Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the another-day-another-breach department: Qantas has confirmed that 5.7 million customers have been impacted by a recent data breach through a third-party platform used by its contact center. The breach, attributed to the Scattered Spider threat group, exposed various personal details but did not include passwords, financial, or passport data. BleepingComputer reports: In a new update today, Qantas has confirmed that the threat actors stole data for approximately 5.7 million customers, with varying types of data exposed in the breach:
4 million customer records are limited to name, email address and Qantas Frequent Flyer details. Of this:
- 1.2 million customer records contained name and email address.
- 2.8 million customer records contained name, email address and Qantas Frequent Flyer number. The majority of these also had tier included. A smaller subset of these had points balance and status credits included.
Of the remaining 1.7 million customers, their records included a combination of some of the data fields above and one or more of the following:
- Address - 1.3 million. This is a combination of residential addresses and business addresses including hotels for misplaced baggage delivery.
- Date of birth - 1.1 million
- Phone number (mobile, landline and/or business) - 900,000
- Gender - 400,000. This is separate to other gender identifiers like name and salutation.
- Meal preferences - 10,000
Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the what-to-expect department: Dubai-based airline Emirates is partnering with Crypto.com to integrate Bitcoin payments into the airliner's payment systems and add NFT collectibles on the company's websites for trading. The airline is also hiring staff to support its blockchain, crypto, and metaverse ambitions, positioning itself at the forefront of digital transformation in aviation.
"NFTs and metaverse are two different applications and approaches," explained Emirates Chief Operating Officer Adel Ahmed Al-Redha, adding that the airline will also seek to use the blockchain in tracing records of aircraft. "With the metaverse, you will be able to transform your whole processes -- whether it is in operation, training, sales on the website, or complete experience -- into a metaverse type application, but more importantly making it interactive."
The official integration of crypto payments is expected to take place next year, according to the announcement.
Posted by from MMO Champion
Patch 11.2 PTR - Build 61871
Ghosts of K'aresh Development Notes - July 10, 2025
Originally Posted by Blizzard
(
Blue Tracker /
Official Forums)
The following class changes have been added to the Ghosts of K’aresh PTR:
Classes
Rogue
Hero Talents
Deathstalker
Subtlety
Manaforge Omega 2-set bonus – Deathstalker effects and damage increased to 50% (was 30%).
Trickster
Manaforge Omega 2-set bonus – Unseen Blade damage increase and chance to trigger an additional time increased to 35% (was 30%).
Manaforge Omega 4-set bonus – Effectiveness of second Coup de Grace increased to 150% (was 100%).
Assassination
All damage increased by 8%.
Outlaw
Killing Spree off-hand shots no longer count as off-hand weapon swings that deal half damage.
Killing Spree off-hand shot damage increased by 25% to match main-hand shot damage.
Net result of these changes is a Killing Spree damage increase of 43%.
Fatebound
Fixed an issue that could cause Killing Spree to be immediately cancelled if Fatebound Coin (Tails) was flipped.
Warlock
Hero Talents
Diabolist
Fixed an issue with the Manaforge Omega 2-set bonus – Eye Blast cast by Demonic Oculi no longer deals its multi-target damage to its main target.
Demonology
Fixed an issue with the Manaforge Omega 2-set bonus – Eye Blast is now affected by Mastery.
Soul Harvester
< This article continues on their website >
Posted by from MMO Champion
WoW Housing: It's Only Neighborly
Originally Posted by Blizzard
(
Blue Tracker /
Official Forums)
Welcome home, Adventurers!
Or in this case, welcome to the neighborhood, Adventurers!
So far in our series of articles, we’ve shared information on our
philosophy,
decorating, and
rewards for Housing in World of Warcraft, but it’s time to bring you into the Neighborhood. Briefly mentioned in our first post on Housing, let’s get into the nitty- gritty of what Neighborhoods are and how they work.
Before we dive into things, our usual disclaimers apply. Neighborhoods are a work in progress so names, images, numbers, timing, and more may change between now and when Housing is released. Our goal in sharing this ahead of time is to get your feedback; so please let us know what you think.
This Land is Your Land
As a quick refresher, homes in World of Warcraft are separated into two Neighborhood zones, Founder’s Point (for the Alliance) and Razorwind Shores (for the Horde). Each Neighborhood is made up of roughly 50 plots of the same size, all of which contain a house.
We want players with different preferences for locations to find a plot that’s perfect for them, be they vibe-based or looking for something for a specific character. Some plots are placed far away from everything for the hermits among us, while others are grouped together in small cul-de-sacs of two to three houses perfect for a small group of friends. Other houses are in larger groupings for folks looking for more hustle and bustle.
< This article continues on their website >
Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the closer-look department: US's emergency-warning infrastructure failed to prevent more than 100 deaths during flash flooding in Kerr County, Texas over the July 4 weekend, despite repeated warnings from the National Weather Service. At least 27 young campers and counselors died at Camp Mystic when the Guadalupe River surged during early morning hours. The alerts never reached residents who lacked cellphone service, had silenced notifications, or didn't carry phones with them.
Similar communication failures occurred during recent Los Angeles wildfires and Maui blazes. Maui's outdoor sirens never sounded during 2023 wildfires when cellular networks failed. Nearly 30% of Texas residents opt out of wireless emergency alerts, the highest rate nationally. Rural officials often lack funding or permission to send alerts through broadcasters and cellphones. So what's going on?
Federal, state and local authorities share responsibility for alerting citizens through multiple platforms, but the country's patchwork of digital and physical emergency-alert tools often lags behind rapidly developing weather events, WSJ argues.
The Atlantic has a story that adds more color: It details how officials lack training in writing effective alerts, how messages like "move to higher ground" are meaningless without context, and how the absence of warning-coordination meteorologists creates communication gaps between weather services and local authorities.
Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the good-fight department: Senators from both parties are preparing to challenge the Trump administration's proposed 24% cut to NASA's budget, with the Senate appropriations committee advancing a $24.9 billion allocation that matches the agency's 2025 funding levels.
The bipartisan pushback directly contradicts President Donald Trump's budget request, which sought to slash NASA's science portfolio funding nearly in half and terminate dozens of operating and planned missions. "We rejected cuts that would have devastated NASA science by 47% and would have terminated 55 operating and planned missions," Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat from Maryland, said.
The Senate bill allocates $7.3 billion for science programs. Senators also refused the administration's call to cancel the Space Launch System rocket and Orion crew capsule after their third flights, programs Trump's budget labeled "grossly expensive and delayed." "The bill reflects an ambitious approach to space exploration, prioritizing the agency's flagship program, Artemis, and rejecting premature termination of systems like SLS and Orion before commercial replacements are ready," said Senator Jerry Moran, a Kansas Republican.
