Technology

Commentary: This bingeworthy detective show cast my hometown in a noirish light.

• We're just days away from the Switch 2 launch on June 5, 2025
• A safety manual reveals the Switch 2 has a protective film layer as part of its screen
• If you're getting a Switch 2, don't try and peel it off ... though it's not a traditional screen protector

The Nintendo Switch 2 is nearly here, and we’re still learning more about the console in the short lead-up until the June 5, 2025, launch. Case in point, Nintendo of Europe has shared the Nintendo Switch 2 safety manual as a PDF online.

While it contains standard operating instructions we’d expect for a portable game console, Nintendo Soup spotted that it tells us a bit more about the display. Mainly, “The screen is covered with a film layer designed to prevent fragments scattering in the event of damage. Do not peel it off.”

That brings back memories of the original Galaxy Fold for some, including myself, but this is less a screen protector and more a layer of the display. Even so, Nintendo is making it as clear as possible, as a key bullet, and reminding folks not to risk removing it. In the unfortunate event that you drop the Switch 2 and crack the display, the film layer could prevent the crack from spreading.

@techradar

♬ original sound - TechRadar

Now, this film layer isn’t exclusive to the Switch 2, as it’s found in most glass displays to prevent further injury from a cracked screen. You don’t want splints or pieces of glass going everywhere. It’s not a knock on the Switch 2’s durability by any stretch, and the Switch OLED features a similar layer.

Further, if you want to add another layer of protection to the Switch 2’s 7.9-inch display, you can still affix a screen protector. And keep in mind, this film layer isn't a screen protector in the traditional sense.

The rest of the manual has some other helpful operating tips that are all pretty standard for a portable game console. You can see it in full here.

If you’re lucky enough to be holding a successful preorder for the Switch 2, you’re only just days away from receiving the gaming system. But if you’re like me and countless others, you might still be on the hunt for a console. You can check out TechRadar’s live blog tracking pre-orders and, come launch day, the ready availability of the console.

Though if it’s anything like previous Nintendo launches or, say, the PS5, don’t be surprised if the Switch 2 is hard to find.

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Here are hints and the answer for today's Wordle, No. 1,445, for June 3.

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Owning all the novels and watching all the movies doesn't help me guess the "wholly original" story, but it's a fun way to bide time until this week's preview.

• GangExposed leaks sensitive information and PII on key ransomware figures
• Among them are Stern and Professor
• Stern's identity was confirmed by German police

A mysterious leaker has been spotted unveiling the identities of some of the world’s most wanted cybercriminals, including the masterminds behind Conti and Trickbot ransomware, infamous groups responsible for some of the biggest extortions in modern history.

Recently, The Register spoke to an anonymous individual that goes by the alias GangExposed, who said they are on a personal mission to “fight against an organized society of criminals known worldwide”.

"I take pleasure in thinking I can rid society of at least some of them," GangExposed said. "I simply enjoy solving the most complex cases."

Doxxing Stern

One of the people they doxxed is Stern, the leader of Trickbot and Conti ransomware operations. They claim Stern is actually one Vitaly Nikolaevich Kovalev, a 36-year-old Russian national. His identity was later confirmed by German police.

"The subject is suspected of having been the founder of the 'Trickbot' group, also known as 'Wizard Spider,'" the Federal Criminal Police Office of Germany said recently. "The group used the Trickbot malware as well as other malware variants such as Bazarloader, SystemBC, IcedID, Ryuk, Conti and Diavol."

Soon after, GangExposed doxxed another key figure, AKA Professor. Behind this alias, they claim, is a 39-year-old Russian named Vladimir Viktorovich Kvitko. Kvitko is allegedly living in Dubai.

Besides naming key figures, GangExposed leaked chat logs, videos, and ransom negotiations.

The leaker claim not to be an “IT guy” and that the methodology relies on observing patterns that others have missed:

"My toolkit includes classical intelligence analysis, logic, factual research, OSINT methodology, stylometry (I am a linguist and philologist), human psychology, and the ability to piece together puzzles that others don't even notice," they told the publication.

"I am a cosmopolitan with many homes but no permanent base — I move between countries as needed. My privacy standards are often stricter than those of most subjects of my investigations."

To uncover the identities of infamous cybercriminals, they used data obtained via "semi-closed databases, darknet services (for probing state records through corrupt officials), and I often purchase information. I have access to the leaked FSB border control database," they added, claiming to have purchased them from the darkweb for $250,000.

An interesting detail is that they could have claimed at least $10 million in bounty from the FBI, but have apparently decided against it - leading some media to speculate they are a disgruntled former member just looking for revenge, while others believe grabbing the bounty could incriminate themselves, as well.

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This move can impact all Instagram and Facebook subscribers and the future of the global advertising industry.

Let's see if Google also introduces a super slim handset.

Here are some hints and the answers for Connections for June 3, #723.

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle No. 457 for June 3.

• AMD’s Zen 1 tech gave Hygon a head start, but catching up is difficult
• Sugon and Hygon's merger aims at Intel and AMD, but performance proof still remains elusive
• With SMT4 potential, Hygon eyes elite territory in the race for the fastest CPU

A major consolidation is underway in China’s semiconductor industry after two key players, Hygon and Sugon, announced their merger.

The deal represents an effort to strengthen China’s capabilities in high-performance computing, potentially posing a serious challenge to US chipmaking giants Intel, AMD, and Nvidia.

While the merger appears formidable on paper, its global impact remains uncertain due to technical, political, and market constraints.

An integrated force in supercomputing

This implies the use of SMT4 (simultaneous multithreading with four threads per core), a technology only IBM has deployed at scale, beginning with its POWER7 architecture in 2010.

Hygon’s chip development roots trace back to a 2016 licensing deal with AMD, which gave it access to the Zen 1 CPU design and x86-64 architecture.

Although the resulting chips, branded as Dhyana, have remained modest compared to AMD’s EPYC line, they have seen adoption in China, including support from Linux kernel developers and Tencent.

Sugon has also used Dhyana processors in various systems, including a supercomputer that once ranked 38th on the TOP500 list.

While these chips are not on par with the world’s fastest processors, they reflect a long-standing collaboration and a continued push for Chinese alternatives.

On the political front, both Hygon and Sugon remain on the US Bureau of Industry and Security’s Entity List.

This designation restricts access to American technologies over national security concerns and raises questions about how much the new entity can innovate independently of U.S. intellectual property.

For now, the power and competitiveness of the new chip remain unclear.
However, the technical leap required to rival AMD’s Threadripper or Intel’s Xeon, often cited among the world’s fastest CPUs, is significant.

Via TheRegister

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• Unit 42 found a website spoofing a known German modelling agency
• The site carries obfuscated JavaScript which exfiltrates system information
• In the future, it could host malware or steal login credentials

Iranian hackers were found spoofing a German modelling agency in an attempt to gather more information about their targets’ devices.

This is according to a new report from Palo Alto Networks’ Unit 42, which also claims that full functionality of the campaign, which could include malware delivery or credential harvesting, has not yet been achieved.

Unit 42 says that while monitoring infrastructure they believe are likely tied to Iranian threat actors, the researchers found the domain “Megamodelstudio[.]com”. After browsing through the site a little, they determined it was a spoofed version of megamodelagency.com, a legitimate modelling agency based in Hamburg, Germany.

Selective targeting

The two websites are seemingly identical, but there are a few key differences. The malicious one, for example, carries an obfuscated JavaScript designed to capture detailed visitor information.

Unit 42 says the script grabs information about browser languages and plugins, screen resolution information, as well as timestamps, which allow the attackers to track a visitor’s location and environment.

The script also reveals the user’s local and public IP address, leverages canvas fingerprinting, and uses SHA-256 to produce a device-unique hash. Finally, it structures the collected data as JSON and delivers it to the endpoint /ads/track via a POST request.

“The likely goal of the code is to enable selective targeting by determining sufficient device- and network-specific details about visitors,” Unit 42 said.

“This naming convention suggests an attempt to disguise the collection as benign advertising traffic rather than storing and processing potential target fingerprints.”

Another key difference is that among profile pages of different models, one is fake. That page is currently not operational, but Unit 42 speculates it could be used in the future for more destructive attacks, dropping malware or stealing login credentials.

The researchers concluded, “with high confidence”, that the Iranians are behind the attack. They’re somewhat less confident about the exact group behind it, speculating that it might have been the work of Agent Serpens, also known as Charming Kitten, or APT35.

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• Apple's WWDC 2025 kicks off on June 9 with an opening keynote
• A new teaser hints at the glass-infused iOS 19, among other platforms
• Rumors point to a new design across Apple OS' that takes inspiration from the Vision Pro

iOS 19 (or iOS 26) could feature one of the most significant redesigns in recent memory, at least according to rumors. However, now we have a very strong hint from the best possible source – Apple – that a new look is coming to its platforms, and it has a familiar visual source.

Most of the rumors surrounding an iOS 19 design refresh have it and other Apple platforms like macOS and tvOS, adopting some of their visual queues from Apple Vision Pro.

Now, I know, Apple's mixed reality headset has not exactly blown the doors off when it comes to consumer adoption. Still, it inarguably has one of the most elegant interfaces Apple has ever designed. Not only is it easily controlled via gaze and gesture, but the entire look is one of floating, frosted glass elements.

Granted, it's subtle, and you need to look closely at elements like chamfered edges to see reflections and even the interplay between different screens, which can sometimes act like frosted glass planes.

Apple, naturally, never comments on pre-announced software updates and features, but it does play hypemaster for big events like the upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), which kicks off on June 9 at Apple Park in Cupertino, California.

In an X (formerly Twitter) post on Monday, Apple SVP of marketing Geg Joswiak wrote, "#WWDC25 is next week! Can’t wait to show you what we’ve been working on. See you June 9 at 10am PT."

While there's nothing remarkable about that, the five-second animation accompanying it is telling. It displays the Apple logo, which then transforms into the Swift programming language logo, and finally, the Apple Park rainbow. In each case, the object is made of what appears to be frosted glass, a look that, yes, aligns with the idea of a glass-infused iOS 19 (and maybe other platforms).

#WWDC25 is next week! Can’t wait to show you what we’ve been working on. See you June 9 at 10am PT. pic.twitter.com/qhrzevDbMHJune 2, 2025

Exactly how far and deep the frosted glass look might go is anyone's guess, but Apple could apply it to everything from the Control Center to widgets and even App icons. It may also alter the interplay between these interface elements. We might expect more reflections of surrounding icons and windows, and sometimes the ability to see through some elements.

Apple also dropped another hint on its WWDC 2025 Developers' page, where it features a similarly glassy Apple Logo and the tagline "Sleek Peek". Yes, a glassy look would surely be "sleek."

These are, as I see it, some pretty strong hints about the future design direction of iOS 19. Still, big questions remain. Chiefly, what is happening with the naming convention?

Apple will reportedly drop the sequential number system for all its platforms and instead switch to a year format, one that might look at the year ahead. So, for instance, iOS 19 becomes iOS 26 and iPadOS 19 becomes iPadOS 26.

These latest hints shed no light on the upcoming platform names, but the future of iOS design direction is perhaps coming into frosted focus.

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• Google Drive is getting new Gemini features to make the platform smarter
• This include video summary and analytics tools
• AI chatbots must be trusted with sensitive information to be effective, so be careful how you use them

Google Drive has revealed some new Gemini-powered features, but concerns have already been raised over possible security and privacy issues.

Previously only able to skim read long documents (and probably missing out key information), the cloud storage platform will now benefit from video file summaries, and full content analysis, which could be genuinely useful for missed meetings that would otherwise take a long time to catch up on.

That being said, this comes with risks, as with all chatbots, there must be a serious level of trust in the AI model, as carrying out these tasks requires access to potentially sensitive information and files - including your company's innermost secrets.

Privacy concerns

The tool relies on Google’s auto-generated captions, and will be accessible from the Gemini Overlay in Drive - so make sure these are enabled if you want to use these features.

This feature is primarily aimed at professionals (if you want Gemini to summarize and explain precious family memories, then there are much bigger problems at play) - but the move means you would be giving Gemini access to potentially sensitive company information - from board meeting recordings or business strategy meetings.

In 2024, the Gemini AI platform was accused of scanning Google Drive files without user permission, which raised serious concerns over Google’s handling of user data and privacy settings.

That’s not all though, as Google has announced a new feature to help users measure the engagement on videos uploaded to Google Drive, a “highly requested” tool that aims to give users a better insight into their video analytics.

As of yet, there is no admin control available for this feature - and it will be available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as Google Workspace Individual Subscribers, and personal Google account holders.

Via ArsTechnica

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• Microsoft has new rules to ensure more consistency with USB-C ports
• This means every USB-C port will offer data, power, and display support
• Previously, you weren’t guaranteed to get all of those basic elements if laptop makers cut corners with their connectors

Going forward, the USB-C ports on Windows 11 laptops will be held to more consistent standards that mean users can expect a minimum amount of functionality with any given connector.

Tom’s Hardware noticed Microsoft’s blog post explaining a fresh update to the Windows Hardware Compatibility Program (WHCP) that’s designed to end confusion around USB-C ports. The broad idea is to ensure every single one of these connectors deliver certain key features in terms of data transfer, power delivery (charging), and running an external monitor.

Currently, while the USB-C specification encompasses all those separate elements – and a lot of versatility for the port therein – parts can be missing with connectors on some laptops, as it’s not mandatory to include everything.

Microsoft has changed this with its new way of working, observing that: “While the USB specifications give PC manufacturers the ability to choose which optional features the port supports, we set out to establish a minimum bar for USB-C port capabilities on PCs.”

That baseline bar means that with Windows 11 laptops (and tablets), all USB-C ports must provide display support (to connect a monitor), PC charging support (power), and of course data transfer (which all USB connectors do, of course) at a certain speed.

Furthermore, Microsoft notes that any port which supports USB 40Gbps will work fine with both USB4 and Thunderbolt 3 peripherals.

These updated WHCP requirements have come into play with Windows 11 24H2, and notebooks running 24H2 will already support them.

Analysis: Consistency with connectors

(Image credit: Microsoft)

With the old way of working, the practicality of USB-C ports is that you might buy a laptop which comes with a few of these connectors, and be quite happy chugging along using them for USB sticks or charging. Then, one day, when you plug in a monitor, you’ll suddenly find out that your ports don’t support a display, because the laptop maker produced these USB-C connectors without that particular capability (to save a bit of money).

The problem is there’s no clear labelling on a USB-C port, and you may not find out about any missing pieces of the functionality puzzle until you come across them in this way – and it’s too late at that point.

With the new minimum standard in place, all USB-C ports on WHCP-certified Windows 11 laptops will definitely support all those three basic pillars: power, display, and data transfer.

Now, note that there are still variations in the specs of USB-C ports, in terms of how many displays they may support, or how much power the USB cable will deliver, and the speed of data transfers (all of which should be made clear in the notebook’s spec).

See the screenshot above for the details, but the central point is that from now on, you know that all three of the fundamental bases are covered with at least some level of functionality when you’re buying a new Windows 11 laptop – with every single USB-C port on-board the device – which has to be a good thing.

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• Report claims one in three firms don't trust US Big Tech to handle their data correctly
• Civo finds three in five are focused on improving data sovereignty
• Tariff-induced cost fluctuations are also concerning UK IT leaders

More than three in five UK IT leaders say the country's government should stop using US cloud services due to security and economic risks, with many citing ongoing trade war-induced tariffs as a core concern.

A new report from Civo claims a similar amount (61%) of British IT leaders also cite data sovereignty as a strategic priority going forward, with a broader trend of data privacy emerging not just among cloud adoption but also relating to the use of artificial intelligence.

Today, nearly half (45%) are actively considering repatriating from the cloud as they turn back to environments that they have more control over.

Cloud security and cost worries

With EU and UK data protection regulations offering improved compliance and transparency, two-fifths of IT leaders say they're more likely to move away from US providers.

During a time when three of the world's leading hyperscalers (Amazon, Microsoft and Google) account for around two-thirds of the cloud market, Civo's report claims only one-third (36.6%) trust Big Tech AI providers to handle their data, with data sovereignty ranking second to price as an influencing factor for the decision to move away from Big Tech.

"People are more alert than ever to just how valuable their data is, and it’s been astonishing how quickly cloud repatriation and sovereignty have become leading strategic considerations for IT leaders," said Civo CEO Mark Boost.

"US providers are failing to meet [the] demand" for greater visibility over data storage and usage, Boost added, noting Europe leads the way in terms of sovereignty initiatives, urging the "UK to match the energy" of its continental counterparts.

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