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| U.S. spy agency developing computer to crack privacy codes: report Thursday, Jan 02, 2014 06:24 PM PST  (Reuters) - The U.S. National Security Agency is trying to develop a computer that could ultimately break most encryption programs, whether they are used to protect other nations' spying programs or consumers' bank accounts, The Washington Post reported on Thursday. The report, which the newspaper said was based on documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, comes amid continuing controversy over the spy agency's program to collect the phone records Internet communications of private citizens. In its report on Thursday, The Washington Post said that the NSA is trying to develop a so-called "quantum computer" that could be used to break encryption codes used to cloak sensitive information. Other, non-governmental researchers are also trying to develop quantum computers, and it is not clear whether the NSA program lags the private efforts or is ahead of them. Full Story | Top |
| Snapchat says millions of user accounts compromised Thursday, Jan 02, 2014 05:17 PM PST By Gerry Shih SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Snapchat, the red-hot private messaging service, said on Thursday that it knew for months about a security loophole that allowed hackers this week to harvest millions of phone numbers and announced changes to its systems. An anonymous group called Snapchat DB posted the usernames and phone numbers of 4.6 million Snapchat users on New Year's Eve, days after the startup - headed by 23-year old founder Evan Spiegel - brushed off warnings that its app still contained security loopholes. The hacker group, which claimed to be based in the United States and Europe, made the entire database available for download but redacted the last two digits of every phone number. Full Story | Top |
| Ride service Uber, brash darling of Silicon Valley, stalks new markets Thursday, Jan 02, 2014 04:13 PM PST  By Sarah McBride SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Uber Chief Executive Travis Kalanick knows the value of a good controversy. "If you absolutely need a ride between 1 and 3 a.m., Uber will be very reliable," Kalanick said in a YouTube video. Like the message or not, plenty of people heard it - and fewer complaints emerged about Uber's New Year's Eve rates. Uber has entered more than 60 markets, ranging from its hometown of San Francisco to Berlin to Tokyo. Full Story | Top |
| Skype says user information safe in Syrian Electronic Army hack Thursday, Jan 02, 2014 02:51 PM PST  By Dan Whitcomb LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A day after the Syrian Electronic Army said it had hacked into Skype's social media accounts, the Internet calling service acknowledged on Thursday it had been hit with a "cyber attack" but said no user information was compromised. A Tweet posted on Skype's official Twitter feed on Wednesday read: "Don't use Microsoft emails (hotmail, outlook), They are monitoring your accounts and selling the data to the governments. #SEA" Similar messages were posted on Skype's official Facebook pages and on a blog on its website before being taken down later in the afternoon. Skype is owned by Microsoft Corp. The Syrian Electronic Army, an amorphous hacking collective that supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, later claimed the attack. Full Story | Top |
| FireEye buys cyber forensics firm Mandiant for about $1 billion Thursday, Jan 02, 2014 02:04 PM PST  By Jim Finkle BOSTON (Reuters) - Cybersecurity company FireEye Inc has acquired Mandiant Corp, the computer forensics specialist best known for unveiling a secretive Chinese military unit believed to be behind a series of hacking attacks on U.S. companies. FirEye shares jumped more than 20 percent after Thursday's announcement of the $1.05 billion cash-and-stock deal, which FireEye said closed on Monday. It unites two companies with relatively new technologies for thwarting cyber attacks, and brings together two of the most-respected executives in the security industry: FireEye CEO Dave DeWalt and Mandiant founder Kevin Mandia. While sales of older anti-virus products have been on the decline, security experts expect strong growth in both FireEye's cloud-based systems for detecting malicious software and Mandiant's software that analyzes cyber attacks. Full Story | Top |
| BlackBerry and singer Alicia Keys to part ways Thursday, Jan 02, 2014 01:24 PM PST  Alicia Keys and BlackBerry Ltd will cut ties at the end of January, just one year after the Grammy-winning singer-songwriter was hired as a "global creative director" for the struggling smartphone maker. The move comes as BlackBerry retreats from the consumer market to focus on businesses, governments and other large organizations. "BlackBerry and Alicia Keys have completed our year-long collaboration," the company said in an emailed statement. "We have enjoyed the opportunity to work with such an incredibly talented and passionate individual." Keys was hired when the company launched its long-delayed BlackBerry 10 devices in January of last year. Full Story | Top |
| Perion eyes $1 billion in revenue, more acquisitions in next five years Thursday, Jan 02, 2014 09:26 AM PST By Steven Scheer JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Perion Network Ltd said it was targeting annual revenue of $1 billion in the next five years following the acquisition of Conduit Ltd's ClientConnect business. Israel-based Perion on Thursday completed the purchase in an all-stock deal worth $660 million, giving the company a platform designed to give mobile application (app) publishers and developers a way of improving their distribution and money-making capabilities. Josef Mandelbaum, Perion's chief executive, said about a quarter of mobile apps never get downloaded - except perhaps by the developer's friends and family - while 98 percent of apps earn less than $5,000 a year. Citing studies, Perion also said 76 percent of consumers find free versions of apps sufficient. Full Story | Top |
| China's Xiaomi says to more than double smartphone sales in 2014 Thursday, Jan 02, 2014 02:23 AM PST  Chinese budget smartphone maker Xiaomi plans to sell 40 million handsets in 2014, more than double the number it sold in 2013, its chairman said on Thursday, reinforcing the company's ambitions to outsell more expensive offerings from Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. Lei Jun, who is also co-founder of the tech firm, made the projection on Sina Weibo, China's most widely used microblogging site, and it was reposted on Xiaomi's website. China is the world's biggest market for smartphones. Lei said privately held Xiaomi had sold 18.7 million smartphones in 2013, a 160 percent increase from 2012, and that sales revenues, including taxes, rose 150 percent to 31.6 billion yuan ($5.22 billion). Xiaomi's sales growth far exceeds projections for the global smartphone market, which is seen expanding at an annual rate of 18 percent a year until 2016, according to research firm Canalys. Full Story | Top |
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