News

• A rumor claims the Steam Deck 2 may not be here until 2028
• However, this feels like tentative speculation for a couple of reasons
• It's entirely possible that we might be in for a long wait for the Steam Deck sequel, though

The Steam Deck 2 might not arrive until 2028, or that's the latest theory floating down from the rumor mill regarding the sequel to Valve's handheld.

KitGuru noticed that Kepler has again dropped another rumor via the Neogaf forums (there've been a few hardware-related nuggets this week), and it's a very short and not-so-sweet revelation that: "Steam Deck 2 is 2028".

The comment came in a post that's actually about the Asus ROG Xbox Ally, when somebody commented about buying one of those - the portable arrives in October - weighed against the prospect of Valve bringing out something better in the near(ish) future.

Kepler quickly put paid to the idea that the Steam Deck 2 might be even remotely on the horizon. If the leaker is correct, we are going to be waiting three years for the next take on Valve's gaming portable - with it arriving six years after the original Steam Deck debuted - but that is, of course, a significantly sizeable if as I'll discuss next.

Obviously, this is just a rumor, and the nature of it - a throwaway one-liner in a forum post - should give more than a brief pause for thought.

As KitGuru points out, Kepler probably didn't tap a Valve contact for this info - though we don't know that for sure, it seems likely to be the case. This is because Kepler primarily deals in GPU (or CPU) rumors and so the likelihood is that they're basing this on information drawn from an AMD roadmap - which pertains to the expected chip to be used as the engine of the next Steam Deck.

So, that makes this speculation feel a littler shakier, but that said, Kepler has proved to be one of the more reliable leakers for GPU info - so I wouldn't dismiss this nugget out of hand, by any means.

Valve is already rumored to be working on a Steam Deck 2 - which is hardly a surprise - but seemingly the development road could be a long one. Back in 2023, a year after the Steam Deck launched, the expectation was a next-gen version of Valve's handheld wouldn't arrive for a few years from then - meaning people were hoping for 2026, not 2028.

If this rumor is true, what it also indicates is that Valve is planning on making the Steam Deck 2 a huge uplift with performance, with a much beefier SoC inside - the hardware available in 2028 is going to be a lot beefier, of course. And that aligns with previous chatter suggesting the company doesn't want an incremental release with the sequel to the Steam Deck, but a big stride forward.

All that said, I would underline that we should be very cautious around this speculation for now.

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Let's be honest. When movies leave your favorite streamer, some of them will be missed more than others – so when Rappin' leaves Prime Video in just under a week from now, there probably won't be people openly crying in the streets.

But while you can probably live without Mario Van Peebles showing his neighbors "how to drive out riffraff with rap music", there are some real gems leaving Prime Video at the end of this month and there are three in particular I think are must-watch movies.

For my picks this week I've tried to cover a wide range of movies, and I think it's fair to say that other than their impressive Rotten Tomatoes ratings these films don't exactly have much in common: there aren't many killer clowns in the literary biopic Capote or the urgent, suspenseful The Taking of Pelham One Two Three. But all three movies are guaranteed to entertain, albeit in very different ways.

Philip Seymour Hoffman is superb as the titular writer, and this dramatization of real events follows Truman Capote as he investigates the murder of a Kansas family. The big-city writer travels to small-town America with his friend, Harper Lee, and his research into the case and the friendship he forms with one of the killers lead to the creation of one of the classics of American literature, 1965's In Cold Blood.

The movie has a very high 89% rating from the Rotten Tomatoes critic roundup, and it comes with high praise from The New York Review of Books: "Capote is the only movie I know of that comes close to suggesting successfully what the complex process of creating a literary work actually looks like."

The Village Voice rated it too (no link available), saying: "Capote is a cool and polished hall of mirrors reflecting the ways in which Truman Capote came to write (and be written by) In Cold Blood." And Empire gave the movie the full five stars. It's "an outstanding film, anchored by a great central performance."

This is unlikely to appear in a double bill with Capote, but Damien Leone's slasher sequel has a whopping 87% rating from critics with strong stomachs. Once again Art the Clown targets teenagers in a small town, and over its two-plus hours the film delivers a stylish and genuinely frightening horror story.

This is not a movie for the faint hearted. "Skip dinner before you watch," LA Weekly recommends, "and maybe shower and then go do something nice for humanity afterward?" And HorrorBuzz was cautious in its praise, saying: "Mae West was once quoted as saying, 'Too much of a good thing can be wonderful!'. Here it depends entirely on how you felt about the first Terrifier."

But even Common Sense Media was won over. "The heinous Art the Clown returns in this intensely gory sequel that tries much harder – and is much smarter – than the original movie."

This classic thriller was remade, largely unsuccessfully, as a Denzel Washington vehicle in 2009. But the one you want is the 1974 original starring Walter Matthau, which is currently sitting with an entirely deserved 98% on Rotten Tomatoes. It's the story of an audacious crime: four men get on a New York subway train, separate the carriage and hold 17 passengers hostage. If their demands aren't met, they'll shoot a hostage every hour.

Matthau's "wonderfully weary sense of irony is perfect," says The Hollywood Reporter, while the late Roger Ebert told Chicago Sun-Times readers that "What's good about Pelham's example of the form is that the performances are allowed enough leeway so that we care about the people not the plot mechanics. And what could have been formula trash turns out to be fairly classy trash, after all."

As Empire put it, it's "the kind of gritty, relentless thriller that could only come from the ‘70s" and it's influenced lots of culture: "Quentin Tarantino would later nick the criminals using colors as codenames gambit for Reservoir Dogs; the Beastie Boys reference it in the song Sure Shot."

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• Passwordstate's latest version patches an authentication bypass flaw
• It could be abused to access the Passwordstate Administration section without authentication
• There are workarounds, too

Passwordstate, an enterprise-grade password manager tailored for organizations and IT and security teams, is urging users to update their instances to the newest version and mitigate risks of potential authentication bypass attacks.

“Today we have released build 9972, which includes 2 security updates,” Click Studios, the company behind Passwordstate, said in its security advisory. “We recommend customers upgrade as soon as possible.”

The changelog for Passwordstate 9.9 - Build 9972, talks about a “potential authentication bypass when using a carefully crafted URL against the core Passwordstate Products’ Emergency Access page”.

The CVE ID for the vulnerability is currently pending, so we don’t know the severity at the moment, but we do know that exploiting it allows threat actors to gain access to the Passwordstate Administration section. Depending on how easy it is to pull off, the severity score could be quite high.

Speaking to BleepingComputer, Click Studios also said there was a workaround for those who cannot patch that fast: "The only partial work around for this is to set the Emergency Access Allowed IP Address for your webserver under System Settings->Allowed IP Ranges. This is a short term partial fix and Click Studios strongly recommends that all customers upgrade to Passwordstate Build 9972 as soon as possible."

Passwordstate is a secure password vault used to store, organize, and control passwords, API keys, certificates, and other secrets. It is primarily an on-prem solution, although cloud-based options are available, as well. It is praised for its enterprise-level functionality and affordability versus higher-priced PAM tools, but also criticized for its steeper technical learning curve, setup, server requirements, and UI complexity.

Click Studios claims it is used by more than 370,000 users working in 29,000 companies, including government agencies, financial institutions, global enterprises, Fortune 500 companies, and others.

Via BleepingComputer

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• TransUnion reported a data breach with 4.4 million Americans affected
• The threat actors claim the attack is much larger
• Users should be wary of incoming emails

TransUnion, a major American credit reporting company, suffered a data breach in which it lost personally identifiable information (PII) on more than 4.4 million American citizens.

In a new report, filed with the Maine Attorney General’s Office, the company said it was struck on July 28, 2025, and that it spotted the intrusion two days later.

The data lost in the incident is “limited”, TransUnion said, without detailing the type. It did stress that credit reports and core credit information was not exposed in this attack. It still decided to give affected individuals 24 months of free credit monitoring and identity theft protection.

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At the same time, BleepingComputer discovered that the attack was the work of ShinyHunters, who broke into the company’s Salesforce account to steal the information.

“A wave of Salesforce data theft attacks has impacted numerous companies this year, including Google, Farmers Insurance, Allianz Life, Workday, Pandora, Cisco, Chanel, and Qantas,” the publication said. ShinyHunters confirmed with the publication that they stole more than 13 million records, with the 4.4 million mentioned above relating only to US citizens.

The group shared a sample, as well, showing people’s names, billing addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, dates of birth, and unredacted Social Security numbers (SSN). This type of information can hardly be described as “limited”, as it is more than enough to use in identity theft, phishing, and other forms of cybercrime. Crooks can open bank accounts in people’s names, take out loans, and even apply for tax cuts and returns.

The data also includes the reason for the customer transaction, such as a request for a free credit report, which can also be used to target the victims with convincing phishing attacks, deploying malware or stealing even more information.

ShinyHunters also told BleepingComputer they stole customer support tickets and various messages stored in Salesforce.

TransUnion is one of the three major consumer credit reporting agencies in the US (alongside Experian and Equifax). It collects and maintains credit information on individuals and businesses, then provides credit reports, scores, and identity protection services to lenders, businesses, and consumers.

To mitigate potential risks, users should place a credit freeze (or fraud alert) with all three credit bureaus, preventing new credit accounts from being opened in their name without approval.

They should also monitor their credit reports, and use TransUnion's offer of free identity theft monitoring.

Finally, they should watch their financial accounts closely, and be extra cautious with incoming emails and other communication. Since attackers now know their contact info, they might send convincing fake emails, texts, or calls pretending to be banks, government agencies, or even TransUnion itself.

Via BleepingComputer

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• Surfshark has been hit by a class action lawsuit over alleged "illegal" auto-renewal fees
• A Californian customer accused Surfshark of automatically enrolling him in renewal without his consent
• Most popular VPN providers employ similar auto-renewal systems – a practice lawyers allege to go against California's consumer law

A Californian customer has dragged Surfshark into court, accusing the VPN provider of charging him allegedly "illegal" auto-renewal fees.

Plaintiff Arvin Garcia filed a class action lawsuit against Surfshark in California's Central District Court on July 17, arguing that the VPN firm enrolled him in three one-year-long plan renewals without his consent. Garcia has brought the case forward for himself and all other California consumers who happened to be charged illegal auto-renewal fees.

Despite a handful of exceptions, the majority of the best VPNs on the market operate their subscriptions according to similar auto-renewal systems. Two more providers, NordVPN and ExpressVPN, are, in fact, facing similar complaints in the US right now.

As stated in the lawsuit, Garcia purchased a two-year subscription for the virtual private network (VPN) service in May 2020, believing he was making a one-time purchase.

After the plan expired, however, "unbeknownst to him and without his consent, Surfshark enrolled him in an automatically renewing plan," reads the suit.

Surfshark supposedly charged Garcia for yearly renewals in May of 2022, 2023, and 2024 – automatic charges that, according to the plaintiff's lawyers, "were illegal and should be refunded."

Specifically, lawyers argue that Surfshark is in breach of its obligations under California's Automatic Renewal Law (ARL). The law requires companies adopting auto-renewal payments to provide "clear and conspicuous" disclosures about the auto-renewal plan and obtain "affirmative consent" to enroll consumers. Surfshark, the lawsuit claims, violated these terms in "multiple ways."

Surfshark is also accused of breaching the False Advertising Law "by disseminating misleading advertisements concerning the automatically renewing nature of Surfshark plans," wrote lawyers.

This July 2025 lawsuit follows similar accusations brought against Surfshark in 2024, always under California law.

TechRadar has approached Sursfhark for comments, but we are still waiting for a response at the time of publication.

Surfshark is far from being the first popular VPN provider to face legal troubles in the US over allegedly deceptive auto-renewal pricing.

ExpressVPN is also facing a class action in California right now, in fact, after being hit with a similar legal complaint in June 2025.

While NordVPN has been taken to Court over alleged "illegal and deceptive" auto-renewal practices in at least four US states so far.

The Wittels McInturff Palikovic law firm presented legal complaints on behalf of four former NordVPN customers since April 2024 – and now urges all NordVPN users who were charged for a subscription they did not want to come forward.

The same law firm has previously opened investigations into auto-enrollment practices against ExpressVPN, too, alongside Proton VPN and Private Internet Access (PIA). Yet, lawyers filed no lawsuit against these providers.

We have to wait to see what the judges will eventually decide, but these legal actions clearly signal that a change in how VPN firms manage their payment subscriptions may be needed. The question now is whether providers are willing to amend their business model and ditch auto-renewal plans for good.

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• SK Telecom suffered a data breach that was discovered in April 2025
• It affected roughly 27 million people
• The company was fined for it, and will need to make significant changes to its operations

SK Telecom (SKT), one of the biggest telecommunications services providers in South Korea, was fined almost $100 million for failing to protect user data.

In April 2025, the company discovered a malware breach that allowed threat actors to lurk within its systems for years. Some researchers even claim the attack started in August 2021.

The miscreants targeted SKT’s Home Subscriber Server (HSS) and other critical infrastructure, exposing sensitive subscriber data, including USIM authentication keys (KI), International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) numbers, IMEI device identifiers, phone numbers, email addresses, and possibly other personal data.

Approximately 27 million people were affected by the breach.

Now, Reuters reports that the government-run Personal Information Protection Commission issued a statement, confirming the fine of about 134 billion won ($96.53 million) for “neglecting its duty to take safety measures” and for “delays in notifying the leak to customers”.

The statement also claims SKT’s systems were in a “very weak condition” which allowed threat actors to access the company’s intranet. There were no passwords, or other safety measures, defending the servers from outside influence, and operating systems were outdated and running without the latest security patches.

Besides being forced to pay the fine, the company will also have to “strengthen safety rules on information protection” and revamp its governance.

Responding to a Reuters inquiry, SK Telecom said it “felt a grave responsibility” and will make protecting customer information a “top priority”.

In response, it launched an “Information Security Innovation Plan”, that includes implementing zero-trust architecture, expanding encryption, forming a red team, elevating the CISO role to report directly to the CEO, and adding cybersecurity experts to the board.

Customers received free USIM card replacements, and were offered 50% off August subscription fees. Furthermore, whoever wanted to cancel their contract prematurely was allowed to do so without extra fees.

Via Reuters

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• A couple of Lenovo's concept products have been leaked on X
• One is a laptop with a screen that rotates into portrait mode
• The other is a self-adjusting laptop stand that seemingly uses AI to position the notebook for optimal ergonomics

Lenovo is apparently set to show off a new concept laptop at the IFA show next week which features a screen that can be rotated into a portrait position, along with an innovative laptop stand.

Lenovo has a habit of showing off concept devices at trade shows, some of which are precursors to shipping products -- a la the ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 w/ rollable display -- while others will never see the light of day. At next week's IFA/Innovation Week, that concept will be a… pic.twitter.com/PMIJdowgHGAugust 28, 2025

As The Verge reports, according to renown leaker Evan Blass, the laptop is known as 'Project Pivo' (which is an internal codename) as per a post on X.

As you can see, the screen rotates independently of the lid, so you can twist it around 90-degrees so that it's upright in portrait mode. Presumably there's some slick mechanism to facilitate this movement, but obviously we don't get any clues as to what; just an image and basic explanation of the concept.

Blass also provides us with a glimpse of 'Project Ballet' from Lenovo, which is an AI-powered laptop stand, apparently. The leaker explains that the AI taps the laptop's internal sensors - microphone, camera, and more besides - to work out the user's position relative to the device and stand, then adjusts the positioning of the notebook appropriately.

I really like the idea of the laptop stand - this is AI fine-tuning the ergonomics of your laptop usage in real-time.

However, the concept is one thing, the execution entirely another. And there's clearly the possibility for a self-adjusting notebook stand to get things wrong and become extremely annoying.

The rotating screen laptop looks pretty nifty too, but this is rather a niche product. How many people really need to spin their screen round into a portrait orientation? Not that many, but of course it can be useful for some folks (coders, maybe writers, or graphic designers perhaps).

What worries me about these concepts that introduce fancy mechanisms is that those moving parts represent a lot more potential for stuff going wrong with your notebook. And, say, if your screen ends up stuck at a 65-degree angle midway between portrait and landscape; that's going to be no fun. Still, maybe the AI laptop stand will be able to fix all the wonky ergonomics for you - perhaps that's Lenovo's grand masterplan here?

In all seriousness, as Blass points out, a lot of laptop concepts are punted about and never realized, and that may well be the case with these ideas. Some of them do make the cut, though, like the ThinkBook laptop with a rollable screen which was released.

Hopefully we'll get a better idea of how these two fresh innovations might work at IFA next week, where TechRadar will be in attendance, furnishing you with all the pivotal developments - rotating laptop screens included.

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• Workers between 22-25 years old seem to be most affected by AI
• Software development and customer service are highly affected
• Roles subject to higher automation are most at risk

A new paper by researchers at Stanford University has uncovered six truths about AI’s effects on the workforce, and it might not be so good for younger workers.

The data shows that younger workers, aged 22-25, in the most AI-exposed jobs have seen substantial declines in employment since late 2022 – this includes roles like software development and customer support.

This, the researchers say, has led to stagnant youth employment overall despite total US employment rates continuing to rise.

By July 2025, for example, employment for software developers in this age group was down nearly 20% compared with late 2022. On the whole, employment in the most AI-exposed roles declined by around 6% for this young demographic, but older workers (defined as 35-49) saw a 6-9% increase.

The Stanford paper goes some way to explaining why youth employment has been relatively flat despite some overall national growth.

Brynjolfsson, Chandar and Chen – the researchers behind the paper – go one sterp further by splitting AI into two distinct categories – automation and augmentation.

Younger workers were most affected by AI as automation, which substitutes tasks and leads to declines in entry-level jobs.

In contrast, older workers were more likely to be affected by AI as augmentation, where it supports human work. In this case, the researchers saw no decline, and sometimes even growth.

They found employment rates to be hit harder than wages in most cases, with headcount reductions more likely to occur than pay cuts. Already this calendar year, the tech industry has seen over 81,000 layoffs, though this is down from a 2023 high of 264,000+ (for the full year).

However, the paper suggests that all hope may not be lost, pointing to previous trends such as the IT revolution that “ultimately led to robust growth in employment and real wages following physical and human capital adjustments.”

With that in mind, it’s possible that AI could indeed enhance the labor market all-round, but only after an initial period of turbulence that affects lower-skilled workers disproportionately.

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