10 – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
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Security

Cybersecurity is the rickety scaffolding supporting everything you do online. For every new feature or app, there are a thousand different ways it can break – and a hundred of those can be exploited by criminals for data breaches, identity theft, or outright cyber heists. Staying ahead of those exploits is a full-time job, and one of the most lucrative and sought-after skills in the tech industry. All too often, it’s something up-and-coming companies decide to skip out on, only to pay the price later on.

Thomas Ricker
Thomas Ricker
Qantas hacked.

The airline says the Monday attack stole personal data of six million customers via a third-party service platform:

An initial review has confirmed the data includes some customers’ names, email addresses, phone numbers, birth dates and frequent flyer numbers. Importantly, credit card details, personal financial information and passport details are not held in this system. No frequent flyer accounts were compromised nor have passwords, PIN numbers or log in details been accessed.

QANTAS CYBER INCIDENT

[qantasnewsroom.com.au]

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Microsoft is testing tighter integration with 1Password’s passkeys in Windows.

The idea is to make using passkeys a little more seamless. But this isn’t available to everyone just yet: Microsoft is initially rolling it out to Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel and you need to install the 1Password beta.

A screenshot showing the tighter 1Password passkeys integration with Windows.
Image: Microsoft
Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
About that “16 billion passwords” data breach.

The original source of the report, Cybernews, says that since the start of the year, its researchers have “discovered 30 exposed datasets containing from tens of millions to over 3.5 billion records each. In total, the researchers uncovered an unimaginable 16 billion records.”

This isn’t a breach of one company or another’s systems, but compiled records, with some believed to be from “infostealer” malware, as well as previous leaks. As Bleeping Computer points out, what you should be doing hasn’t changed -- using unique passwords with a password manager, enabling two-factor authentication, and adding other forms of security like passkeys and security keys that can replace passwords altogether.

Emma Roth
Emma Roth
DuckDuckGo’s scam blocker now covers fake ecommerce sites and more.

The tool, which is built into DuckDuckGo’s browser, displays a warning message when you click on potentially dangerous sites. In addition to blocking phishing sites, malware, and common online scams, DuckDuckGo has expanded the tool to protect against fake online stores, phony crypto exchanges, and those obnoxious sites that falsely claim your device has a virus.

Image: DuckDuckGo
Thomas Ricker
Thomas Ricker
Welcome back Anne, please pay us £2.31 million.

A 2023 breach of genetic testing company 23andMe that leaked sensitive data for millions of customers already led to a $30 million settlement and, eventually, bankruptcy for the company once valued at $6 billion. Now the UK is layering on a fine of just over $3 million for failing to protect the genetic data of 155,592 UK residents. It comes just days after co-founder and former CEO Anne Wojcicki said she was buying back the company’s assets for $305 million.

Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
Washington Post resets logins after several journalists’ email accounts were hacked.

The Wall Street Journal reports that on Sunday, an internal memo from executive editor Matt Murray notified employees about an attack on on its email system, possibly by a foreign government. It also cites unnamed sources saying that the Microsoft accounts targeted included reporters on the national security and economic policy beats including some who write about China.

CNN says the outlet reset all employee logins on Friday, that Murray said they don’t believe it has had any impact on customers.

Emma Roth
Emma Roth
Security researchers found a zero-click vulnerability in Microsoft 365 Copilot.

The vulnerability, called “EchoLeak,” lets attackers “automatically exfiltrate sensitive and proprietary information” from Microsoft 365 Copilot without knowledge of the user, according to findings from Aim Labs.

An attacker only needs to send their victim a malicious prompt injection disguised as a normal email, which covertly instructs Copilot to pull sensitive information from a user’s account.

Microsoft has since fixed the critical flaw and given it the identifier CVE-2025-32711. It also hasn’t been exploited in the wild.

How to secure your phone before attending a protestHow to secure your phone before attending a protest
Barbara Krasnoff and Aliya Chaudhry
Cameron Faulkner
Cameron Faulkner
Meta and Yandex weren’t playing nice in the Android sandbox until researchers called them out.

Meta and Yandex were tracking Android users’ browsing data far more closely than they should have been, according to researchers. They bypassed the Android “sandbox” in some browsers, letting them de-anonymize users, track how they browse, and then use that data in native Facebook, Instagram, and Yandex apps.

Google is investigating the issue, saying that the companies used “capabilities present in many browsers across iOS and Android in unintended ways that blatantly violate our security and privacy principles.” In statements to Ars Technica, Meta and Yandex said they have discontinued the tracking, while denying wrongdoing.

Andrew Liszewski
Andrew Liszewski
Murena’s privacy-focused mobile OS improves tablet support and parental controls.

The company behind the Murena 2 smartphone and de-Googled Pixel Tablet has announced a new version of its operating system: /e/OS 3.0. It will make better use of the larger screens on tablets and give parents new tools for limiting screen time and app access.

The update also introduces a way to locate a missing device using SMS text messages without the need for internet access, and a new search engine called Murena Find.

The Murena Pixel Tablet running the latest version of the company’s operating system.
Although Murena’s mobile OS has already been available on the company’s version of the Pixel Tablet, the latest version improves support for devices with larger screens.
Screenshot: YouTube
Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
Which fashion brand hasn’t been hacked recently?

On the list of apparel-related data breaches, Adidas was early to the trend. Then, the Victoria’s Secret website was offline for a few days last week as it dealt with a “security incident.”

Now, Bleeping Computer has two more to add to the list, reporting that Cartier has sent emails to customers informing them that info like name, email address, and country of residence was stolen, and that The North Face has apparently suffered its fourth reported credential stuffing incident since 2020.

Andrew Liszewski
Andrew Liszewski
Adidas confirmed customer data was stolen in a cyber attack.

The company released a statement last week disclosing that an “unauthorized external party” managed to obtain “contact information relating to consumers who had contacted our customer service help desk in the past.”

Adidas says the data “does not contain passwords, credit card or any other payment-related information.” It has “launched a comprehensive investigation, collaborating with leading information security experts” and is “in the process of informing potentially affected consumers.”

Cameron Faulkner
Cameron Faulkner
Several of CISA’s top officials are gone.

The tumultuous year under the Trump administration continues for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), as many senior officials across the agency have recently left, or will soon be leaving, according to a report by The Washington Post and cited by Cybersecurity Drive. These departures punctuate numerous setbacks the agency has faced since Trump took office, including being told to halt its election security efforts and almost lapsing the CVE program that some of the world’s biggest companies rely on to track cybersecurity vulnerabilities.

“It feels like the wrong people are leaving,” said a second CISA employee, who insisted on anonymity to speak freely. “All of these departures make it feel like people are leaving the mission and creating a vacuum.”

Emma Roth
Emma Roth
CBP stopped using TeleMessage’s Signal clone following news of a hack.

On Monday, a report from 404Media found that a hacker obtained direct messages and CBP contact information from TeleMessage after Mike Waltz was spotted using the company’s modified version of Signal.

Customs and Border Protection spokesperson Rhonda Lawson told Wired that the agency “immediately disabled” TeleMessage in response to the attack and that its “investigation into the scope of the breach is ongoing.”

Tina Nguyen
Tina Nguyen
Someone finally got canned for Signalgate (sort of).

Donald Trump announced Thursday that he would remove Michael Waltz as National Security Advisor and appoint him as ambassador to the United Nations. CBS reported earlier that Trump did not want to explicitly fire Waltz, the person who accidentally added The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg to the group chat, but waited several weeks before he could spin the demotion as part of a reorganization strategy at the National Security Council.

Jess Weatherbed
Jess Weatherbed
Pyongyang on payroll.

The increase in AI tools, deepfake technology, and fully remote jobs following the covid pandemic has enabled a new kind of scam: workers who take jobs with US and European companies under false identities and send their salaries to the North Korean government.

The US government estimates that teams of pretenders can earn up to $3 million each year, and workers can go undetected at companies for many months.

Emma Roth
Emma Roth
Apple sends spyware warnings to more iPhone users.

Dutch right-wing activist Eva Vlaardingerbroek reported receiving a message from Apple, saying the company “detected a targeted mercenary spyware attack against your iPhone.” The message adds, “This attack is likely targeting you specifically because of who you are or what you do.”

Italian journalist Ciro Pellegrino reported receiving a similar message that indicated Apple had sent warnings to victims in 100 countries, as reported by TechCrunch. Apple last warned users about a spyware attack in July 2024.