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SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 26 (Reuters) – Microsoft (MSFT.O) on Thursday warned thousands of its cloud computing customers, including some of the world’s largest companies, that intruders could have the ability to read, change or even delete their main databases, according to a copy of the email and a cyber security researcher.

The vulnerability is in Microsoft Azure’s flagship Cosmos DB database. A research team at security company Wiz discovered it was able to access keys that control access to databases held by thousands of companies. Wiz Chief Technology Officer Ami Luttwak is a former chief technology officer at Microsoft’s Cloud Security Group.

Because Microsoft cannot change those keys by itself, it emailed the customers Thursday telling them to create new ones. Microsoft agreed to pay Wiz $40,000 for finding the flaw and reporting it, according to an email it sent to Wiz.

“We fixed this issue immediately to keep our customers safe and protected. We thank the security researchers for working under coordinated vulnerability disclosure,” Microsoft told Reuters.

Microsoft’s email to customers said there was no evidence the flaw had been exploited. “We have no indication that external entities outside the researcher (Wiz) had access to the primary read-write key,” the email said.

“This is the worst cloud vulnerability you can imagine. It is a long-lasting secret,” Luttwak told Reuters. “This is the central database of Azure, and we were able to get access to any customer database that we wanted.”

Luttwak’s team found the problem, dubbed ChaosDB, on Aug. 9 and notified Microsoft Aug. 12, Luttwak said.

The flaw was in a visualization tool called Jupyter Notebook, which has been available for years but was enabled by default in Cosmos beginning in February. After Reuters reported on the flaw, Wiz detailed the issue in a blog post.

Luttwak said even customers who have not been notified by Microsoft could have had their keys swiped by attackers, giving them access until those keys are changed. Microsoft only told customers whose keys were visible this month, when Wiz was working on the issue.

Microsoft told Reuters that “customers who may have been impacted received a notification from us,” without elaborating.

The disclosure comes after months of bad security news for Microsoft. The company was breached by the same suspected Russian government hackers that infiltrated SolarWinds, who stole Microsoft source code. Then a wide number of hackers broke into Exchange email servers while a patch was being developed.

A recent fix for a printer flaw that allowed computer takeovers had to be redone repeatedly. Another Exchange flaw last week prompted an urgent U.S. government warning that customers need to install patches issued months ago because ransomware gangs are now exploiting it.

Problems with Azure are especially troubling, because Microsoft and outside security experts have been pushing companies to abandon most of their own infrastructure and rely on the cloud for more security.

But though cloud attacks are more rare, they can be more devastating when they occur. What’s more, some are never publicized.

A federally contracted research lab tracks all known security flaws in software and rates them by severity. But there is no equivalent system for holes in cloud architecture, so many critical vulnerabilities remain undisclosed to users, Luttwak said.

Reporting by Joseph Menn; Editing by William Mallard

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

When you think of the online video game Fortnite, what’s the first thing that pops into your head? If you answered “the late Civil Rights activist Martin Luther King Jr.,” then there’s good news for you: a new virtual in-game exhibit will pay tribute to the slain leader by exposing players to his speeches and crusade for justice, Fortnite’s parent company, Epic Studios, announced on Thursday.

Fortnite—a game best known for its battle royale-style violence—has previously featured promotional appearances by artists like Travis Scott and Ariana Grande, making Martin Luther King Jr., a Nobel Peace Prize recipient and famous advocate of nonviolent protest, an obvious next choice for an in-game feature. According to Epic, the new exhibit, which was created as part of a partnership with TIME Studios, “teleports players to D.C. 63, a reimagined Washington, DC.,” where they will be able to visit the Lincoln Memorial and the National Mall to hear to King deliver his infamous 17-minute speech calling for civil rights.

“The experience extends with museum-inspired points of interest, and collaborative mini-game quests you complete with others,” Epic said. “These activities progress players through the experience and bring to life important themes of Dr. King’s speech: we move forward when we work together.”

Lest you assume that a violent battle game senselessly appropriated the message and likeness of a man who was literally assassinated during his attempts to broker peace, know that the King Estate played an active role in green-lighting the homage. Eric D. Tidwell, Esq., the managing director and general counsel of the King Estate said the organization was “excited” to work with TIME on the Fortnite project.

“With the advent of emerging technology, we seek to use all resources available to continue to spread his wonderful legacy of hope, peace, love, and equality,” Tidwell told The Wrap in a statement. “Presenting his most famous speech in such an interactive format helps us achieve that goal.”

Indeed, perhaps this is the push America’s gamer youth needs in order to move us into a brighter, more egalitarian future, one free from senseless violence and ugly prejudice. Or maybe this will just lead to more idiots using their Fortnite avatars to floss on the National Mall while King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech blares in the background—one or the other.

In case you might have missed it, a new limited edition Halo Infinite themed Xbox Series X bundle was announced yesterday during Gamescom. Similar to the standard Xbox Series X, it’s been pretty hard to find and preorders are going fast. Please note: most of these preorder listings are currently out of stock or unavailable. However, should the console come back in stock, these links will be what you’ll want to check.

Although most retailers are currently out of stock, we are expecting Amazon to have their listing live sometime today. To stay in the loop about when the Halo Infinite Xbox Series X is available to preorder, follow along with us at IGN Deals on Twitter. If you’re browsing in the UK, click here to find out where you can preorder the new Halo Infinite Elite controller and Xbox Series X.

Where to Preorder the Halo Infinite Limited Edition Xbox Series X

In addition to announcing the Halo Infinite Xbox Series X, a limited edition Halo-themed Elite Controller was released for preorder as well. Currently, the only place that has had preorders for the Elite Controller was the Microsoft Store. As expected, they are currently unavailable to preorder but make sure to check back should they come back in stock.

Where to Preorder the Halo Infinite Limited Edition Xbox Elite Controller

Where to Preorder Halo Infinite Xbox Series X in the UK

Preorder Halo Infinite Limited Edition Xbox Elite 2 Controller in the UK

Additional Information about the Halo Infinite Xbox Series X

The new limited edition bundle was announced to celebrate Halo’s 20th anniversary. The exterior of the Series X features an impressive black and gold design containing a galaxy-like pattern “as seen from the surface of Zeta Halo,” according to Xbox. Click here to learn more about the limited edition Halo Infinite Xbox Series X.

Best Deals on Xbox Games and Accessories

Looking for even more Xbox stuff? Check out our extensive article with all the best Xbox deals on games and accessories. We update this every week, so feel free to follow along. You can also stay in the know about the best sales, deals and new releases by following us at IGN Deals over on Twitter.

Christi is IGN’s Social Commerce Editor tracking sales for @igndeals and writing about all things shopping. You can find her on Twitter @caliatownsend.

Model rocket maker Estes is releasing a 1/66th scale model of the Blue Origin rocket New Shepard, meaning that anyone will be able to launch their own version of the spacecraft 400 feet into the air. But if you’re wondering, yes, the Estes version looks exactly like the real version. Which is to say that it looks like a dick.

Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos launched to the edge space on the New Shepard last month, reaching 62 miles above sea level, besting fellow billionaire Richard Branson’s altitude of 53 miles. Branson’s rocket, however, didn’t look like a cock.

The new Estes rocket alone retails for $69.99, but if you don’t already have a launch pad you’re going to need to splurge for the starter set, which includes the rocket, a launch pad, an electronic launch controller, a pack of engines, and recovery wadding. Just make sure not to shoot your wad too early, a problem that can really limit your enjoyment of the rocket—a rocket that looks like a human schlong.

The Estes website says you’ll need a C6-3 or C6-5 engine pack for a proper launch:

The Estes New Shepard is a 1/66th scale model of the Blue Origin New Shepard launch vehicle. It flies to altitude on a C6-3 or C6-5, and is capable of as much as 400 ft. It too, after deploying the capsule, falls through the atmosphere under a large parachute to gently touch down. Like the Blue Origin New Shepard, you can fly the Estes New Shepard again and again.

The promotional video, which is available on YouTube, cuts between the model rocket and real footage from the New Shepard’s launch with Bezos. Which, again, unfortunately looks like male genitalia.

As one YouTube commenter put it, “My sister has one of them in her drawer.”

“Estes is proud to partner with Blue Origin to provide a piece of history that inspires kids to dream and imagine. The ready to fly New Shepard model is a perfect addition to your office shelf or launch it to recreate the spaceflight for yourself!” the company’s website explains.

The Blue Origin rocket doesn’t officially go on sale until November but pre-orders are available now. There’s a limit of five per customers, which probably means they’re expecting huge demand for this one. If you’re looking to get one by Christmas it’s probably best to get in now, if we had to guess. These pecker rockets are going to be flying off the shelves.

Every rocket will include a postcard from Bezos’s organization, the Club For the Future, where people can send in their own vision of the future. The postcards will be taken aboard a Blue Origin flight and returned to the sender with the message “Flown to Space” stamped on it, according to a press release.

Penis. It looks like a penis.

We’re not sure who or how many people use Microsoft Office on a Chromebook but if that’s you, you’re in for a downgraded experience. Microsoft will soon kill its Office app for Android on Chrome OS, the company confirmed Wednesday to About Chromebooks. The app will leave the Google Play Store on September 18th, at which point users will need to sign in through the web via Office.com or Outlook.com. As 9to5Google notes, the Office app will still be available on Android phones, even as it vanishes from Chrome OS.

Though signing in via the web app should work in a pinch, it’s clearly an inferior experience to what the Android app has offered until now, not to mention what Google’s G Suite can do on its native Google-controlled platform. In particular, be warned that the web app offers almost no offline access, something users have enjoyed on the Google Play Store version. 

It’s unclear why Microsoft is making this change, except that the company described the move in a statement to About Chromebooks as an “effort to provide the most optimized experience for Chrome OS/Chromebook customers.” Whatever the intention, this is likely to give Chromebook users another reason to give the G Suite a try, if they haven’t already. Or hey, perhaps they’ll ditch their Chromebooks and download the Android app on Windows 11.

Amazon’s upcoming PC MMO, New World, is getting an open beta ahead of its September 28th release date, Amazon Games announced at Gamescom’s Opening Night Live on Wednesday. The open beta will take place from September 9th to September 12th.

The public beta will give players a chance to try out the game before its official launch just a few weeks later on September 28th, even if it’s only for a few days. In addition to the open beta, Amazon Games also revealed a new trailer for the upcoming MMO showing off more of the supernatural world of New World.

New World’s open beta follows a well-received closed beta and should give more people a chance to try out the game before it officially launches. The game, like others from Amazon Games, has had a troubled history — a recent delay to September 28th from August 31st was the game’s fourth — but the open beta could be an opportunity for Amazon to iron out as many issues as possible before New World’s release.

New World is available for preorder now starting at $39.99. Unlike some other MMOs, the game won’t have a monthly subscription.

Forza Horizon 5 will look and perform best on the latest Xbox console or a high-end PC, but no matter what platform you’re playing on, you should have a good experience. That’s according to Playground Games creative director Mike Brown, who recently spoke about the differences between the various editions of Forza Horizon 5. Brown also touched on how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the development of the racing game.

“There are so many slight differences between the platforms, I think I would struggle to give you a fully accurate answer. The main improvements are through the power we have available thanks to the Xbox Series X and S … is just the phenomenal detail we’re able to pack into every scene,” he said during a recent event attended by GameSpot. “The quality of the assets is improved. The quality of the lighting is improved. The quality of the shadows is improved.”

In the Forzavista mode specifically, which allows players to examine their cars up close, Forza Horizon 5 supports ray-tracing for a further visual jump. “Everything is rendered with unparalleled realism,” Brown said.

The main difference between the Series X and Series S editions of Forza Horizon 5 will be its capability to output in 4K on the higher-end model and 1080p for the Series S.

“Other than that, it should be more or less the same. The visual fidelity should be the same. You’ll still get ray-tracing in Forzavista. Everything else should look as detailed and as glossy as it does on the Series X,” Brown said.

Moving further down the spectrum of Xbox consoles, Brown said he didn’t have information readily available regarding the specific graphics and performance statistics for older Xbox hardware. But overall, Brown said he feels confident that players will enjoy the game and its visuals no matter what platform they’re on.

“I will just say, whichever platform you’re playing on–whether it’s a base Xbox One, the Xbox One X, or a high-spec PC–you will have a really great experience in the game. It looks great on every platform,” he said.

Also during the interview, Brown discussed the impact of COVID-19 on Forza Horizon 5’s development. Thanks in part to the game’s three-year development cycle (as opposed to the normal two-year schedule), the team was able to send researchers to Mexico to capture and compile a database of assets to use as models for the game prior to the pandemic. But when the pandemic hit, the UK-based Playground Games shifted to work-from-home and Brown said the team was able to quickly and successfully pivot to this new environment.

“Obviously COVID-19 affected everybody. It affected everyone and everyone’s lives, and I don’t want to sit here and pretend that video games was the hardest thing to do during a pandemic,” Brown said. “We’re a team of problem solvers and we reacted really quickly. The team did a good job of getting everyone set up to work from home pretty much as soon as the pandemic hit. And anytime we ran into any production problems, we just instantly worked to try and solve them. The team did a really great job. It wasn’t something we planned for at the start. Equally, I don’t think it was something that massively derailed us or anything. COVID affected everyone’s lives in a ton of ways. I don’t think us transitioning to work from home was the worst of them.”

Forza Horizon 5 launches on November 9 for Xbox and PC, and it’s included with Xbox Game Pass. About a month after that, Microsoft will launch another big exclusive, Halo Infinite, on December 8, according to a recent leak.

For more on Forza Horizon 5, check out this piece, How Forza Horizon 5’s Extra Year Of Development Helped Make It A Better, More Accessible Game. Microsoft also recently announced a special-edition Forza Horizon 5 Xbox controller.