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Data breach at Hong Kong toy maker VTech highlights broader problems
HONG KONG (Reuters) - The theft of toy maker VTech Holdings Ltd's database highlights a growing problem with basic cyber security measures at small, non-financial companies that handle electronic customer data, industry watchers said on Monday.
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NSA to shut down bulk phone surveillance program by Sunday
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.
S. National Security Agency will end its daily vacuuming of millions of Americans' phone records by Sunday and replace the practice with more tightly targeted surveillance methods, the Obama administration said on Friday.
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Wal-Mart pulls Cyber Monday forward to Sunday, record industry sales expected
n">Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT. N) has decided that Cyber Monday, the biggest online shopping day of the year, should not start on a Monday anymore.
The world's largest retailer by revenue will, for the first time this year, launch all its Cyber Monday deals on the Sunday after Thanksgiving rather than the early hours of Monday morning as in previous years.
Cyber Monday's origins trace back more than a decade when people started using the high-speed Internet access at their workplaces to purchase things they saw but did not buy during trips to the shopping mall over the weekend after U. S. Thanksgiving, which falls on the fourth Thursday in November.
Now, with Internet access readily available, the logic of limiting the event to a weekday no longer holds, said Fernando Madeira, chief executive of Walmart.com.
"The customers have changed but Cyber Monday hasn’t changed with them," Madeira told Reuters. "Now everyone has Internet."
Wal-Mart had a handful of 'teaser' deals on Sunday last year but this is the first time it will offer all of its Cyber Monday promotions the day before. It will launch 2,000 online-only specials at 8 p.m. Eastern U. S. time on Sunday, Nov. 29 (0100 GMT on Monday, Nov. 30), up from 500 such deals last year.
The move shows how retailers are looking to stretch what were once single-day shopping events in a bid to capture demand. A number of retailers are promoting deals for 'Black Friday' - the day after Thanksgiving and traditionally one of the busiest shopping days - weeks in advance.
The early Cyber Monday start also comes as retailers wage a bruising battle for online demand with Amazon.com Inc (AMZN. O), which is several times larger than Wal-Mart in e-commerce sales and is growing at a faster rate.
Industry-wide Cyber Monday sales in the U. S. will likely reach $3 billion for the first time in 2015, up 12 percent from last year, according to projections by Adobe. While Cyber Monday is expected to remain the biggest single day in terms of online revenue, Black Friday is expected to close the gap, with sales expected to rise 15 percent to $2.7 billion, Adobe said.
(Reporting by Nathan Layne; Editing by Bill Rigby)
.Exclusive: Dell eyes $10 billion asset sales ahead of EMC merger - sources
NEW YORK Dell Inc is preparing to sell around $10 billion in non-core assets, including software and services, to reduce the heavy debt load it will be taking on to buy EMC Corp (EMC. N), according to people familiar with the matter.
Dell, which will assume $49.5 billion of debt once the merger with EMC is completed, has communicated the plan to credit rating agencies in recent days, the people said on Monday.
Assets Dell could sell include Quest Software, which helps with information technology (IT) management; SonicWall, an e-mail encryption and data security provider; back-up solutions unit AppAssure; as well as IT services provider Perot Systems, the people said.
The divestitures will not include Dell's hardware assets such as servers, which are crucial in its quest to dominate the large enterprise market through its merger with EMC, as well as compete more effectively with the likes of Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO. O) and International Business Machines Corp (IBM. N), the people added.
The sources asked not to be identified because the deliberations are confidential. A Dell spokesman declined to comment.
Dell agreed last month to buy data storage company EMC for $67 billion, in a move that would transform the No. 3 computer maker into a leader in storing corporate data and shift its business away from the stagnant consumer personal computer market.
The transaction is expected to close between May and October 2016. Dell has stated that the combined company will focus on reducing its debt during the first 18 to 24 months after the merger to achieve an investment-grade credit rating.
Dell and its shareholders, including founder Michael Dell and private equity firm Silver Lake Partners LP, are contributing $4.25 billion in equity to the deal.
Dell has agreed to pay $24.05 cash per share for EMC, and will also give EMC shareholders a special stock that tracks the share price of VMWare Inc (VMW. N), the maker of cloud-based virtualization software majority-owned by EMC.
VMWare shares have lagged since the deal was announced, weighing on the overall value of the deal.
When Dell's acquisition of EMC was announced on Oct. 12, the deal valued the latter at $33.15 per share. EMC ended Monday at $26.35 on the New York Stock Exchange, reflecting investor concern that the merger may not be completed under the tracking stock structure.
(Reporting by Liana B. Baker and Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Editing by Richard Chang)
.Google aims to begin drone package deliveries in 2017
WASHINGTON Internet giant Alphabet Inc (GOOGL. O), the new holding company for Google, expects to begin delivering packages to consumers via drones sometime in 2017, the executive in charge of its drone effort said on Monday.
David Vos, the leader for Alphabet's Project Wing, said his company is in talks with the Federal Aviation Administration and other stakeholders about setting up an air traffic control system for drones that would use cellular and Internet technology to coordinate unmanned aerial vehicle flights at altitudes under 500 feet (152 meters).
"Our goal is to have commercial business up and running in 2017," he told an audience at an air traffic control convention near Washington.
Alphabet and Amazon.com Inc (AMZN. O) are among a growing number of companies that intend to make package delivery by drone a reality. But drone deliveries are not expected to take flight until after the FAA publishes final rules for commercial drone operations, which are expected early next year.
Two years after initial research began, Project Wing was announced in August 2014 with a YouTube video showing a field test of its most viable prototype in Australia.
The prototype flown in Australia, 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) wide and 0.8 meters (2.6 feet) tall, shares the same four-propeller quad copter design as popular consumer drones, but the company said consumers can expect to see new vehicle types and shapes as the project unfolds.
Inside the United States, Project Wing has conducted testing with NASA.
Vos, who is co-chair of an FAA task force charged with coming up with a drone registry, said a system for identifying drone operators and keeping UAV away from other aircraft could be set up within 12 months.
"We're pretty much on a campaign here, working with the FAA, working with the small UAV community and the aviation community at large, to move things along," he said.
Vos said a drone registry, which the Obama administration hopes to set in place by Dec. 20, would be a first step toward a system that could use wireless telecommunications and Internet technology including cellphone applications to identify drones and keep UAV clear of other aircraft and controlled airspace.
He said Google would like to see low altitude "Class G" airspace carved out for drones, saying it would keep UAV away from most manned aircraft aside from low-flying helicopters, while enabling drones to fly over highly populated areas.
(Reporting by David Morgan and Deborah M. Todd; Editing by Alan Crosby, Stephen R. Trousdale and Ken Wills)
.Over 40 percent of China's online sales counterfeit, shoddy: Xinhua
SHANGHAI More than 40 percent of goods sold online in China last year were either counterfeits or of bad quality, the official Xinhua news agency said, illustrating the extent of a problem that has bogged down the fast-growing online sector.
According to the report, which was delivered to China's top lawmakers on Monday, just under 59 percent of items sold online last year were "genuine or of good quality", Xinhua said.
China has been trying to shake off a notoriety for pirated and counterfeit goods, long a major headache for global brands targeting the Chinese market from iPhone maker Apple Inc (AAPL. O) to luxury retailer LVMH (LVMH. PA).
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (BABA. N) has been lobbying to stay off a U. S. blacklist for fakes after coming under renewed pressure this year over suspected counterfeits sold on its shopping platforms.
The report called for "accelerated legislation in e-commerce, improved supervision and clarification of consumers' rights and sellers' responsibilities". It added these were needed due to the rapid emergence of online sales, which grew 40 percent last year to 2.8 trillion yuan ($441.84 billion).
China wants to boost protection for consumers online, where there is still a lot of uncertainty about how consumers can claim compensation or hold online vendors to account. The report added customer complaints about online orders hit 77,800 last year, a steep jump of 356.6 percent against 2013.
($1 = 6.3371 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Adam Jourdan; Editing by Michael Perry)
.Amazon to open its first-ever physical book store in Seattle
n">Amazon.com Inc is set to open its first physical book store in Seattle on Tuesday, the company said.
The brick-and-mortar store, Amazon Books, is a physical extension of Amazon.com with books being selected based on customer ratings and pre-orders on Amazon.com. (amzn.to/1NnaJP1)
Popularity on Goodreads and curators' assessments are also considered for short listing the books. The in-store and online prices of the books would be same, Amazon said on Monday.
The store will also have an option to test drive Amazon's devices such as Kindle, Echo, Fire TV and Fire Tablet.
Amazon Books, which is located in Seattle's University Village, will be open every day except Thanksgiving and Christmas Day, the company said.
(Reporting by Rishika Sadam in Bengaluru; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)
.Cuba signs deal with Sprint, says it is open for more business
HAVANA Cuba signed a roaming agreement with U. S. telecom Sprint Corp during its first annual trade fair since rapprochement with the United States and told 600 companies from 70 countries at that it was eager for more business.
The Havana International Fair (FIHAV) promotes Cuba's changing business climate and seeks badly needed foreign investment. Last year's event championed a new tax-cutting foreign investment law, while this year's boasted of improved ties with the United States.
In a historic breakthrough on Dec. 17, the former Cold War foes vowed to normalize relations, although the U. S. trade embargo on Cuba remains in place.
Cuba's critics denounce the fair as hype, noting that all business deals must go through the communist government or one of its tightly controlled state companies.
Cuba acknowledged the central role of the state but also plugged its growing private sector, mostly farm cooperatives and small businesses so far.
"We are continuing to create the conditions for separating state and business functions and to improve the role that should be played by socialist state enterprises., guaranteeing more flexible functioning," Foreign Trade Minister Rodrigo Malmierca told the opening ceremony.
Sprint, one of about 30 U. S. companies attending, has taken advantage of the limited commercial opening afforded by U. S. President Barack Obama, who has chipped away at the embargo and created a telecommunications exemption.
Among the companies hopeful of doing business here some day was PepsiCo, which had a stand in one of the exhibition halls.
Sprint signed an interconnection agreement with Cuba's state telecoms monopoly Etecsa on Sept. 25 and added the roaming agreement on Monday. Sprint competitor Verizon has been offering voice and data roaming in Cuba since September through a third party.
"We signed this agreement in record time," Sprint Chief Executive Marcelo Claure told reporters, saying he was "blown away" with how fast the Cuban government negotiated the deal.
"They were a pleasure to work with. Like with anybody else, there were tense moments. We would like to pay a lower rate. But it's a start," Claure said.
American companies will lag behind those from Cuba's strategic partners Venezuela, China and Russia. Spain also has enjoyed a long business relationship with Cuba and has the largest presence at the fair with 150 companies.
"We're not afraid of competition," said Jose Manuel Soria, Spain's minister of industry, energy, and tourism. "We think that the more countries that come, the better."
(Reporting by Daniel Trotta and Jaime Hamre; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
.HP Inc shares soar, HPE's volatile in first day of trade since split
n">Shares of HP Inc (HPQ. N), which houses the legacy printer and PC business, soared as much as 14.4 percent on Monday, while those of Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co (HPE. N), considered the faster-growing of the two, fell as much as 5.8 percent.
The shares of the two companies, carved out of Hewlett-Packard Co, were trading for the first time since the formal split on Sunday.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise's (HPE) shares rose as much as 3 percent in early trade, before reversing course twice in volatile trading. HPE, with Meg Whitman at the helm, holds the tech pioneer's corporate hardware and services division.
"I think people see more opportunity for upside in HP Inc earnings and more aggressive return of cash to shareholders," Cross Research analyst Shannon Cross told Reuters.
HP Inc will benefit from an expected improvement in the PC market in 2016 and cost-cutting in the printer business, while HPE remained a "show me" story, she said.
"I think the enterprise business is not getting quite the uplift because it was already trading . at a higher multiple."
HPE shares had been trading on a when-issued for the past two weeks.
HPE had a market capitalization of roughly $27 billion, while HP Inc, led by Dion Weisler, was valued at about $22 billion after the split.
Hewlett-Packard Co was founded 76 years ago in a Palo Alto garage by Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard and went on to become one the most storied companies in technology.
However, the company struggled in recent years as it failed to keep up with newer technologies and trends, such as the shift by consumers to smartphones and tablets and by businesses to the Internet to store and manage large amounts of data.
Whitman, who announced the split in October 2014, has been driving a multi-year restructuring involving cost cuts and more focus on higher-margin sales, along with a string of acquisitions.
The company had said in September it would cut about 33,300 jobs over three years – 30,000 at HPE and 3,300 at HP Inc – on top of about 55,000 layoffs previously announced under Whitman.
HP Inc shares closed up about 13 percent at $13.83 on the New York Stock Exchange, while HPE shares closed down 1.6 percent at $14.49.
(Reporting by Abhirup Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Anil D'Silva)
.Activision Blizzard to buy 'Candy Crush' maker King for $5.9 billion
n">Video game maker Activision Blizzard Inc (ATVI. O) said it will buy "Candy Crush Saga" creator King Digital Entertainment (KING. N) for $5.9 billion to strengthen its games portfolio.
Activision, which owns popular game franchises such as "World of Warcraft," "Call of Duty" and "Diablo," will pay $18 in cash per King share, a premium of 16 percent to King's closing price on Monday.
The addition of King's highly-complementary business will position it as a global leader in interactive entertainment across mobile, console and PC platforms, Activision said.
"With a combined global network of more than half a billion monthly active users, our potential to reach audiences around the world on the device of their choosing enables us to deliver great games to even bigger audiences than ever before," said Activision Blizzard Chief Executive Bobby Kotick.
Video game publishers are shifting to the lucrative digital business from physical sales of games as consumers shift from consoles to playing on smartphones and tablets.
King, which makes games for social media platforms and mobile devices, will continue to be led as an independent operating unit by Chief Executive Riccardo Zacconi, Chief Creative Officer Sebastian Knutsson, and Chief Operating Officer Stephane Kurgan, the companies said in a statement late on Monday.
King, which went public last March, has been struggling to boost bookings, an indicator of future revenue, as new game launches are planned only toward the second half of the year.
(Reporting by Supriya Kurane in Bengaluru; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)
.Woman drops sex assault case against U.S. venture capitalist
SAN FRANCISCO A woman who accused prominent U. S. venture capitalist Joseph Lonsdale of sexual assault in a civil lawsuit has dropped all of her legal claims against him, according to a court filing on Monday.
Lonsdale, who had denied plaintiff Elise Clougherty's allegations, also dropped counterclaims against her, including defamation, and each side will bear their own costs and expenses connected to the lawsuit, according to a joint filing.
Clougherty, who started dating Lonsdale in 2012 while she was a Stanford University student and he was her mentor, accused him of sexual assault and related charges in a lawsuit filed in January. The case shocked Silicon Valley, in part because of its lurid details.
In a countersuit filed in February, Lonsdale denied the charges, accusing Clougherty of defamation and emotional distress as part of a "vicious and vengeful campaign" that sought to destroy his reputation.
As a result of Clougherty's allegations, Lonsdale, a 2003 graduate from Stanford, was banned from the university's campus.
On Monday, a university spokeswoman said a university investigator had considered "new evidence that came to light during litigation" and determined that Lonsdale did not violate Stanford's sex discrimination policies.
"Accordingly, there is no basis to support a ban from the Stanford campus," the spokeswoman said in a statement.
No further terms were disclosed in the filing on Monday in U. S. District Court in San Francisco.
Lonsdale did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment. Jennifer Lin Liu, a lawyer for Clougherty, declined to comment.
Lonsdale worked as an intern at PayPal (PYPL. O) in 2002, where he met entrepreneur Peter Thiel and other influential members of the so-called "PayPal mafia." He co-founded secretive technology firm Palantir Technologies, a private company with a valuation of about $9 billion, and is a founding partner of venture-capital firm Formation 8.
Clougherty now works as a data scientist in the Washington, D. C., area, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Sexual harassment has been under the spotlight in recent months in Silicon valley, in large part because of a high-profile discrimination lawsuit brought by a former partner at venture firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.
The former partner, Ellen Pao, lost her case earlier this year, but sparked a broad and ongoing discussion about gender issues in technology.
(Reporting by Dan Levine and Sarah McBride; Editing by Andrew Hay and Cynthia Osterman)
.Secretive cyber warfare firm NSO Group explores sale: sources
n">NSO Group Ltd, a company that helps governments spy on mobile phones and is so secretive that it regularly changes its name, is exploring a sale that could value it at close to $1 billion, including debt, according to people familiar with the matter.
The move comes as governments around the world, including the United States and China, increase spending on cyber security and warfare, boosting the valuation of technology companies that are active in the sector.
NSO's owner, private equity firm Francisco Partners Management LLC, has held talks with investment banks in recent days to appoint a financial advisor that will run a sale process for the company, the people said this week.
NSO has annual earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of around $75 million, the people added.
The sources asked not to be identified because the deliberations are confidential. NSO did not respond to a request for comment, while Francisco Partners declined to comment.
Founded in Israel five years ago by entrepreneurs Omri Lavie and Shalev Hulio, NSO makes software that secretly targets a user's mobile phone and gathers information, including text messages, photos and internet browning data.
Francisco Partners acquired a majority stake in NSO in a $120 million deal last year. The company has since changed its name several times, most recently calling itself "Q."
Worldwide spending on information security technology is expected to grow from about $77 billion this year to $108 billion in 2019, thanks to demand from banks, retailers, government agencies and hospitals, according to research firm Gartner.
(Reporting by Mike Stone and Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Editing by David Gregorio)
.Google aims to begin drone package deliveries in 2017
WASHINGTON Internet giant Alphabet Inc (GOOGL. O), the new holding company for Google, expects to begin delivering packages to consumers via drones sometime in 2017, the executive in charge of its drone effort said on Monday.
David Vos, the leader for Alphabet's Project Wing, said his company is in talks with the Federal Aviation Administration and other stakeholders about setting up an air traffic control system for drones that would use cellular and Internet technology to coordinate unmanned aerial vehicle flights at altitudes under 500 feet (152 meters).
"Our goal is to have commercial business up and running in 2017," he told an audience at an air traffic control convention near Washington.
Alphabet and Amazon.com Inc (AMZN. O) are among a growing number of companies that intend to make package delivery by drone a reality. But drone deliveries are not expected to take flight until after the FAA publishes final rules for commercial drone operations, which are expected early next year.
Two years after initial research began, Project Wing was announced in August 2014 with a YouTube video showing a field test of its most viable prototype in Australia.
The prototype flown in Australia, 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) wide and 0.8 meters (2.6 feet) tall, shares the same four-propeller quad copter design as popular consumer drones, but the company said consumers can expect to see new vehicle types and shapes as the project unfolds.
Inside the United States, Project Wing has conducted testing with NASA.
Vos, who is co-chair of an FAA task force charged with coming up with a drone registry, said a system for identifying drone operators and keeping UAV away from other aircraft could be set up within 12 months.
"We're pretty much on a campaign here, working with the FAA, working with the small UAV community and the aviation community at large, to move things along," he said.
Vos said a drone registry, which the Obama administration hopes to set in place by Dec. 20, would be a first step toward a system that could use wireless telecommunications and Internet technology including cellphone applications to identify drones and keep UAV clear of other aircraft and controlled airspace.
He said Google would like to see low altitude "Class G" airspace carved out for drones, saying it would keep UAV away from most manned aircraft aside from low-flying helicopters, while enabling drones to fly over highly populated areas.
(Reporting by David Morgan and Deborah M. Todd; Editing by Alan Crosby, Stephen R. Trousdale and Ken Wills)
.Woman drops sex assault case against U.S. venture capitalist
SAN FRANCISCO A woman who accused prominent U. S. venture capitalist Joseph Lonsdale of sexual assault in a civil lawsuit has dropped all of her legal claims against him, according to a court filing on Monday.
Lonsdale, who had denied plaintiff Elise Clougherty's allegations, also dropped counterclaims against her, including defamation, and each side will bear their own costs and expenses connected to the lawsuit, according to a joint filing.
Clougherty, who started dating Lonsdale in 2012 while she was a Stanford University student and he was her mentor, accused him of sexual assault and related charges in a lawsuit filed in January. The case shocked Silicon Valley, in part because of its lurid details.
In a countersuit filed in February, Lonsdale denied the charges, accusing Clougherty of defamation and emotional distress as part of a "vicious and vengeful campaign" that sought to destroy his reputation.
As a result of Clougherty's allegations, Lonsdale, a 2003 graduate from Stanford, was banned from the university's campus.
On Monday, a university spokeswoman said a university investigator had considered "new evidence that came to light during litigation" and determined that Lonsdale did not violate Stanford's sex discrimination policies.
"Accordingly, there is no basis to support a ban from the Stanford campus," the spokeswoman said in a statement.
No further terms were disclosed in the filing on Monday in U. S. District Court in San Francisco.
Lonsdale did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment. Jennifer Lin Liu, a lawyer for Clougherty, declined to comment.
Lonsdale worked as an intern at PayPal (PYPL. O) in 2002, where he met entrepreneur Peter Thiel and other influential members of the so-called "PayPal mafia." He co-founded secretive technology firm Palantir Technologies, a private company with a valuation of about $9 billion, and is a founding partner of venture-capital firm Formation 8.
Clougherty now works as a data scientist in the Washington, D. C., area, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Sexual harassment has been under the spotlight in recent months in Silicon valley, in large part because of a high-profile discrimination lawsuit brought by a former partner at venture firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.
The former partner, Ellen Pao, lost her case earlier this year, but sparked a broad and ongoing discussion about gender issues in technology.
(Reporting by Dan Levine and Sarah McBride; Editing by Andrew Hay and Cynthia Osterman)
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