M&S boss faces £1m pay cut following cyber attack, Spain hit by phone and internet blackouts

A distributor to the UK’s major supermarkets has said it is being held to ransom by cyber hackers. Logistics firm Peter Green Chilled says it supplies supermarkets including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, and Aldi, but it is not in the top 30 of UK food distributors. It told BBC’s Wake Up to Money clients were “receiving regular updates” including “workarounds” on how to continue deliveries. One of its customers, Black Farmer founder Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones, said pallets containing thousands of his products could go to waste. BBC 

M&S CEO Stuart Machin is set to face a significant pay reduction of up to £1.1m following a cyber attack that has severely impacted the retailer’s operations and stock value. The ongoing cyber attack, which was disclosed on April 22, has driven a 14% drop in M&S’s share price, translating to a loss of approximately £831,000 from Machin’s performance share plan and £233,000 from a deferred bonus, both of which are set to pay out in July. Retail Gazette

Almost half of young people would rather live in a world where the internet does not exist, according to a new survey. The research reveals that nearly 70% of 16- to 21-year-olds feel worse about themselves after spending time on social media. Half (50%) would support a “digital curfew” restriciting their access to certain apps and sites past 10pm, while 46% said they would rather be young in a world without the internet altogether. A quarter of respondents spent four or more hours a day on social media, while 42% admitted to lying to their parents and guardians about what they do online. The Guardian

Spain was hit by phone and internet blackouts on Tuesday morning, just weeks after a power failure plunged the country into darkness. Landline and mobile services were brought down across the country after a botched system upgrade by Spanish telecoms giant Telefonica. The interruption sparked problems for emergency call operators, with some reports that callers were cut off as they tried to speak to hospital staff. This led to some emergency service providers setting up alternative numbers to ensure households could still get in touch. Telegraph 

The Met Office has unveiled a new supercomputer which it says produces better forecasts. The weather agency says detailed estimates up to 14 days in advance will become the norm, while rainfall predictions will also be more accurate. The new cloud-based system, which was launched on Monday, can perform 60 quadrillion calculations per second. It is being operated by Microsoft’s cloud-based Azure, making it the first system the Met Office is not running by itself. And it ends a long wait for the weather prediction tech, which was first announced in 2020 and originally slated for 2022. BBC 

A telecoms worker who created AI-generated images of child sex abuse has been sentenced. Risto Bergman, 42, who is originally from Finland, used a legitimate artificial intelligence app to make indecent images of young girls being abused. Scotland’s Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) said the images were “so realistic” that they could be taken for authentic photographs. Bergman was said to have used sexually descriptive search terms while using the app. Sky News 

Peers have inflicted a heavy defeat on the Government for the third time over copyright protections for the creative industries against artificial intelligence (AI). It came as the upper chamber joined artists and musicians, including Sir Elton John and Sir Paul McCartney, in speaking out against AI companies using copyrighted work without permission. The House of Lords supported by 287 votes to 118, majority 169, an amendment to the Data (Use and Access) Bill. Independent