Hackers have ruined M&S comeback, criminal records stolen in Legal Aid hack

There are no doubt lots of things that Stuart Machin, the M&S chief executive, would prefer to talk about when he delivers the company’s full-year results this week. Its latest fashion ranges, some new ready meals, and perhaps store refurbishments or some whizzy new way that artificial intelligence can help you with your shopping. But he can forget it. There is only one thing anyone will want to ask him about: the cyber attacks that have crippled its operations. In reality, as one of the leaders of the retail industry, M&S needs to lead the fightback against the hackers – because right now faith in the entire retail system is being destroyed. The Telegraph 

Uber has said it is “ready to go” now with driverless taxis in the UK – but the government has put back the date it expects to approve fully self-driving vehicles. The previous administration, said fully autonomous cars were “set to be on roads by 2026”, but the new government says it is now more likely to happen in the second half of 2027. While limited self-driving technology is already permitted on UK roads, a human driver must be at the wheel and responsible for the vehicle, even if automated technology is being used. BBC 

Apple is planning to give users in the EU the ability to set a default voice assistant other than Siri, according to Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman and Drake Bennett. In a lengthy report about Apple’s artificial intelligence shortcomings today, Gurman and Bennett said Apple plans to introduce this change across multiple software platforms, which likely means the iPhone, iPad, and Mac at a minimum. Presumably, this means that users in the EU will be able to set options like Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant as their default voice assistant on Apple devices. Mac Rumors 

BT is in advanced talks to sell its 50% stake in TNT Sports to its joint venture partner Warner Bros Discovery. The Financial Times first reported the story, citing two people familiar with the matter. An agreement could be announced as early as this week, timed to coincide with BT’s full year results, though one source suggested that timing could slip. The agreement would end a decade of BT’s involvement in sports broadcasting when the then BT Sport was launched to support fledgling IPTV network BT TV. BroadbandTV News 

A “significant amount of personal data” of people who applied to the Legal Aid Agency – including criminal records – was accessed and downloaded by hackers, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has said. The group that carried out the cyber attack says it accessed 2.1 million pieces of data, but the MoJ has not verified that figure, it is understood. The government became aware of the incident on 23 April, but realised on Friday it was more extensive than first thought. An MoJ source put the breach down to the “neglect and mismanagement” of the previous government. Sky News 

Sony recently launched one of its most-anticipated products of 2025 in the WH-1000XM6 headphones. The company’s previous efforts, namely the XM4 and XM5, have proven incredibly successful, so it’s unsurprising that Sony felt the need to continue the lineage. Those previous models have actually proven to be so popular that both will remain on sale alongside their newly upgraded sibling. I’ve been using the XM6 for about a week now to find out if they could dethrone my trusted Sonos Ace as my go-to over-ear cans. But they’ve fallen a bit short in that challenge for the top. Tech Radar