Technology

Apple just announced major free upgrades coming to Apple Intelligence-compatible devices, set to arrive as part of iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26, and watchOS 26 later this year.

The new AI features coming to these devices were sporadically showcased throughout WWDC 2025, so we've compiled a list of all the major announcements to give you a breakdown of every Apple Intelligence announcement at the event.

Unfortunately, Apple didn't showcase the Siri AI upgrade we'd been hoping for, but the Cupertino-based company did unveil a lot of new software improvements powered by Apple Intelligence.

Here are the six major Apple Intelligence upgrades announced at WWDC 2025.

1. Live Translation

(Image credit: Apple)

Live Translation "helps users communicate across languages when messaging or speaking," and is integrated directly into Messages, FaceTime, and the Phone app.

Live Translation will be able to automatically translate messages, add translated live captions to FaceTime, and on a phone call the translation will be spoken aloud throughout the conversation, completely removing language barriers using AI.

Privacy won't be an issue either, as Apple says the new translation tool runs on Apple's own AI models and "users’ personal conversations stay personal."

2. Genmoji and Image Playground upgrades

(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)

Apple launched Genmoji and Image Playground as part of the first wave of Apple Intelligence features, and now the company is improving its generative AI image tools.

Users can now turn text descriptions into emojis as well as mix together emojis and combine them with descriptions to create something new. You'll also be able to change expressions and adjust personal attributes of Genmojis made from photos of friends and family members.

Image Playground is now getting ChatGPT support to allow users to access brand-new styles such as oil painting and vector art. Apple says, "users are always in control, and nothing is shared with ChatGPT without their permission."

3. Visual Intelligence can now see your screen

Visual Intelligence might've already been the best Apple Intelligence feature, but now the exclusive iPhone 16 AI tool is even better.

At WWDC, Apple announced that Visual Intelligence can now scan your screen, allowing users to search and take action on anything they’re viewing across apps.

You'll be able to ask ChatGPT questions about content on your screen via Apple Intelligence, and this new feature can be accessed by taking a screenshot. When using the same buttons as a screenshot, you'll be asked to save, share the screenshot, or explore more with Visual Intelligence.

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As someone who loves Gemini's ability to see your screen, I'm incredibly excited to see how Visual Intelligence tackles its newfound power that lets it analyze what you're doing on your device.

4. Apple Intelligence on Apple Watch

(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)

The world's most popular smartwatch just got AI functionality in the form of Workout Buddy, a workout experience with Apple Intelligence that "incorporates a user’s workout data and fitness history to generate personalized, motivational insights during their session."

Apple says the new feature is a "first-of-its-kind workout experience" and will offer "meaningful inspiration in real time" to keep you motivated on your exercise.

Once Apple Intelligence has analyzed your workout data, "a new text-to-speech model then translates insights into a dynamic generative voice built using voice data from Fitness+ trainers, so it has the right energy, style, and tone for a workout."

Workout Buddy is the first exclusive Apple Intelligence feature on Apple Watch and will require an Apple Intelligence-supported iPhone nearby. At launch, Workout Buddy will be available in English and across the following workout types: "Outdoor and Indoor Run, Outdoor and Indoor Walk, Outdoor Cycle, HIIT, and Functional and Traditional Strength Training."

5. Third party apps have Apple Intelligence access

(Image credit: Apple)

While this announcement might not grab any headlines, it's a big one for the future of Apple Intelligence: Developers now have access to Apple's Foundation Models.

What does that mean exactly? Well, app developers will be able to "build on Apple Intelligence to bring users new experiences that are intelligent, available when they’re offline, and that protect their privacy, using AI inference that is free of cost."

Apple's example is an education app using the Apple Intelligence model to generate a quiz from your notes, without any API costs.

This framework could completely change the way we, users, interact with our favorite third-party apps, now with the ability to tap into Apple's AI models and make the user experience even more intuitive.

6. AI-powered Shortcuts

Last but not least, Apple announced Apple Intelligence powers for the Shortcuts app. This is a major upgrade to one of the best apps on Apple devices, allowing users to "tap into intelligent actions, a whole new set of shortcuts enabled by Apple Intelligence."

Apple says "Shortcuts are supercharged with Apple Intelligence," and you'll also be able to tap into ChatGPT to superpower your Shortcuts.

Just like the Shortcuts app, the true power here will come down to user creations and how people tap into this new ability. As someone who uses Shortcuts on a daily basis, I'm incredibly excited to see how Apple Intelligence improves the experience.

7. Everything else

(Image credit: Apple)

Alongside these six major announcements, Apple also announced that Apple Intelligence will scan and identify relevant actions from your emails, websites, notes, and other content, and then automatically categorize them in the Reminders app.

Elsewhere, Apple Wallet can now "identify and summarize order tracking details from emails sent from merchants or delivery carriers. This works across all of a user’s orders, giving them the ability to see their full order details, progress notifications, and more, all in one place."

Finally, Messages is getting Apple Intelligence poll functionality, which can detect when a poll might come in handy. The Messages app is also getting AI-generated backgrounds that can be created for each conversation using Image Playground.

The new language translation feature will function across the Messages, FaceTime and Phone apps.

A redesigned interface, an AI powered workout buddy, and a few more surprises... Here's your first look at the next big software update coming to the Apple Watch.

• Apple has revealed a new unified design for nearly all of its software platforms
• The new design centers on a digital 'material' called Liquid Glass
• The design makes heavy use of translucent elements that simulate refraction

Apple has revealed a major visual redesign for its upcoming iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26, tvOS 26, and watchOS 26 software updates.

Announced at WWDC 2025, the new software design language puts emphasis on transparency and fluidity, incorporating a new digital ‘material’ called Liquid Glass that virtually refracts light and dynamically reacts to user movements.

According to Apple, iOS 26 will be the biggest update to the visual identity of Apple's iPhone software since iOS 7 was released in 2013.

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Apple's new Liquid Glass design interface (Image credit: Apple)Image 2 of 3

Apple's new Liquid Glass design interface (Image credit: Apple)Image 3 of 3

Apple's new Liquid Glass design interface (Image credit: Apple)

Apple notes that the rounded and transparent elements of visionOS served as inspiration for the new software design, which also remodels app icons somewhere between the look of iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia.

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Additionally, a new clear theme will debut on iPhone and iPad, expanding on the previously available light, dark, and color tint modes.

The WWDC keynote is ongoing at the time of writing – be sure to check in with our WWDC 2025 live blog for the latest updates. Let us know what you think of the new Liquid Glass-based design in the comments below.

Apple has announced the latest version of macOS at WWDC 2025, its yearly developer conference.

According to Apple, the new version of macOS Tahoe 26, the operating system used by MacBooks and Macs, is coming later this year, but before then an early beta version has been made available for developers to help ensure their apps work well with the new operating system. We show you how to download the macOS Tahoe 26 developer beta if you want to give it an early try.

After that, Apple will launch a public beta that allows anyone with a compatible Mac to test out the operating system - though you should only do this with the understanding that this is an early version of the software and could lack features and could include bugs (after all, the reason for releasing a beta version is for people to help test out the software and highlight problems).

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As usual, macOS Tahoe 26 will be a free update for everyone with a compatible Mac or MacBook, so for most people I recommend holding on tight for the official launch around October or November, as by that point most, if not all, of the bugs and issues found in the beta version will have been fixed.

Until then, read on for all the info we know about macOS Tahoe 26 so far, plus the new features we're most excited about.

(Image credit: Apple)Cut to the chase

• What is it? The latest operating system for Macs and MacBooks
• How much is it? As usual, it's free for compatible Macs
• When is it out? Developer Beta out now, public Beta out in July 2025, final release autumn 2025

What Macs and MacBooks are compatible with macOS Tahoe 26?

These are the all the Mac and MacBook devices that will be able to run macOS Tahoe 26 according to Apple:

MacBook Air M1 or later

MacBook Pro 16-inch 2019 or later

MacBook Pro 2020 or later

MacBook Pro 13-inch 2020 with four Thunderbolt 3 ports

iMac 2020 or later

Mac mini 2020 or later

Mac Pro 2019 or later

Mac Studio 2022 and later

(Image credit: Apple)A new look

The rumors were right - Apple has overhauled the look of macOS (as with its other operating systems), with a unified design language which means that macOS, iPadOS and iOS will look similar.

Known as 'Liquid Glass', this part of the user interface doesn't just look good, it reacts depending on the task you're performing.

The Dock, sidebar and toolbars of macOS 26 Tahoe have been redesigned, with the menu bar now completely transparent. The idea behind this appears to be to make the user interface blend into the background, giving prominence to whatever you're working on on the screen.

App icons have also been given a new look to fit in the the Liquid Glass design, and these will also change depending on if you're using the light or dark macOS theme.

Apple is also expanding on the customization options of macOS 26 Tahoe, so it should be even easier to make the operating system suit your style.

(Image credit: Apple)A new numbering convention

At WWDC, Apple announced the official name for the latest macOS: Tahoe. Once again, based on a landmark in Apple's native California.

More surprisingly (if you weren't keeping up with the rumors), Apple also confirmed that there will be a new numbering scheme for macOS and its other operating systems. Instead numbering according to version (the current version is macOS 15), it will now be based on year, so there will be no macOS 16, but macOS 26, as well as iOS 26, iPadOS 26 and more.

This is quite a change, but it shows how serious Apple is about making all of its operating systems feel like they are parts of the same ecosystem.

Spotlight in the... spotlight...

Spotlight has been a key part of macOS for ages, allowing you to find and open up applications that you've installed. At WWDC 2025, Apple revealed that macOS Tahoe 26 will feature the 'biggest update ever' to Spotlight, with all search results across apps, files, folders, messages and more are all listed together and 'ranked intelligently based on relevance to the user.'

Advanced filter controls should help you narrow down your results, and Spotlight will also be able to search for files stored on third-party cloud drives, such as Google Drive or OneDrive.

You'll also be able to perform actions straight from Spotlight - so you can send an email, play a media file and more without having to open the app first. These can also be used via keyboard shortcuts, and according to Apple, Spotlight will learn from how you use your Mac, and will offer you personalized actions for tasks you perform often. The example Apple gives is quickly sending a message to someone you regularly talk to.

Live translation

As you might expect, Apple has put plenty of AI features into macOS Tahoe 26, and perhaps the most interesting (and useful) is Live Translation, which will automatically translate messages depending on the language of the person you're talking to (and their reply will be translated for you).

During FaceTime calls, live captions will also be shown, and if you're old school and still use the Phone app, you can see a translation of what they are talking about - and all of this is done on-device so conversations remain private.

(Image credit: Apple)Make calls from the Phone app direct from macOS Tahoe 26

A running theme of WWDC 2025 seems to be making Apple's ecosystem of devices work better together, and with Continuity, the app that allows you to access your iPhone through your Mac, you can now use the Phone app to answer phone calls on your Mac, rather than having to pull out your iPhone out of your pocket.

The Phone app in macOS 26 is designed to be instantly familiar to iPhone users, and you'll be able to access recent calls, favorite contacts and your voicemails - plus handy features like Call Screening and Hold Assist.

(Image credit: Apple)

If someone from an unknown phone number rings, Call Screening will answer the call and ask for information, letting you decide whether or not to answer the call.

If you are put on hold, Hold Assist will save your spot in line, so you can work on your Mac until your turn comes up. Handy!

(Image credit: Apple)Mac gaming gets better with Apple Games app

Gaming on a Mac is no longer the joke it used to be thanks to a steady stream of AAA games coming to macOS, and with macOS Tahoe 26, it looks like gaming could get even better.

A new app, called Apple Games, will act as a launcher for all of your games, as well as highlight new games that suit your tastes. It's not clear if this app will only show games you've bought and installed from Apple's App Store, or if you'll be able to add games from other services, such as Steam. Hopefully it'll be the latter.

A Game Overlay, familiar to PC gamers using Windows 11 and Steam, is also included with the Apple Games app, and will allow you to quickly change your settings and chat with friends without leaving the game.

A new Low Power Mode should also make playing games on a MacBook less demanding of the battery, so you should be able to play unplugged for longer - though I hope it doesn't have too much of an impact on game performance.

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Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference - aka WWDC - is upon us once more, and the 2025 edition looks like it could ring in some big changes for Apple. The rumor mill says that there are major redesigns planned for iOS on the iPhone, as well as iPadOS, macOS, WatchOS for the Apple Watch, and even tvOS for the Apple TV streaming box. Lots of people will be hoping for news on Apple Intelligence too (although I wouldn’t hold my breath on that if I were you).

But, in the words of the immortal Spice Girls - I’ll tell you what I want, what I really, really want – and that’s more games for the Mac. I am that rare breed of creature known as the Mac Gamer. It’s a small, select group, mainly consisting of me and Whoopi Goldberg, but it’s growing all the time and after decades of completely ignoring games on the Mac it looks as though Apple is finally showing some interest.

Game On

Apple has never liked games. John Carmack, one of the creators of Doom and Quake at id Software, once said that Apple co-founder Steve Jobs “didn’t think very highly of games”, and Jobs’ attitude meant that Apple effectively ignored gaming on the Mac for decades (“I never took it personally,” said Carmack).

That state of affairs didn’t really change until WWDC in 2023. After making headlines with the debut of the Vision Pro headset, Apple very quietly released a new software tool called the Game Porting ToolKit (GPT) that was designed specifically to help developers produce Mac versions of their PC games.

Apple's MacBooks can play the latest games - though you might need to do a bit of graphical tweaking if you're not running the latest Apple Silicon, (Image credit: Apple)

This seemed to mark a real change in Apple’s attitude towards games, and the launch of GPT did help to bring a few AAA titles to Mac for the first time, including Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Control, Death Stranding, and multiple Resident Evil games. But the fact remains that most A-List PC games never get released on the Mac at all, so here’s my wishlist for the Mac games scene at WWDC in 2025.

More Powerful Hardware

Even the best Macbooks and Macs have often been mocked for lacking the power to play games with modern 3D graphics – in fact, Macs couldn’t even handle ray-tracing until Apple introduced its M3 processors about 18 months ago.

Even now, many Mac games still require very expensive, top-of-the-range Mac models in order to run at high graphical settings. There are some pretty good gaming PCs available for less than £1000/$1000, and Apple needs to bring real gaming power to more Mac models in order to create a larger audience for new Mac games.

In Apple's defense, though, there's no denying that the best gaming laptops can get pretty expensive - and many people need a single lightweight system for work as well as gaming, not a desktop-replacement powerhouse machine that can't last more than two hours away from a wall outlet. So the potential is there; Apple just needs to step up.

More Tools For Games Developers

The Mac operating system (aka macOS) relies on a piece of Apple software called Metal to handle 3D graphics in games. In contrast, PC games generally rely on Microsoft’s DirectX graphics software instead, and converting – or ‘porting’ - DirectX games to run on Macs is a huge technical challenge for game developers.

Sonic Dream Team was a major recent Apple Arcade release. (Image credit: Sega / Sonic Team)

That’s where the Game Porting Toolkit comes in, as it is specifically designed to help with this conversion process. Apple did introduce GPT 2.0 at WWDC in 2024, so releasing another update at this year’s WWDC would reaffirm Apple’s commitment to gaming. Apple could also simply buy Codeweavers, the developer of the open-source CrossOver software that GPT is partly based on (codeweavers.com). The CrossOver team has enormous experience in getting Windows games to run on Macs, and that could help Apple to smooth the path onto the Mac for many PC-based games developers.

Open Up The App Store

At the moment, many Mac games are only available via Apple’s own Mac App Store. Even if you’ve already bought Control: Ultimate Edition on Steam or the Epic Games Store then you’ll find that you still have to buy the Mac version separately on the Mac App Store – so you’re effectively paying twice for a game that you already own. Games on the Mac App Store also tend to be more expensive than on Steam or Epic – where the PC version of Control: Ultimate Edition is currently on sale at a bargain price.

Baldur's Gate 3 was a big win for Mac gamers, but it's not as if Windows players can't enjoy the iconic title. (Image credit: Larian)

This applies to lots of other Mac games too, so Apple really needs to allow developers more freedom to sell their Mac games outside the Mac App Store. Unfortunately, Apple’s long-running legal battle with Epic over selling Fortnite on the App Store suggests that this is pretty unlikely. However, games such as Baldur’s Gate 3 and Hades 2 do allow you to buy the game once on Steam and then download either Mac or PC versions as required, so that’s something I’d like to see from more games in the future.

Revamp Apple Arcade

Apple makes billions of dollars from its subscription services, and Apple Arcade was meant to provide an Apple alternative to gaming services such as Microsoft’s Game Pass for Xbox and PC. But while Game Pass tempts players with newly-released hit titles such as Oblivion Remastered and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Apple Arcade is full of aging mobile games like Angry Birds that were originally designed for the iPhone or iPad.

The selection of 'Role-Playing Games' currently on Apple Arcade is... feeble at best. (Image credit: Apple)

The selection of Mac games is seriously underwhelming, so Apple needs to work with game developers to bring some heavyweight A-list titles to Apple Arcade. Mac users know that Apple often makes splashy announcements at WWDC about forthcoming games for the Mac, but it needs to continue that commitment for the other 51 weeks of the year if it really wants the Mac to be taken seriously as a gaming platform. Zigazig ah!

• Indian police conducted raids at 19 locations to target scammers
• Six people were arrested, and numerous equipment seized
• The operation targeted elderly Japanese victims

Indian and Japanese law enforcement, with the help of Microsoft’s Digital Crimes Unit (DCU), have taken down a major financial fraud network and arrest six people suspected of running the entire operation.

India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) recently conducted raids at 19 locations across the country and dismantled a large network that includes tech support schemes.

The network mostly targeted older adults in Japan (aged 60 and above) and included two illegal call centers. Besides the arrests, both digital and physical infrastructure was seized, including computers, storage devices, digital video recorders, and phones.

Chakra V

The fightback started with the Japan Cybercrime Control Center (JC3), a Japanese nonprofit dedicated to combating cybercrime, which identified the cybercriminal operation impersonating Microsoft, flagging it to the tech giant.

The operation, known as Chakra V, was large and well-organized, the report notes - it revolved around fake pop-ups tricking people into thinking their computers were broken, and providing a phone number to “call Microsoft” and have the issues fixed.

However the calls were actually being made towards the scammers, who would trick the victims into installing remote desktop software, or malware, and use this to steal sensitive files and money.

The operation included pop-up creators, search-engine optimizers, lead generators, logistics and technology providers, payment processors, and talent providers.

Microsoft also said that the introduction of Gen AI made scaling the operation infinitely easier and thus - more dangerous.

“These actors used generative AI to scale their operations, including to identify potential victims, automate the creation of malicious pop–up windows, and perform language translations to target Japanese victims,” Microsoft explained.

“This activity highlights the increasingly sophisticated tactics employed by cybercriminals and underscores the importance of proactive global collaboration to protect victims.”

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Apple’s yearly developer conference, WWDC 2025, is mere hours away from kicking off with a keynote presentation featuring CEO Tim Cook – and of all the rumors I’ve heard so far, the one I really hope ends up being true is a minor Apple Intelligence appearance.

This year’s WWDC sees Apple in a rather odd spot, with the company largely being seen as behind some of its key competitors, especially Microsoft and Google, when it comes to artificial intelligence, and many commentators will no doubt crow about this loudly if WWDC 2025 goes by without much mention (if any) of Apple Intelligence, Apple’s AI tool that was announced at last year’s WWDC.

However, after more than a year of companies trying (and failing) to convince me that AI is the next big thing for laptops, I’d actually love it if Apple Intelligence is barely a footnote at WWDC 2025.

I feel like I’m being gaslighted

(Image credit: Future)

Now, let me first say that I am not completely against AI, or at least the modern tech that a lot of companies are calling AI. The actual technology behind it is incredibly impressive, and for some industries, such as scientific research and healthcare, the transformative potential is genuinely exciting.

The problem I have is that a lot of companies are pushing AI into products where the user benefit is less clear. Earlier this year I attended the huge computing show Computex 2025 in Taiwan, and whilst looking out for potential candidates for best laptops of the next 12 months, pretty much every laptop maker was eager to tell me how great the AI features of its laptops, while seeming to ignore all the cool technical advancements I was actually interested in, such as slimline designs, powerful performance and long battery lives.

These are the things that will make big differences to how we use our laptops, but instead I was told how great it would be to use Copilot (the AI tool Microsoft has stuffed into Windows 11) to generate images in Paint, write up my work in Word or summarize emails that until now I never realized that I had trouble reading.

While the companies excitedly listed off all these AI features, I was left wondering what all the fuss is about. I tried generating images in Paint a while back, and while it was mildly diverting for a few moments, it’s something I’d never do again. Meanwhile, reading and writing emails, something I was repeatedly told was a time-consuming, difficult, and boring task, has actually never been an issue.

(Image credit: Microsoft)

It felt like I was being gaslighted, to be honest. When a spokesperson for a company that is heavily pushing AI said that they now never write emails themselves, they get AI to do it, rather than being excited and inspired, I just felt a bit depressed. It never takes me that long to write an email, and the idea that someone I’m talking to doesn’t take that same time, but just generates a response, didn’t feel great. It certainly meant that if I ever got an email from that person, I’d be less inclined to spend time engaging with the email.

These kinds of disconnects between what the laptop makers were telling me to be excited about and what I was actually interested in are becoming ever more common, I feel.

I felt it again during my recent Surface Pro 12 review. This is the latest tablet from Microsoft, and as a high-profile ‘Copilot+ PC’, which is the company’s name for Windows 11 devices that feature an NPU (Neural Processing Unit) capable of on-device AI tasks, Microsoft is using it to showcase its vision of AI in Windows.

Now, to be fair to Microsoft (maybe something you’d never expect me to write), the company’s AI integration is a lot more ambitious than many of its competitors, going beyond the usual image generation/asking questions/writing and rewriting text. Unfortunately, while these tools are trying something different, they remain the least interesting aspect of the Surface Pro 12, with tools like Recall still feeling a little creepy and intrusive, while Click to Do just feels pointless at the moment.

So, if the rumors are true and Apple won’t be talking about AI that much, it would actually make me very happy.

Apple’s AI woes

(Image credit: Apple)

There have been quite a few reports that allege that Apple is struggling to keep up with the AI competition. We’ve not seen much of what Apple Intelligence can do outside of image and text generation, which are as uninspiring to me as similar tools from Microsoft, Google, and the like.

Apple’s overhauled virtual assistant, Siri, which is supposed to feature AI, has also been missing in action since it was first announced. This has led to a general feeling that Apple might not know what to do with AI – and that’s the most relatable I’ve ever found this trillion-dollar company.

Weirdly, Apple was ahead of the game in many respects – the M1 chip that launched in 2020 and ushered in a new age of the best MacBooks and Macs was based on Arm architecture (like many flagship Copilot+ PCs are), and came with an NPU (named the Neural Engine) many years before Microsoft and the like got all hot and bothered about it.

But if Apple is struggling to find a way to integrate AI into its products, maybe that’s a sign that, at the moment, there’s no real benefit to including it in many consumer devices, especially laptops. One suggestion about why Apple might be wary of showing or talking about AI is that the tech is still not ready, and the company has already been burned by announcing the all-new Siri and then failing to release it.

However, I’d much rather Apple held off any AI announcements until it has a clear vision on how these tools can improve their products (and our lives), and offer tools that work well and showcase the full potential of AI.

The alternative is to do what Microsoft did, which was to initially delay tools such as Recall, then roll out both Recall and Click To Do as early ‘preview’ releases in a bid to assure people they are still being worked on. The problem is, during my time with the Surface Pro 12, neither Recall nor Click To Do felt remotely finished (both lacked features and even crashed the system). Rather than a tantalizing taste of an AI-powered future, it put me off the features altogether.

Not talking about AI would be the brave thing to do at WWDC, as it would inevitably lead to commentators declaring it proof that Apple is behind the curve when it comes to artificial intelligence, but it would be the right thing to do – it would give the company space to talk about its current technology and the exciting, actually useful, features coming to iOS and macOS. It could even change the narrative – rather than Apple trying to keep up with competitors, it’s instead choosing not to chase a bandwagon and do its own thing instead.

The problem is, deep down, I think what will really happen is that we’ll get a few half-baked AI tools and some nonsense platitudes about how AI will change our lives, then some deja vu-triggering examples of someone using AI to generate an ugly looking image and summarize an email that should take five seconds to read. Please prove me wrong, Apple.

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Security and data protection are no longer separate concerns. Instead, they are two sides of the same coin, one inextricable from the other. If not considered as such, then a revaluation of your cybersecurity strategy is in order.

Backups are widely seen as an “insurance policy”. If an organization is the target of an attack, with data deleted or encrypted for ransom, restored backups can make this far less catastrophic to operations.

As always, threat actors have wised up and shifted their tactics. They now target backups in 93% of cases, and succeed 57% of the time.

This is why security and data protection need to merge, creating a singular idea of “resilience” that unifies robust security measures with comprehensive data protection. Thanks to changing threat tactics, the security of backup infrastructure and the immutability of backup data are not just best practice, but essential requirements.

The need for backup and data protection

Microsoft 365 is one of the most commonly used office suites, but the need for third-party backup is often overlooked. This is partly because it has a built-in backup solution, but also an assumption that as a service it is “safe”. This could be a costly mistake. Critical data is often centralized in OneDrive, SharePoint, Teams, and Outlook—making Microsoft 365 services a tempting target for attackers.

Microsoft does recommend third-party backups in its service agreements, and we are starting to see this advice being followed. A 56% increase in recovery events related to Microsoft 365 domains in the last year shows the necessity of Microsoft 365 backups and that many are heeding this recommendation.

Microsoft 365 isn’t the only service where backups are required, of course, but it’s a good example of where this need can be easily missed, and why thinking about “resilience” is key.

Diversifying for watertight insurance

Ransomware groups are targeting backups, and they’re not subtle about it. Both research and public claims by threat actors make it clear: disabling the ability to recover data is a key objective of modern cyberattacks. To counter this, cyber resilience must go beyond reacting after the damage is done. It must include prevention, early detection, and well-practiced recovery.

The first step is isolating the backup infrastructure, the metadata and storage, keeping it off the primary network. This significantly reduces the attack surface, ensuring backups remain secure and harder to reach.

Second, access to backup systems must be tightly controlled. Enforcing multifactor authentication and following the principle of least privilege is essential. Ideally, unique, dedicated accounts should be used exclusively for backup access, never shared with other systems or users.

Third, organizations should maintain immutable copies of their backup data. These tamper-proof versions cannot be altered or deleted, providing a powerful safeguard against ransomware and other threats that aim to corrupt or destroy recovery points.

Fourth, cyber-ready organizations don’t just trust their backups—they test them. Regular, full-scale recovery drills conducted in a clean, isolated environment are vital for verifying that data can be restored reliably in the event of an incident.

Finally, even with multiple layers of defense in place, true resilience requires ongoing vigilance. Continuous monitoring for anomalous activity—such as deleted backups, altered retention policies, unexpected job selections, or unusual file modification patterns—can help surface early signs of compromise.

Feeding these alerts into a security team’s preferred SIEM tools ensures a swift, coordinated response. Increasingly, AI-powered anomaly detection is enhancing this process by automating threat identification and reducing the need for manual troubleshooting or recovery interventions.

Compliance sets the standard

The merging of security and backup into “resilience” will be driven by compliance. Compliance standards are prioritizing cyber resilience, blending prevention, detection, and recovery into unified frameworks. Examples of frameworks that recognize BDR as best practice include NIS2, Cyber Essentials, CMMC, and Essential Eight, and it is also common regulations targeting specific sectors such as financial services.

These industry-specific and global regulations require organizations to demonstrate both preventative measures to stop an attack and their robust recovery plans should these barriers be breached. For businesses that have not fully implemented their plans, perhaps because of internal resistance to the cost or uncertainty around exactly what action needs to be taken, new regulations will force their hand.

Cyber insurance is yet another driver. A simple backup is often not enough to attain a cyber-insurance policy. The cyber-insurance industry increasingly expects and demands immutable backups as a non-negotiable item. Insurers are also more hands-on and will also play an increasingly central role in incident response, coordinating legal, forensic, and ransomware negotiation efforts.

What to do next?

When thinking about backup and data protection, compliance is a good place to start. Aligning to compliance frameworks means following best practice guidance and the ability to prove due diligence to cyber insurers. But it’s important to think beyond compliance and look at where attackers will take opportunities to attack backup along with other systems—and build in resilience whenever possible.

We've featured the best data loss prevention.

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

• Microsoft Edge has two smart new features in beta testing
• AI will help you find websites in your browsing history
• A new media control center provides a hub for all media playback activity

Have you ever found a useful web page, forgot to bookmark it, then remembered about it later, and had to go hunting through your browser history to try and find the site? This can be a frustrating experience, but Microsoft Edge is aiming to remove the pain from such a scenario.

Neowin reports that as of the beta release of Edge 138 for testers (version 138.0.3351.14 to be precise), there’s a new AI-powered web history search.

Of course, you already get a search facility in Edge’s history (and the other best web browsers out there), but the new feature gives your search query a wider scope and the ability to use synonyms (and more besides).

Microsoft explains: “Enhanced search finds sites in your History even when you use a synonym, phrase, or typo.”

In short, you can type something only vaguely related, and possibly make mistakes or typos when doing so, and AI will still be able to work out what you’re looking for – and hopefully surface the correct website.

Elsewhere in the beta of Edge 138, Microsoft has introduced a media control center. This is a central hub that allows for controlling any video or music playback that’s currently underway within the browser, or other activity such as casting media to another device.

Whatever’s happening media-wise, you can deal with it from here, and the control center is opened by clicking the music note icon along from the address bar in Edge.

Analysis: On-device model

(Image credit: Future)

Remember that these features are just in testing for the moment. On top of that, the AI-powered web history search is a limited rollout among testers, so even if you do run the beta of Edge, you may not see it for a while.

In short, it may be some time before this functionality progresses to the release version of the browser, but it’s inbound. And with Microsoft keen to expand AI powers however it can, I can’t imagine this is a feature that’s in any danger of being discarded.

For those worried about privacy in terms of AI hooking its tendrils into your web history, Microsoft is using an “on-device model” and the company promises that none of your data is ever sent off the device into the cloud, or to Microsoft’s servers. Furthermore, the feature needs to actively be enabled, rather than being on by default.

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• Wear OS 6 will be released for Android watches later this year
• It's said to get two new unannounced features: firstly, a dedicated Water Lock for Pixel Watch
• Secondly, Adaptive Charging will improve your watch's long-term battery health

Wear OS 6 has been revealed, and it's making a lot of changes that users of the best Android smartwatches are quite excited about. Changes to the user experience, a visual redesign, adding Google Gemini's AI assistant to your wrist... there's going to be plenty for wearers of the best smartwatches (that aren't for iPhone) to get their teeth into. You can read our Wear OS 6 feature breakdown here.

However, there are two more features rumored to arrive with Wear OS 6, either on launch or as a future update.

Firstly, according to Android Authority, you can expect a new adaptive charging feature. Adaptive charging is often used for devices to extend the battery's lifespan, preventing the battery from being over-charged too often, which can cause the battery to degrade.

Android Authority found the strings of code, unveiling a feature similar to that on the best Pixel phones: pausing the charge at 80% completion and resuming an hour before you unplug your device. Samsung watches will reportedly get a similar feature with Samsung's Wear OS-adjacent system, One UI Watch 8.

Water Lock on Pixel Watches

Pixel Watches have a touch screen locking feature, which enables itself automatically during swimming workouts, but it can't eject water from crevices in the same way Samsung and Apple watches can. Nor does it have a dedicated labelled Water Lock, which disables the touch screen during rainfall, showers, or baths.

Current Pixel Watches are expected to get a Water Lock feature at least, again via Android Authority's recent examination of code in the Wear OS 6 developer preview.

The code doesn't actually detail what this new feature will do, so while there's always an outside chance that it will indeed eject water, it's more likely this is an update for existing Pixel Watches, restricted to a touchscreen-locking hot key under a more logical name for dealing with wet screens.

Touchscreens are notoriously jumpy and flawed when wet, and trying to operate a watch in heavy rain or the shower could prove challenging if a water lock feature isn't available. While this is unlikely to change the way swimming and similar workouts operate on Pixel Watches, they will at least become more usable in the rain.

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• 17 NPM packages with more than a million weekly downloads were compromised to deliver a RAT
• The attack could turn into a major supply chain attack, experts warned
• The packages were since deprecated, but users should be on their guard

More than a dozen packages on NPM were poisoned with a Remote Access Trojan (RAT), possibly infecting millions of projects.

Cybersecurity researchers Aikido Security recently discovered malicious code buried very deep in 17 popular Gluestack packages.

The packages cumulatively have more than a million downloads weekly, meaning huge amounts of users could possibly be affected, the experts warned.

Revoking access tokens

Here is the full list of compromised packages:

• @react-native-aria/button
• @react-native-aria/checkbox
• @react-native-aria/combobox
• @react-native-aria/disclosure
• @react-native-aria/focus
• @react-native-aria/interactions
• @react-native-aria/listbox
• @react-native-aria/menu
• @react-native-aria/overlays
• @react-native-aria/radio
• @react-native-aria/switch
• @react-native-aria/toggle
• @react-native-aria/utils
• @gluestack-ui/utils
• @react-native-aria/separator
• @react-native-aria/slider
• @react-native-aria/tabs

The packages deployed malicious code that connected to the attackers’ command-and-control (C2) and received additional commands including, among other things, the ability to upload a single, or multiple files.

Furthermore, the trojan can execute Windows PATH hijacking and silently override legitimate python and pip commands.

In response, Gluestack revoked an access token used to publish the compromised packages. All of the poisoned tools are marked on NPM as deprecated.

"Unfortunately, unpublishing the compromised version wasn’t possible due to dependent packages," a GlueStack developer said on GitHub. "As a mitigation, I have deprecated the affected versions and updated the latest tag to point to a safe, older version."

The Node Package Manager (NPM) is the default package manager for the JavaScript runtime environment Node.js. It is used to install libraries, share packages with the community, manage dependencies, run scripts, and more.

As such, it is vastly popular, having millions of monthly visitors, and hundreds of thousands of registered accounts that frequently publish their packages.

Unfortunately, popular platforms attract threat actors in droves, and situations such as this one are not uncommon on NPM, or similar platforms such as GitHub or PyPi.

Via BleepingComputer

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These common houseplants boost natural cooling and could help you save on AC bills.

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Monday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Monday, June 9 (game #463).

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

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Mind your manners

NYT Strands today (game #464) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• PALE
• STOP
• TRACE
• THAN
• POET
• LIPS

NYT Strands today (game #464) - hint #3 - spangram lettersHow many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 8 letters

NYT Strands today (game #464) - hint #4 - spangram positionWhat are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First side: top, 3rd column

Last side: bottom, 3rd column

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

NYT Strands today (game #464) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #464, are…

• APOLOGIZE
• RESPECT
• SHARE
• THANK
• LISTEN
• CONSIDER
• SPANGRAM: BE POLITE

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

I have always told my children that “manners cost nothing” and “it’s nice to be nice” so it’s good to see this message repeated in today’s word search, which comes with the demand to BE POLITE.

My thoughts on this topic extend to our interactions with technology, particularly AI tools such as Alexa and Siri. My approach is twofold – we should be polite because manners should be indiscriminate and also because how we speak to AI becomes part of the algorithm (the one tailored to us and to wider society).

We do not know how AI will behave in the future and I’d prefer it if, once it becomes sentient, it thinks it has been treated well by humanity rather than rudely.

If it's the latter I hope the AI murderbots remember that I said "please" when I asked them what the weather was going to be like tomorrow.

Anyway, I digress and I APOLOGIZE for that. Quite a straightforward game today with little to challenge regular players or our future AI overlords. 

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

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Monday, June 9, game #463)

• MASK
• CAMOUFLAGE
• DISGUISE
• CLOAK
• COVER
• FACADE
• SPANGRAM: FALSE FRONT

What is NYT Strands?

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

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

Looking for a different day?

A new Quordle puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Monday's puzzle instead then click here: Quordle hints and answers for Monday, June 9 (game #1232).

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

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

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

Quordle today (game #1233) - hint #1 - VowelsHow many different vowels are in Quordle today?

• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 3*.

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

Quordle today (game #1233) - hint #2 - repeated lettersDo any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?

• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 2.

Quordle today (game #1233) - hint #3 - uncommon lettersDo the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?

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

Quordle today (game #1233) - hint #4 - starting letters (1)Do any of today's Quordle puzzles start with the same letter?

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

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

Quordle today (game #1233) - hint #5 - starting letters (2)What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• D

• C

• F

• E

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

Quordle today (game #1233) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1233, are…

• DECRY
• CHEEK
• FILET
• EASEL

A slice of luck made things much easier for me today, when my loose guess of CHEEK came off. I knew that the first two letters had to be C-H and this was the first word that came to mind.

DECRY was conjured from Quordle memory, while FILET and EASEL were just a case of working out the anagrams from the letters I had in place.

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

Daily Sequence today (game #1233) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1233, are…

• SLICE
• STRAY
• RESIN
• SEIZE

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1232, Monday, 9 June: DERBY, LEMON, WRITE, HOVEL
• Quordle #1231, Sunday, 8 June: REBAR, ALERT, PAYEE, FLUME
• Quordle #1230, Saturday, 7 June: FLUNK, ESTER, SPITE, CHEAP
• Quordle #1229, Friday, 6 June: ELUDE, KHAKI, VISTA, SMOKY
• Quordle #1228, Thursday, 5 June: CHIDE, RABBI, GUSTY, LANCE
• Quordle #1227, Wednesday, 4 June: BANAL, STOUT, SEDAN, HIPPO
• Quordle #1226, Tuesday, 3 June: FUGUE, SYRUP, FLACK, WORST
• Quordle #1225, Monday, 2 June: THINK, BELLE, CRONE, BOULE
• Quordle #1224, Sunday, 1 June: POINT, MERIT, WHOOP, APHID
• Quordle #1223, Saturday, 31 May: CRUMB, ELFIN, DRIER, QUITE
• Quordle #1222, Friday, 30 May: RAJAH, CAUSE, BLACK, ETUDE
• Quordle #1221, Thursday, 29 May: CRIER, DRAPE, STRUT, NEIGH
• Quordle #1220, Wednesday, 28 May: HELLO, BEADY, VIGIL, PURER
• Quordle #1219, Tuesday, 27 May: TWEET, RANGE, POPPY, RADAR
• Quordle #1218, Monday, 26 May: BLEAT, HOWDY, ASIDE, SCOOP
• Quordle #1217, Sunday, 25 May: OCEAN, AMBER, PIPER, GLEAN
• Quordle #1216, Saturday, 24 May: HUSKY, HEIST, FOGGY, POLAR
• Quordle #1215, Friday, 23 May: SHIRE, GIANT, AWAIT, CAPER
• Quordle #1214, Thursday, 22 May: LOSE, GLOVE, STINT, EXCEL
• Quordle #1213, Wednesday, 21 May: NOVEL, CHOSE, DIRTY, DONUT

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Monday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Monday, June 9 (game #729).

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

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

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

NYT Connections today (game #730) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• CHILL
• IMAGE
• MODERATE
• RADICAL
• TABLE
• JUDGE
• CIVIC
• CHAIR
• JURY
• WORD
• TEXT BOX
• CUSTOMS
• PSYCH
• CHART
• HEAVY
• MEDIATE

NYT Connections today (game #730) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• YELLOW: Come to an agreement
• BLUE: Ancient teen speak
• GREEN: Paste
• PURPLE: Add a word that comes after “Tour of…”

Need more clues?

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

NYT Connections today (game #730) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: ARBITRATE
• BLUE: '80S SLANG 
• GREEN: THINGS YOU CAN INSERT IN A DOCUMENT 
• PURPLE: __ DUTY 

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

NYT Connections today (game #730) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #730, are…

• YELLOW: ARBITRATE CHAIR, JUDGE, MEDIATE, MODERATE
• BLUE: '80S SLANG CHILL, PSYCH, RADICAL, WORD
• GREEN: THINGS YOU CAN INSERT IN A DOCUMENT CHART, IMAGE, TABLE, TEXT BOX
• PURPLE: __ DUTY CIVIC, CUSTOMS, HEAVY, JURY

• My rating: Moderate
• My score: 3 mistakes

THINGS YOU CAN INSERT IN A DOCUMENT felt a very familiar group. In fact it felt like work, which is maybe why I saw it immediately.

I made three mistakes today by convincing myself that HEAVY should be included in the group that became ‘80S SLANG, trying every combination before taking it out completely.

The reason for including it, is because it was something I remember being said about something that was serious, complicated and exhausting and therefore by association a bit boring in the 1980s. But it’s a word that’s travelled through the generations. Today, in the UK at least, it’s used to describe a bad situation. In all cases, you want to avoid things getting heavy.

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

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Monday, June 9, game #729)

• YELLOW: KEYBOARD SHORTCUT COMMANDS PASTE, PRINT, QUIT, SAVE
• GREEN: SECURE IN ADVANCE BOOK, ORDER, REQUEST, RESERVE
• BLUE: CRIME ORGANIZATION CREW, FAMILY, RING, SYNDICATE
• PURPLE: SPELLING BEE RANKS MINUS A LETTER GENUS, GOO, MAZING, SLID

What is NYT Connections?

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

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

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

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