Scientists watching our best-known super-volcano say underground rumbles around an unsettled Taupō could carry on through summer – and aren’t ruling out more local shakes.But it’s also possible that the episode – which last…

A man has been arrested after the death of a person at The Concourse, Henderson, on Friday night.Police were called to the scene about 8pm, where the man had been found seriously injured after allegedly being struck by a vehicle.The…

The huge Optus cyberattack is only the latest data breach and hack that has disrupted modern society.

Over past years, businesses, governments, individuals and even militaries have been targeted by hackers.

From being the the realm of tech-savvy and curious teenagers, hacking today is the arena of government spies, professional thieves and soldiers of fortune.

READ MORE: PM insists Optus should pay for passport replacements

Today, it's all about the money, with the development of ransomware offering hackers the chance to reap millions or billions of dollars from their crimes.

Here is a look at some of the most notorious cyber attacks in history.

1990: Broke into phone lines to win a Porsche

Hacker Kevin Poulsen rigged a Los Angeles radio station's phone system to win a Porsche, only to be arrested afterward.

He successfully locked out other callers but was later arrested for the crime and sentenced to five years in prison.

1999: Teenager breached Pentagon, NASA systems

Jonathan James, 15, broke into a Pentagon computer system that monitors threats from nuclear weapons.

He also hacked into NASA computers that supported the International Space Station, intercepting 3300 government emails and obtaining stolen passwords.

James, known on the Internet as "cOmrade", was sentenced to six months in jail.

READ MORE: 'I assume I'm not the only one': Mum blackmailed after Optus data breach

2000: High school student causes chaos

A Canadian high schooler, known as Mafiaboy, launched a distributed denial-of-service attack on commercial sites, including major companies CNN, eBay, and Amazon.

The hacks resulted in an estimated $US1.2 billion ($1.8 billion) of damage.

2007: Entire country targeted by Russian hackers

A decision by the Estonian government to relocate a Soviet-era war memorial from central Tallinn to a military cemetery sparked a diplomatic spat with its powerful neighbour Russia.

Just as the removal works started, Estonia became the target of what was at the time the biggest cyberattack against a single country.

The Estonian government called the incident an act of cyberwarfare and blamed Russia for it.

READ MORE: Scammer steals pensioner's $25k life savings

2009: Tech giant blames China

Google and a dozen other technology companies were hit with a targeted cyberattack that emanated from China.

Google went public about the attack, said that some of its intellectual property had been stolen, and pulled its search engine servers out of China soon after.

China has repeatedly and vehemently denied any connection to the attacks.

2013: Billions of search engine users compromised

Yahoo's epic data breach in affected 3 billion people in total.

The company revealed in 2017 that the accounts for every single customer during that time had been breached, including users of Tumblr and Flickr.

2014: Intimate details of celebrities exposed

A group of hackers exposed the intimate photos belonging to celebrities including Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton and Kirsten Dunst.

The cybercriminals posed as members of Apple's online security team and sent emails to the victims asking for their usernames and passwords.

2016: Popular swinger site breached twice

The initial hack exposed the sexual secrets of 3.5 million subscribers of alternative dating site Adult FriendFinder.

But within months, a second data breached the details of 410 million users.

The company scrambled to calm down users who were worried that their listed sexual preferences would go public.

2020: Fears over Aussie beer shortage (2020)

There were fears that Queensland's iconic XXXX beer would be in short supply as its owner Lion Nathan grappled with a major cybersecurity breach.

It also sparked fears over the availability of Furphy and James Squire beers, along with Dairy Farmers milk and Farmers Union iced coffee and flavoured milks.

– Reported with CNN

Jessica Di Pasquale was pregnant with her second child when she had an epiphany – she needed to do something for her.

The Northern Territory woman applied for the Mongol Derby, known as the world's longest and toughest multi-horse race.

The experienced rider made the cut and was one of about 40 people accepted into the competition.

READ MORE: Thousands of refugees seeking permanent visas still living in uncertainty

After more than 18 months of training and an initial coronavirus delay, the mother-of-two set off for Mongolia.

For 10 days, Di Pasquale raced for 11 hours a day across the country's wilderness.

The rider followed a recreated version of the horse messenger system developed by Genghis Khan in 1224 for 1000km.

But she wasn't alone.

Di Pasquale partnered with fellow Northern Territory rider and childhood friend Natalie Bell for the bucket list adventure.

"We've already been friends for almost a lifetime," she said.

READ MORE: What happens next to dead Tasmanian pilot whales 'a true marvel of nature'

The two raised money for Sock it to Sarcoma in honour of their late friend Stevie Marcon, who died from a rare type of cancer in 2017.

Along the way, the riders kept Marcon in their thoughts.

"She was a really adventurous person," Di Pasquale said.

But while the pair planned their trip and trained together, the friends were separated early in the race.

Bell was hit with a time penalty, which resulted in Di Pasquale joining two riders from New Zealand for most of the competition.

"It was definitely the hardest thing was to leave Natalie," Di Pasquale said.

"It still brings tears to my eyes every time I think about it."

This wasn't the only challenge Di Pasquale encountered along the way.

The rider, who works as a farm and stud overseer at Charles Darwin University, knows horses well.

But the Mongolian horses used for the race "are notorious for being semi-wild".

READ MORE: Queensland man quits job to create successful Aussie-themed video game 'Dinkum'

"They basically said treat them like wolves," Di Pasquale said.

"You've just got to get on and ride. No fancy horsemanship."

One of her fellow riders saw this firsthand after he dropped his reign and it wrapped around the horse's legs.

The horse then threw the rider.

"I tried to follow it," Di Pasquale recalled.

"Sometimes it takes days to find them."

When it wasn't the horses keeping riders on their toes, it was the "unbelievable terrain" which "changed so often".

None of this defeated Di Pasquale, who crossed the finish line in August, a feat that was not a guarantee for every rider.

"There were many highs and lows," she said.

But regardless of the ups and downs, Di Pasquale said the experience overall was a "completely and utterly mind-blowing".

"I think for anyone who wants to do it, bite the bullet and do it," she said.

One person has died after a crash on SH3 in Turakina, southeast of Whanganui city.The crash involved a vehicle and a pedestrian and happened around 11pm on Saturday, police said.A police spokeswoman confirmed this morning the…

OPINION The Kantar Poll shows that Christopher Luxon could be the next Prime Minister. As a non-binary person, I do not exist under a National Government led by Luxon. Luxon told Sean Plunket last week that there are only “two biological…

Test your brains with the Herald’s morning quiz. Be sure to check back on nzherald.co.nz for the afternoon quiz. To challenge yourself with more quizzes, CLICK HERE.

The Apple Watch headline of 2022 is the new Ultra, not the Series 8. 

There are new colours, watch faces and bands, but the Series 8 really only brings two, exclusive new features to the table – temperature sensors that provide deeper insights into women's health and crash detection. 

Like the iPhone 14, a new accelerometer and gyroscope allows the new Apple Watch Series 8 to detect a car accident – with the help of the sound of screeching metal.  

READ MORE: Man quits job to create successful Aussie-themed video game

The numbers are mind boggling. The accelerometer can record up to 256G and takes 3,000 readings per second.

If you have both, a notification will pop up on your wrist (Apple assumes it's closer to you if a smash sends your phone flying) and if it doesn't get a response, it will automatically call emergency services and repeatedly play a recording of your location. 

It's a very cool feature that I (hopefully) won't be testing any time soon.

Apple has also upgraded and added a second temperature sensor to Watch Series 8.

One is placed just below the display, the other is closer to the wrist for more accurate body temperature readings. 

READ MORE: Optus criticised for not taking cyber security 'seriously enough'

Using these, Apple's health app is able to analyse changes in a woman's basal temperature and retrospectively estimate they are ovulating and an ideal time to fall pregnant.

The sensors will take readings every five seconds but you'll have to wear the watch for at least five days to establish your body's baseline temperature before any analysis. 

Critically, both of these new features are unaffected by Apple Watch's new low power mode. 

The toggle – which appears on all watches compatible with Watch OS9 – automatically switches off some features and limits others. 

For example, the always on display turns off, as will background heart rate and oxygen measurements which are needed to pick up irregular rhythms.

It will also slow down Siri, the refresh rates of apps running in the background, animations and scrolling aren't as smooth and complication updates are also affected.

With low power mode on, it's said you can squeeze up to 30 hours out of the Series 8. 

The new software also improves the options you have in the sleep, medication and workout apps. 

Apple has just added a new history option for those diagnosed with atrial fibrillation for users to track how factors like exercise, sleep and even your weight affects readings. 

My favourite update comes with Apple Fitness+. 

Apple recently removed the need to own an Apple Watch just to subscribe, and has now unlocked the ability for your workout metrics to be displayed on your TV using AirPlay.

This is a big win for anyone who doesn't want to drag their Apple TV around with them just to complete a workout. 

The only other change I noticed while using the Series 8 was to notifications. 

Notifications used to take up the entire screen – even when you were doing something on the watch itself.

Now, if you're using an updated Apple Watch, a notification will appear as a banner at the top of the screen.

It's designed to be less obstructive, but given the size of the screen, anything readable is going to take up a decent amount of real estate.

Like Series 7, the Series 8 comes in two sizes – 41mm and 45mm. 

I selected the 45mm aluminium case in the colour 'midnight' which felt nice and light on my wrist, and liked knowing it was made of 100 per cent recycled aluminium. 

That design starts at $679 but can cost up to $839 for the cellular option. 

Having previously worn a stainless steel Series 6 and a forest green Series 7, I'm definitely a bigger fan of the more understated black look.

It paired nicely on my wrist with the new metropolitan watch face (in a mean red tint) and a dark leather band.

It felt sophisticated enough to wear with a suit on camera and casual enough to dress down.

Like the iPhone 14, Apple Watch Series 8 is a story of refinement. 

Disappointingly, it features the same one (and a bit) day battery life as the Series 7. 

When the admittedly much bulkier (and far more expensive) $1,299 Watch Ultra is touting two and a bit days of activity and sleep tracking, I can't help but wish a similar upgrade was included in the Series 8. 

Battery life has always been underwhelming on Apple Watches when compared to designs from Withings and others that can last weeks.

After eight iterations, SE models and more, I really wish Apple was closer to offering a better battery balance – even if it does more in the background than the competition.

Additions like cycle tracking will be critical to many women's lives, but outside of the rare instance in which an Apple Watch is the only thing that will dial 000 during an emergency, the technological and design upgrades on Apple's Watch Series 8 are modest compared to previous years.

Our cartoonist Guy Body shares his view on current events.

A man was found with a chest wound after an alleged drive-by shooting on the Gold Coast early this morning.

Police said three men were walking along Ferny Avenue, Surfers Paradise, when a gun was fired at them from a passing car around 4.30am.

Superintendent Scott Knowles said a single gunshot was fired. It is believed a non-lethal bird shot round was used.

READ MORE: Putin illegally annexes Ukrainian regions

"It doesn't appear to have been a normal shotgun round," Knowles said.

"It certainly caused significant injuries but… it's not as critical as what it could have been."

A 20-year-old Brisbane man suffered a non-life-threatening chest wound and was taken to hospital.

No one else was injured.

Investigators are trying to determine if that victim was known to the shooter however Knowles said there is no clear motive yet.

"It doesn't appear that the victim or friends knew anyone that was causing problems," Knowles said.

"There doesn't appear to be any rhyme or reason why this incident occurred."

A crime scene was declared on Ferny Avenue.

After the shooting, Knowles said the suspected car "did a U-turn and fled up Ferny Avenue toward Southport, then drove out onto the M1 motorway and headed north".

Police found the car, believed to be linked to the alleged drive-by shooting, engulfed in flames a short time later.

Knowles said the car had been stolen from Murrumba Downs on September 29.

He appealed for anyone with dashcam footage of the car with the number plate 160EQ9 and "evolve" written on the side to come forward.

He added there may have been more than one person in the car.

"I would hazard a guess there was more than one whoever it is that discharged the firearm came out the passenger side," he said.

Investigations are continuing.