Economic

Qantas cyber attack sparks customer alert

Qantas is investigating a major data breach that may have exposed the personal details of up to six million customers.

The breach affected a third-party platform used by the airline’s contact centre to store sensitive data, including names, phone numbers, email addresses, dates of birth and frequent flyer numbers.

The airline discovered unusual activity on 30 June and responded by immediately isolating the affected system. While the full scope of the breach is still being assessed, Qantas expects the volume of stolen data to be significant.

However, it confirmed that no passwords, PINs, credit card details or passport numbers were stored on the compromised platform.

Qantas has informed the Australian Federal Police, the Cyber Security Centre and the Office of the Information Commissioner. CEO Vanessa Hudson apologised to customers and urged anyone concerned to call a dedicated support line. She added that airline operations and safety remain unaffected.

The incident follows recent cyber attacks on Hawaiian Airlines, WestJet and major UK retailers, reportedly linked to a group known as Scattered Spider. The breach adds to a growing list of Australian organisations targeted in 2025, in what privacy authorities describe as a worsening trend.

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Tinder trials face scans to verify profiles

Tinder is trialling a facial recognition feature to boost user security and crack down on fraudulent profiles. The pilot is currently underway in the US, after initial launches in Colombia and Canada.

New users are now required to take a short video selfie during sign-up, which will be matched against profile photos to confirm authenticity. The app also compares the scan with other accounts to catch duplicates and impersonations.

Verified users receive a profile badge, and Tinder stores a non-reversible encrypted face map to aid in detection. The company claims all facial data is deleted when accounts are removed.

The update follows a sharp rise in catfishing and romance scams, with over 64,000 cases reported in the US last year alone. Other measures introduced in recent years include photo verification, ID checks and location-sharing tools.

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Coinbase privacy appeal rejected by US Supreme Court

The US Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal from a Coinbase user, effectively allowing the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to access user data without new restrictions.

The decision ends James Harper’s legal battle over the IRS’s broad request for user data, which he claimed violated constitutional privacy rights.

Harper’s challenge stemmed from a 2016 IRS summons demanding data from over 14,000 Coinbase users suspected of underreporting crypto income. Lower courts rejected his claims, citing the third-party doctrine that removes privacy rights for data shared with external platforms.

By refusing to take up the case, the Supreme Court leaves intact the precedent set by lower courts. The ruling confirms that centralised exchange users like those on Coinbase lack Fourth Amendment protection over government access to their financial data.

Experts warn the ruling could have broader implications beyond crypto. The outcome may reinforce the government’s ability to obtain user data from financial and technology platforms, potentially expanding surveillance powers across the digital economy.

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MAI-DxO: Microsoft’s New AI diagnoses complex medical cases with 85% accuracy

Microsoft has introduced a new AI-powered diagnostic tool capable of tackling complex medical cases that often baffle expert clinicians. Called MAI-DxO (Microsoft AI Diagnostic Orchestrator), the system has been developed by Microsoft’s AI health unit, founded by DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman.

When tested on complex real-world cases published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the AI tool correctly diagnosed 85.5%. For comparison, experienced doctors managed to solve only 20% of the same cases without external help.

The tool uses five virtual AI agents, each simulating a medical expert with unique roles, such as choosing tests or proposing hypotheses. The approach, dubbed the ‘chain of debate’, allows for step-by-step reasoning in arriving at diagnoses.

Microsoft trained MAI-DxO using 304 case studies and large language models from leading AI companies, including OpenAI, Google, Meta, and xAI. The AI panel mimics a real-world diagnostic team with significantly faster and more accurate outcomes.

Despite the promising results, Microsoft acknowledges that more validation and regulatory clarity are needed before such tools can be used in clinical practice. The company is currently working with health organisations to test the system further.

The aim is not to replace doctors but to ease their workload by offering a reliable assistant for the most challenging cases. Microsoft says MAI-DxO could represent a significant step toward what it calls ‘medical superintelligence’.

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Meta launches AI superintelligence lab to compete with rivals

Meta has launched a new division called Meta Superintelligence Labs to accelerate its AI ambitions and close the gap with rivals such as OpenAI and Google.

The lab will be led by Alexandr Wang, former CEO of Scale AI, following Meta’s $14.3 billion investment in the data-labeling company. Former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman and SSI co-founder Daniel Gross will also hold key roles in the initiative.

Mark Zuckerberg announced the new effort in an internal memo, stating that Meta is now focused on developing superintelligent AI systems capable of matching or even outperforming humans. He described this as the beginning of a new era and reaffirmed Meta’s commitment to leading the field.

The lab’s mission is to push AI to a point where it can solve complex tasks more effectively than current models.

To meet these goals, Meta has been aggressively recruiting AI researchers from top competitors. Reports suggest that OpenAI employees have been offered signing bonuses as high as $100 million to join Meta.

New hires include talent from Anthropic and Google, although Meta has reportedly avoided deeper recruitment from Anthropic due to concerns over culture fit.

Meta’s move comes in response to the lukewarm reception of its Llama 4 model and mounting pressure from more advanced AI products released by competitors.

The company hopes that by combining high-level leadership, fresh talent and massive investment, its new lab can deliver breakthrough results and reposition Meta as a serious contender in the race for AGI.

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Nobitex restores wallet access after major hack

Iran’s biggest crypto exchange, Nobitex, has begun restoring wallet access after a cyberattack that stole over $90 million this month. Wallet reactivation is being carried out in phases, starting with verified users and spot wallets, while other wallets will reopen once identity checks are completed.

Users were urged to update their details promptly, as deposits sent to old wallet addresses now risk permanent loss due to a complete system migration.

Nobitex warned that withdrawal, deposit, and trading services for verified users would resume as soon as security checks allow. Timelines may change depending on technical conditions.

Following the breach, Iran’s central bank mandated domestic exchanges to restrict operating hours from 10 am to 8 pm to improve security.

The pro-Israel hacking group Predatory Sparrow claimed responsibility, highlighting rising regional cyber tensions. Nobitex remains central to Iran’s growing crypto market, but the attack has shaken user trust and raised concerns over the country’s financial cybersecurity.

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Youth unrest set to drive Bitcoin’s rise

Market analyst Jordi Visser predicts that rising dissatisfaction among young people aged 25 and under with the current financial system will drive Bitcoin adoption. He believes this trend will push its price higher over time.

On Anthony Pompliano’s podcast, Visser highlighted growing frustration due to economic uncertainty and AI-driven job losses. These factors are leading to calls for increased social spending and a move away from capitalism.

Visser said younger generations no longer believe the system will improve and expect governments to print more money amid social unrest. He argued that this trend will help Bitcoin steadily replace traditional fiat assets.

The analyst also warned that advanced AI and robotics could disrupt capitalism by concentrating wealth and reducing the need for human labour, forcing societal change. Emerging technologies like humanoid robots and self-driving cars, expected within five years, may speed up this transformation.

Visser noted that autonomous vehicles arriving in cities like Manhattan could face protests similar to those against ride-sharing, signalling broader technological disruption.

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Text-to-image and beyond: Alibaba launches Qwen VLo AI model

Alibaba Group has launched a new AI model called Qwen VLo, designed to generate and edit images based on text prompts and visual inputs. The model is an upgrade of the earlier Qwen2.5-VL and forms part of Alibaba’s expanding suite of AI services.

Qwen VLo introduces the ‘progressive generation’ feature, which allows users to watch as the image develops in real-time. Users can request creations with simple prompts such as ‘generate a picture of a dog’, or upload existing photos for editing.

According to a company blog post on GitHub, Qwen VLo is a unified multimodal understanding and generation model. It not only interprets visual and textual data, but also produces high-quality, context-aware image outputs.

Previous models had difficulty with semantic consistency, often misidentifying objects or altering key features like the shape or colour of a car. The new Qwen VLo corrects these issues, offering improved object recognition and detail retention.

Users can issue complex editing commands, such as ‘add a sun to the sky’ or ‘make this photo look like it’s from the 19th century’. The model supports traditional vision tasks like depth estimation, edge detection, and segmentation.

Multiple image tasks can be performed simultaneously, making Qwen VLo suitable for more advanced use cases. Thanks to the model’s multilingual capabilities, instructions can be given in several languages, including English and Chinese.

Alibaba, best known for its e-commerce services, has been steadily advancing its AI research and development. In February, CEO Eddie Wu said the company’s primary focus is now on artificial general intelligence—AI systems that match or exceed human-level cognition.

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Kazakhstan to create crypto reserve backed by mining and seized funds

Kazakhstan will create a state crypto reserve funded by confiscated criminal assets and government-backed mining operations. National Bank Chairman Timur Suleimenov said the reserve will follow global sovereign fund standards, prioritising transparency and sustainability.

The country’s rise as a crypto mining hub began in 2021, but stricter regulations and power shortages reduced its global mining share to 4% by 2023.

Authorities now use the ’70/30 model’, where foreign investment modernises power plants, with 30% of energy output reserved for regulated mining to generate crypto for the reserve.

Legal crypto activity is limited to the Astana International Financial Centre, hosting major exchanges like Binance and Bybit. Non-compliant platforms remain blocked, while reforms aim to license unbacked crypto assets and define their legal status.

Kazakhstan is also pushing forward with broader crypto innovation, including a Solana-backed Web3 zone and the proposed CryptoCity. Despite enforcement progress, most crypto activity still occurs outside regulation. The digital tenge is expected to launch later this year.

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Europol backs Spain in dismantling crypto crime ring

Spanish law enforcement, supported by Europol and agencies from Estonia, France, and the United States, arrested five individuals on 25 June 2025 linked to a global cryptocurrency investment scam. The operation uncovered a vast fraud network responsible for laundering around €460 million taken from over 5,000 victims worldwide.

The suspects were detained following coordinated raids in Madrid and the Canary Islands. Authorities conducted five property searches in total.

Europol has been assisting with the case since 2023, providing technical expertise, financial crime analysis, and on-site support during the final phase of the investigation.

The group allegedly operated through a vast web of international sales agents facilitating fund collection via cash, wire transfers, and cryptocurrencies.

The criminal operation reportedly maintained a corporate and banking structure based in Hong Kong, using shell companies and various digital accounts under false identities to move illicit funds.

Online fraud remains a critical threat to EU security, and Europol warns that it is rapidly growing in scale and complexity. According to Europol’s latest threat report, the rise of AI-powered deception tools is expected to fuel the spread of cyber-enabled fraud further.

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