Technologies

AT&T’s New Lock Option Thwarts Thieves Who Try to Access Your Account

Add another level of security to make sure someone pretending to be you doesn’t get into your account.

AT&T is rolling out a new feature in its MyAT&T app intended to prevent nefarious individuals from accessing customers’ online accounts. Wireless Account Lock, which has been rolling out in waves but will reach wide availability on Tuesday, disables some key actions that are frequently used to circumvent a legitimate owner’s access to their account.

This type of access is different from large data breaches, such as the two incidents that AT&T has recently agreed to settle for $177 million. Wireless Account Lock adds a security step to keep someone from getting access to your account and doing things such as shutting you out or ordering hardware — on your dime — that is then shipped elsewhere.

A new Business Account Lock feature is also now active for corporate customers. AT&T prepaid customers can also engage an account lock with similar blocking features.

Crucially, only the primary account holder and any person on the account that they designate as a secondary account holder can control the Wireless Account Lock. That blocks others on the account from making important changes.

The Wireless Account Lock feature is accessible only through the MyAT&T app. On postpaid accounts, it works on any active AT&T device associated with the account. If that phone is lost, the primary or secondary holder can log in to the app using another device registered to the account. If one is not available, you’ll need to contact AT&T and go through a more rigorous authentication process.

What gets locked down by Wireless Account Lock

The lock feature is designed to protect against someone impersonating you to gain account access. When it’s enabled, the following features require the approval of the account holder(s) to be implemented:

• Changes to billing info, authorized users and phone numbers

• Transferring wireless numbers to other accounts

• Buying or upgrading a device on the account

• Swapping the SIM card or eSIM to another device

• Adding a new line

For the Business Account Lock, account administrators can control which lines are locked and can choose which lock features are implemented.

How to enable Wireless Account Lock

When signed into the MyAT&T app, do the following:

Tap the Services button (the icon with a grid of squares).
Tap Mobile security.
Scroll to the bottom of the screen and tap Wireless Account Lock, then tap Continue to get past the explanation of what the feature does.
Tap the checkbox after you’ve reviewed the terms and conditions, and then drag the Swipe to Lock slider.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Tuesday, April 7

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for April 7.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? Read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Informative commercial, for short
Answer: PSA

4A clue: Something you trace to draw a Thanksgiving turkey
Answer: HAND

5A clue: ___ Johnson, former Prime Minister of the U.K.
Answer: BORIS

6A clue: Opposite of include
Answer: OMIT

7A clue: Crosses (out)
Answer: XES

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: City with the Notre-Dame Cathedral
Answer: PARIS

2D clue: Bad mood
Answer: SNIT

3D clue: About eight minutes of the average half-hour sitcom
Answer: ADS

4D clue: Remote worker’s office, perhaps
Answer: HOME

5D clue: Word that can follow each group of circled letters (and hints at its shape)
Answer: BOX

Technologies

NASA’s Artemis II Breaks Record With Trip Around The Moon

Technologies

In Honor of the Artemis II Mission, Explore the Moon in Fortnite Now

You might not be able to see the moon the way the Artemis II team is, but there’s an educational Fortnite simulation that will get you onto the celestial body’s surface.

You may not be able to explore the vast majesty of space in the same way that the four-person crew of the Artemis II is, but you can still get an up-close-and-personal view of the moon… in Fortnite, at least.

While you may not be able to slingshot around Earth’s own lunar body, space enthusiasts can see a little bit of what the Artemis II crew is seeing by spending time on the Lunar Horizons Fortnite map right now. The map is a creative collaboration between Fortnite’s creator, Epic Games, and the European Space Agency. Lunar Horizons was released in 2024 after extensive testing and play from ESA trainee astronauts.

If you’re looking to learn more about our own orbiting body, the Lunar Horizons map is an educational simulation of the surface of the moon’s South Pole.

It blends game mechanics with learning, as players get to build up their own sterile lunar habitat bases, interact with ESA astronauts and roll around with robotic rovers as they discover informative plaques that contain information about the moon and international space agencies. There are still dangers to navigate, too — a solar storm may strike when you least expect it.

If you’re interested in exploring the moon, we’ve got all the information you need to join in on the Fortnite fun below. And if you’re looking for a more serious livestream during this momentous human achievement, tune into NASA’s feed here.

How to join the Moon Fortnite island while you follow the Artemis II mission

The Lunar Horizons Fortnite map is a great educational simulation that shares details about ESA’s work and catalogs information about humanity’s lunar research.

These three simple steps will get you up and running (or more accurately, taking slow leaps and bounds) on the surface of the Lunar Horizons Fortnite map:

Download Fortnite

If you haven’t played Fortnite before, but you want to check out this limited-time event, you’ll have to download the game. If you’re on PC, you can download Fortnite for free from the Epic Games Store. Console players can navigate the PlayStation Store, Microsoft Store or Nintendo eShop in order to download Fortnite on their devices.

Navigate the in-game menus until you reach the Search button

Once you’re in the game, scroll down past the different official Fortnite game modes and the Discover tab until you find the Search button.

Input the Lunar Horizons island code

In the search bar, you can input a map’s name or its distinct search code in order to find it in the map directory. You can search for the Lunar Horizons map or input the code 3207-0960-6428 to explore this map in time.

Correction, 3:35 p.m. PT: This story initially was in error about the features available in the Lunar Horizons map. There is no Artemis II-specific mission in Fortnite. Rather, the Lunar Horizons map is an educational simulation of part of the moon’s surface.