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| Japan authorities looking into closure of Mt. Gox bitcoin exchange Tuesday, Feb 25, 2014 07:07 PM PST Japanese authorities are looking into the abrupt closure of Mt. Gox, the top government spokesman said on Wednesday in Tokyo's first official reaction to the turmoil at what was the world's biggest exchange for bitcoin virtual currency. "At this stage the relevant financial authorities, the police, the Finance Ministry and others are gathering information on the case," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a regular news conference when asked about Tuesday's shutdown of the Tokyo-based exchange. Speaking shortly after The Wall Street Journal reported that Mt. Gox had received a subpoena from federal prosecutors in New York, Suga declined further comment. Japan's Financial Services Agency and Finance Ministry told Reuters on Tuesday that they do not have jurisdiction over Mt. Gox after the exchange's website went down and efforts to reach company officials failed. Full Story | Top |
| Panasonic jumps more than 6 percent on report of Tesla battery plan Tuesday, Feb 25, 2014 04:27 PM PST  Shares in Panasonic Corp jumped more than 6 percent to a three-week high of 1,271 yen on Wednesday after the Nikkei newspaper said the firm is inviting a number of Japanese suppliers to join it in investing in a U.S. car battery plant it plans to build with Tesla Motor Inc. The newspaper said the investment for the new plant was expected to reach more than 100 billion yen ($979 million). Panasonic was the second-most traded stock on the main board. Full Story | Top |
| Zynga wins dismissal of fraud lawsuit linked to IPO Tuesday, Feb 25, 2014 04:08 PM PST  Zynga Inc has won the dismissal of a lawsuit in which shareholders accused the online gaming company of fraudulently misleading them about its financial and business prospects before and after its December 2011 initial public offering. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White in San Francisco said that despite their "excessively long and prolix" 110-page complaint, the shareholders failed to include "relevant, basic factual details" to support their claims against Zynga, company officials including founder Mark Pincus, and underwriters led by Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs & Co. White also dismissed claims linked to an April 2012 secondary stock offering, saying the named plaintiffs lacked standing because they did not buy shares in that offering. Full Story | Top |
| Factbox: What is bitcoin and how does it work? Tuesday, Feb 25, 2014 03:47 PM PST Mt. Gox, once the world's biggest bitcoin exchange, abruptly stopped trading on Tuesday, shaking investor confidence in the digital currency that is struggling for legitimacy. The virtual currency relies on a network of computers that solve complex mathematical problems as part of a process that verifies and permanently records the details of every bitcoin transaction that is made. Full Story | Top |
| 360 million newly stolen credentials on black market: cybersecurity firm Tuesday, Feb 25, 2014 03:36 PM PST  By Jim Finkle BOSTON (Reuters) - A cybersecurity firm said on Tuesday that it uncovered stolen credentials from some 360 million accounts that are available for sale on cyber black markets, though it is unsure where they came from or what they can be used to access. The discovery could represent more of a risk to consumers and companies than stolen credit card data because of the chance the sets of user names and passwords could open the door to online bank accounts, corporate networks, health records and virtually any other type of computer system. Alex Holden, chief information security officer of Hold Security LLC, said in an interview that his firm obtained the data over the past three weeks, meaning an unprecedented amount of stolen credentials is available for sale underground. "The sheer volume is overwhelming," said Holden, whose firm last year helped uncover a major data breach at Adobe Systems Inc in which tens of millions of records were stolen. Full Story | Top |
| Endurance revenue jumps on subscriber additions; shares rise Tuesday, Feb 25, 2014 03:26 PM PST (Reuters) - Endurance International Group Holdings Inc, a provider of internet domain names, reported a 17 percent rise in quarterly revenue as the company added more subscribers, sending its shares up 16 percent after the bell. Endurance owns several brands that offer services including website design and hosting, domain name registry and e-commerce tools to small businesses. Endurance also forecast adjusted revenue of $145-147 million for the first quarter. Endurance's net loss in the fourth quarter narrowed to $67.5 million, or 57 cents per share, from $72.6 million, or 75 cents per share, a year earlier. Full Story | Top |
| Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox goes dark in blow to virtual currency Tuesday, Feb 25, 2014 01:55 PM PST Mt. Gox, once the world's biggest bitcoin exchange, went dark on Tuesday, with its website down, its Tokyo office empty, and a cryptic comment from its chief executive that the business was at "a turning point." Full Story | Top |
| House oversight panel seeks documents on Target breach Tuesday, Feb 25, 2014 01:30 PM PST  By Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A House of Representatives committee with broad investigative jurisdiction has turned up the heat on Target Corp, demanding that the No. 3 U.S. retailer turn over internal documents and messages describing how and when it learned of a recent massive consumer data breach. In a letter made available on Tuesday to Reuters, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform requested that Target turn over all documents or communications generated between November 1 and December 13, in which Target employees or "agents" discuss "any suspicion" that a data breach had occurred. The committee set a deadline of March 10 for Target to turn over the materials. Several analysts expect Target to slash its share buybacks as it copes with costs tied to the breach, which some estimate will cost the company $500 million to $1.1 billion. Full Story | Top |
| Cloud storage firm Box taps ex-Symantec CEO for mobile security Tuesday, Feb 25, 2014 01:28 PM PST Fast-growing cloud storage firm Box, which could go public as soon as 2014, has asked former Symantec CEO Enrique Salem to help it adapt its security infrastructure to a sharp rise in smartphone and tablet use in the workplace. Box Chief Executive Officer Aaron Levie said in a Tuesday blogpost that Salem, who left the security software giant in 2012, will come onboard as a special advisor, working with security firms and partners to better protect its corporate clients in the mobile era. "Enterprises are facing a tremendous shift in information security today," Levie said. The eight-year-old company focuses on selling online storage to enterprise clients, and charges them a fee for additional space and services. Full Story | Top |
| SecondMarket plans regulated bitcoin exchange Tuesday, Feb 25, 2014 12:52 PM PST SecondMarket Holdings, a New York firm that facilitates investments in privately held companies, is planning a U.S.-based regulated exchange for bitcoin investors, the company's founder and chief executive, Barry Silbert, said on Tuesday. Silbert said the new exchange will be modeled after the New York Stock Exchange, and would be launched possibly in the summer of 2014. Involving the big banks is crucial in advancing the bitcoin market, Silbert said, which he said would, "probably provide the level of comfort that institutional investors are looking for." The exchange will be part of a new company that SecondMarket will spin off to oversee all the firm's bitcoin activities. A subsidiary of SecondMarket sponsors the Bitcoin Investment Trust, which has net assets of $47 million and a trading desk. Full Story | Top |
| Apple issues fix for glaring security flaw on Mac computers Tuesday, Feb 25, 2014 12:28 PM PST  Apple Inc has issued fixes for a security flaw in its Macintosh computers that allows hackers to intercept data such as email, patching a major and embarrassing glitch that came to light several days ago. The security update for users of Apple's OS X computer operating software follows a fix issued for iPhones last week, meaning all Apple device users now have access to the patch. The flaw allowed attackers with access to a mobile user's network, such as a shared unsecured wireless service offered by a cafe, to see or alter exchanges between the user and protected sites such as Google Inc's Gmail or Facebook. On Tuesday, Apple said in a statement that the Mac security update also improved features such as its FaceTime videoconferencing service and email. Full Story | Top |
| Mt. Gox website says all transactions closed "for the time being" Tuesday, Feb 25, 2014 12:22 PM PST (Reuters) - Prominent bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox posted an update on its website on Tuesday, saying a "decision was taken to close all transactions for the time being," citing "recent news reports and the potential repercussions on MtGox's operations." The website went dark on Tuesday and its chief executive told Reuters that the business was "at a turning point." Mt. Gox halted withdrawals earlier this month after detecting what it called "unusual activity. "We will be closely monitoring the situation and will react accordingly," the website said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Slim closes in on pact to secure Telekom Austria Tuesday, Feb 25, 2014 12:03 PM PST  By Angelika Gruber and Georgina Prodhan VIENNA (Reuters) - Carlos Slim's America Movil and the Austrian government are moving towards a deal to pool their stakes in Telekom Austria, which would lead to a takeover offer and mark a further step in the Mexican tycoon's expansion in Europe. Austria's economy minister said on Tuesday talks about creating a shareholder pact, which both parties said had been informal so far, could wrap up within weeks. American Movil, which faces increased regulation and competition in Latin America and is looking to expand into a recovering European economy, said on Monday it could move to formal talks with Austria. An alliance would hold 55 percent of Telekom Austria - 28 percent from state holding company OIAG and 27 percent from America Movil - obliging it to make a takeover offer under Austrian law. Full Story | Top |
| BlackBerry goes back to basics in quest to recover customers Tuesday, Feb 25, 2014 11:48 AM PST  By Paul Sandle and Euan Rocha BARCELONA/TORONTO (Reuters) - BlackBerry Ltd unveiled a new, cheaper touchscreen smartphone and a "classic" model with a keyboard on Tuesday, as it tries to stem losses and win back once-devoted security-conscious business and government users. The news, coupled with more details about the company's strategy in its services business, helped send shares in BlackBerry surging more than 9 percent. The lower-end Z3 smartphone, priced at under $200, is being built under a partnership deal with FIH Mobile, the Hong Kong-listed unit of Taiwanese electronics company Foxconn Technology Co Ltd. Code named Jakarta, the device will go on sale in April in Indonesia, where BlackBerry's BBM messaging service is proving very popular, said John Chen, who took over as the group's chief executive late last year. "We have a plan to go global with an LTE (high speed 4G) version of it sometime in the future." BlackBerry, once a must-have device for every business executive and government official because of its pioneering secure email service, has hemorrhaged market share to Apple Inc's iPhone and rival devices running on Google Inc's Android software. Full Story | Top |
| Recent hacks spur new company cyber spending: survey Tuesday, Feb 25, 2014 09:34 AM PST  By Peter Apps LONDON (Reuters) - Almost 60 percent of top firms in the United States, Canada, Britain and Australia have boosted their spending on cyber defenses following the theft of data of millions of customers from U.S. retailer Target and other big companies, a report said on Tuesday. A survey by BAE Systems Applied Intelligence of senior IT officials in companies ranging from banks to mining, technology and law showed U.S. firms already spending 15 percent of their entire IT budgets on improving security. In the United States, 60 percent of those surveyed said their cyber security budget would increase as a direct result of recent high-profile attacks. "It will be those organizations that truly integrate security intelligence into their operations that will reap the benefits and deliver business growth." Formerly known as Detica, BAE Systems Applied Intelligence is the cyber arm of the British defense company. Full Story | Top |
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