Sunday 6th July 2025: Qantas Hit By Cyber Attack

Welcome to another low down on all the latest Tech news, Tips and Tricks to help you keep up to date with the latest from the Tech world!

You can hear the feature On Air on a Sunday with Mark, and throughout the week.

Microsoft has confirmed that it will lay off as many as 9,000 workers, in the technology giant's latest wave of job cuts this year.

The company said several divisions would be affected without specifying which ones but reports suggest that its Xbox video gaming unit will be hit.

Microsoft has set out plans to invest heavily in artificial intelligence (AI), and is spending money in huge data centres to train AI models.
Read More: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdxl0w1w394o

Source: BBC News

Facebook and Instagram users have been contacting the BBC complaining about having their accounts arbitrarily banned, and struggling to get them reinstated.

Last week Meta - which owns the platforms - acknowledged a "technical error" which it said was causing the wrongful suspension of some Facebook Groups.

Some say they have been shut out of pages that are key to their working lives, while others highlight the digital connections to loved ones that have been cut.

There is also frustration that - despite Meta saying it is fixing the problem - there is often no human to speak to about an issue they suspect is caused by moderation decisions powered by artificial intelligence (AI).

Read More: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgnp9ykm3xo

Source: BBC News

Qantas is contacting customers after a cyber attack targeted their third-party customer service platform.

On 30 June, the Australian airline detected "unusual activity" on a platform used by its contact centre to store the data of six million people, including names, email addresses, phone numbers, birth dates and frequent flyer numbers.

Upon detection of the breach, Qantas took "immediate steps and contained the system", according to a statement.

The company is still investigating the full extent of the breach, but says it is expecting the proportion of data stolen to be "significant".

It has assured the public that passport details, credit card details and personal financial information were not held in the breached system, and no frequent flyer accounts, passwords or PIN numbers have been compromised.
Read More: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd6gnyl9923o

Source: BBC News

This weeks app of the week is called Nebo

Nebo is a powerful handwriting-to-digital note-taking app for students.

It does more than just convert handwriting into typed text, as math equations can also be transformed into text and diagrams into perfect shapes.

This app is free to download on IOS and Android Devices

Google: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.myscript.nebo

Apple: https://apps.apple.com/app/nebo-note-taking-for-students/id1119601770

If you're a customer of an organisation that has suffered a data breach you should take the following actions.

1.  Find out if you've been affected by contacting the organisation using their official website or social media channels. Don't use the links or contact details in any messages you have been sent. The organisation should be able to confirm:

• if a breach actually occurred
• how you're affected
• what else you need to do

You can also phone the organisation directly, but be aware that many won’t have the capacity to respond to all calls during a major breach.

2.  Be alert to suspicious messages, which may be sent some time after the breach is made public. Remember, your bank (or any other official organisation) will never ask you to supply personal information. 

Things to look out for include:

• official-sounding messages about 'resetting passwords', 'receiving compensation', 'scanning devices' or 'missed deliveries'
• emails full of 'tech speak', designed to sound more convincing
• being urged to act immediately or within a limited timeframe