documents, confirming the authenticity of the breach and suggesting that the negotiations about a ransom payment were under way.

Besides announcing the theft, the company also said it would be offering 24 months of free credit monitoring and identity theft protection services to affected individuals through Experian, which includes $1 million in identity theft insurance coverage.

Via BleepingComputer

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• You can get access to Google's Veo 3 for free with this simple trick
• Sign up for a Google Cloud free trial with $300/£222 of credit and use Veo 3 directly from Vertex AI
• Generate 8-second clips with audio without spending a penny

Google's Veo 3 is everywhere, making it nearly impossible to tell what videos are real on social media anymore.

The clips may be limited to 8 seconds, but with the ability to generate audio too, and stitch multiple clips together, Veo 3 is well and truly the best AI video generator.

To use Veo 3, you normally need access to a paid Google AI subscription, but this neat workaround using a Google Cloud trial gives you $300 /£222 worth of Cloud Billing credits and a way to use Veo 3 through Vertex AI.

Sound complicated? Don't worry, it's super easy to set up, and you'll be generating AI video in no time without opening your wallet.

How to get access to Veo 3 for free

(Image credit: Future)

Head to the Google Cloud website and sign up for a free $300 credit trial to unlock higher limits in Vertex AI. You'll need to enter a billing address, and the credits will last for 90 days, but don't worry, you won't be charged unless you actively choose to subscribe.

Once you've signed up for your free Google Cloud trial, head to Vertex AI and select Media Studio. You'll now be able to generate Veo 3 videos without spending any money at all.

While Veo 3 is seriously impressive, it's worth noting that AI video generation uses a lot of energy, so if you're aiming to be sustainable with your AI usage, you may want to limit this tool to necessity, rather than generate AI slop.

That said, you're free to use Veo 3 how you please, it's really that simple - no purchase necessary.

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Dust on the Wind, Drift Beyond the Flame, and End the Pain, are all songs by the hot new band The Velvet Sundown, who are blowing up on Spotify with over 470,000 monthly listeners. There’s only one problem. It doesn’t look like the band actually exists, and the music appears to have been created by AI.

While the band appears as a Verified Artist on Spotify, the bio says an incredible amount of nondescript things about the band, like “There’s something quite spellbinding about The Velvet Sundown. You don’t just listen to them, you drift into them”.

The bio lists the band members as singer and mellotron player Gabe Farrow, guitarist Lennie West, Milo Raines, who "crafts the band's textured synth sounds," and "free-spirited" percussionist Orion “Rio” Del Mar. No amount of digging that I (or the music press) have been able to do has persuaded me that any of these people are real.

The music itself sounds to me like a kind of mash-up of various mellow, country-influenced, rock bands like The Eagles, JJ Cale, and The Allman Brothers. I can also detect an element of another Texas band, Khruangbin, in their sound.

(Image credit: The Velvet Sundown)Dust and Silence

The Velvet Sundown already has one album out, Dust and Silence, which you can listen to right now, and another, Paper Sun Rebellion, is set for release in 13 days on July 14, but the signs of AI are all over everything to do with them.

For instance, both album covers look like two versions of the same AI-generated design. Both are surrealism scenes of a floating eye and a staircase in a desert landscape with mountains in the background. It looks like what happens when AI generates two or more versions of an image for you to choose between.

Then take a look at pictures of the band - they look like they’ve been created by ChatGPT to me. If you look at the band’s Instagram account, you’ll see what obviously looks like AI-generated photos of the band.

With powerful AI music creation tools like Suno available online, it’s quite possible that the particular blend of easy-listening, middle-of-the-road, rock that The Velvet Sundown specializes in is AI-created too. Another giveaway for me is that the singer’s voice sounds slightly different on each track the band plays, and the music has a soulless, generic quality to it, even if it makes for pleasant and inoffensive background listening. There’s nothing cohesive between the tracks that makes me think they’re played by the same people.

Hard times

As we reported in February, since 2024, Spotify has demonetized songs that don't get 1,000 streams a year – by some estimates, 86% of music on the platform – making it even harder for musicians to make a living.

In a time when the big streaming services are reaping vast profits and artists who aren't in the top percentage of streamers are struggling, the fact that an AI band is grabbing the ears of listeners away from real human-generated music, while not being labelled as AI, is proving divisive.

Many people are understandably unhappy that what appears to be an entirely AI-generated band is getting plays and being supported by Spotify.

“Just looked them up, and the description on Spotify doesn't make any mention of them being AI. This honestly is making me lean towards cancelling my Spotify subscription”, said Reddit user blyzo.

“Yeah, that's what people are today; all frauds, and all supporters of the fake. Milli Vanilli came out decades too early!”, commented Reddit user Big-Rabbit9119

However, Reddit user AnyPomegranate4981 said, "ngl the songs are fire".

We reached out to Spotify for comment on how this band had achieved Verified status and if it thought The Velvet Sundown was a real band, despite all the obvious evidence, but they haven't responded. We'll update this article if we get a response.

One thing that did occur to me was that if it is a real band, then this could be a very clever marketing campaign. Generating controversy by appearing to be a fake AI band would be a great way to get yourself noticed.

If The Velvet Sunset is indeed an AI band, though, one thing is for sure – we’re unlikely to ever see them play live.

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• Hawaiian Airlines files 8-K form with the SEC
• It claims to have observed an attack, but it didn't affect flights or their safety
• Security researchers believe the attack was done by Scattered Spider

Hawaiian Airlines has said it recently suffered a cyberattack, but stressed the incident didn’t affect any flights.

In a new 8-K form filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the airline said it identified a “security incident affecting certain information technology systems”, on June 23, 2025.

The company responded by “taking steps to safeguard the operations and systems”, bringing in external third-party cybersecurity experts to investigate the attack, and notifying relevant authorities about the incident.

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Scattered Spider's fingerprints

Other details are unknown at the time, but security experts and the media are speculating this might have been the work of Scattered Spider, a hacking collective that’s been targeting US-based retailers lately.

In fact, Charles Carmakal, the CTO of Google's Mandiant Consulting security research arm, told The Register this attack “bears the hallmarks” of that particular threat actor.

"Mandiant is aware of multiple incidents in the airline and transportation sector which resemble the operations of UNC3944 or Scattered Spider. We are still working on attribution and analysis, but given the habit of this actor to focus on a single sector we suggest that the industry take steps immediately to harden systems," said Carmakal.

"The actor's core tactics, techniques, and procedures have remained consistent. This means that organizations can take proactive steps like training their help desk staff to enforce robust identity verification processes and deploying phishing-resistant MFA to defend against these intrusions. Additional advice can be found in our previous hardening guide."

Hawaiian adds its flights are operating safely and as per schedule.

“The company has not yet determined whether the incident is reasonably likely to materially impact the company’s financial condition or results of operations,” the filing concluded.

Since the company did not take down its IT network, it’s safe to assume that this wasn’t a ransomware attack, but these details could be known in the coming weeks.

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(Image credit: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

• A range of new security features arrived with One UI 7
• Samsung is recommending users turn them on
• They'll help to protect your data if someone swipes your phone

Samsung is rather proud of some of the anti-theft features it's recently rolled out with One UI 7 (based on Android 15), so much so that the company has issued a press release strongly advising users to turn on these new features.

"Samsung is calling on Galaxy users to activate the latest anti-theft features now available on their devices," reads the directive (via Android Authority). "These updates reflect Samsung's commitment to delivering smarter, stronger protection – helping users safeguard their data and stay in control, even in high-risk situations."

There are five features mentioned, though they're not all brand new. First up is Theft Detection Lock, which uses the sensors on your phone to detect when it might have been snatched, and automatically locks the screen.

There's also Offline Device Lock, which locks the phone after it's been offline for an extended period, and Remote Lock – the ability for users to lock a phone remotely from a different device if its been lost or stolen.

Where to find these features

You can find these features in the Security and privacy section of Settings (Image credit: Future)

Samsung One UI 7 also offers Identity Check, which means biometric authentication is needed for changing security settings, and Security Delay: a one-hour waiting period that's enforced if the biometric data is reset on a phone.

If you have had your phone taken from you, that waiting period should give you time to remotely lock it and take whatever other steps are needed, before the person who's trying to reset it can gain full access.

All of these features can be found and enabled through the Settings panel in One UI 7: Tap Security and privacy > Lost device protection, and you'll find options for registering your device with the Find My Mobile service (for locking it remotely), and for managing the other security features flagged up by Samsung.

it's also worth mentioning that these aren't Samsung exclusives: you can find these features, such as Theft Detection Lock, on other phones running Google's Android 15 software (including the best Pixel phones).

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• The upgrade is now officially in testing
• It'll be a more minor update delivered as an 'enablement package' and that's a good thing as we're likely to see fewer bugs than with 24H2

Microsoft has confirmed that Windows 11 25H2 is the next update for its desktop operating system, arriving later this year.

That ends whispers that we might just see the release of Windows 12 - or whatever the next incarnation of the OS will be called - later this year. However, hope of that had already dwindled to pretty much dying embers in all honesty.

The announcement came in an IT Pro blog post from Microsoft that Tom's Hardware flagged.

Microsoft told us: "Today, Windows 11, version 25H2 became available to the Windows Insider community, in advance of broader availability planned for the second half of 2025."

The Windows Insider community is the formal name for those who are testing Windows 11, running preview versions of the OS (in various channels, from the earliest builds in the Canary channel to the Release Preview channel, which, as the name suggests, is one step away from release).

So, some of those testers are now officially using Windows 11 25H2, and Microsoft further confirmed another suspicion that's been previously aired about the next big update for the operating system - that it's what's known as an 'enablement package' or 'eKB' for short.

This means that the move to 25H2 will be a swift upgrade for those who are on Windows 11 24H2, and as Microsoft puts it, the update will be "as easy as a quick restart".

The 25H2 update would typically be expected to arrive in September or October, and I wouldn't expect it any sooner - neither would I rule out the possibility of a November release. As ever, it'll be an ongoing rollout, so it could take some time to reach your PC.

Analysis: Fewer features, but fewer problems?

(Image credit: MAYA LAB / Shutterstock)

How does the enablement package delivery method Microsoft is employing here help to ensure a speedy and simple update? It's because 25H2 is built on the same 'servicing branch' as 24H2, meaning that they use the same code. They are, for all intents and purposes, the same, except 25H2 has some extra features added on top - and because these versions of Windows 11 are the same codebase, those features can effectively be preloaded to devices running 24H2.

What this means is that when it comes to applying the update, it's already in place, and it just has to be enabled. Hence the phrase 'enablement package', and with just a simple switch being flicked to turn on 25H2's features when the update is sent live, it's basically just a quick reboot, and you're done. At least in theory, anyway, barring any issues.

However, what this also means is that there'll be no major changes with Windows 11 25H2. An enablement package release is a fast and quick deployment, but doesn't change anything major with Windows 11's code, as noted, and so we will likely get a fairly limited dollop of new features with 25H2.

In short, don't get your hopes up for anything earthshaking this year regarding Microsoft's changes to Windows 11. However, the flipside is that without any major moves, there's far less chance of any nasty bugs popping up.

Windows 11 24H2 brought in a new underlying platform - Germanium - which was a huge shift, and my theory has long been that this is why we've seen more than the usual helping of critters skittering about in the works of the OS (and some very strange glitches, too). In 2025, that shouldn't happen, and hopefully, Microsoft will get back on course with ensuring Windows 11 runs more smoothly (knock on wood, fingers crossed, etc.).

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• Kansas man hacked health club, nonprofit and former employer to promote his services
• He claimed responsibility and offered remedial support
• He could face up to five years in prison and more

A Kansas man has plead guilty to hacking multiple organizations only to promote his own cybersecurity services.

Nicholas Michael Kloster, a 32-year-old from Kansas City, was indicted in 2024 for breaching three organizations, including a health club and a Missouri nonprofit organization.

During the incident, Kloster emailed business owners claiming responsibility for the attacks, and offering consulting services to prevent future cyberattacks, and his fate will soon be determined.

Cyberattacker admits to pushing his own consulting services

In one case, Kloster accessed a gym's systems by breaching a restricted area. He manipulated the system to remove his own photo from the member database before reducing his monthly membership fee to $1. He then explained to the business owner that he had bypassed login credentials for security cameras and accessed router settings.

In a separate incident, Kloster used a boot disk to bypass authentication into a nonprofit's systems, stealing sensitive data, installing a VPN and changing user passwords.

A press release from the US Attorney's Office of Western District of Missouri explains that "the company has sustained significant losses in an attempt to remediate the effects from this intrusion."

Furthermore, Kloster is said to have stolen credit card data from a former employer to buy hacking tools (including a thumb drive advertised as a tool for hacking into vulnerable computers) after being fired from the company in April 2024.

The Attorney's Office explained that Kloster's actions deserve him up to five years' imprisonment in federal prison without parole, a fine of up to $250,000, up to three years of supervised release, and an order of restitution. A jury will decide the exact consequences he will face, but the involvement of the FBI suggests Kloster could face some pretty serious punishments.

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