Iranian military hackers focus on U.S. administration officials: WSJ

Iran's Revolutionary Guards stepped up hacking of email and social media accounts of Obama administration officials in recent weeks in cyber attacks believed linked to the arrest of an Iranian-American businessman in Tehran, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. The newspaper, citing unnamed U.S.

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Facebook revenue, profit beat forecasts; shares hit all-time high

By Yasmeen Abutaleb and Lehar Maan SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Facebook Inc posted surprisingly strong profit and revenue growth as the world's largest social network grew even larger, with a spike in mobile users and advertising that lifted its stock to an all-time high. The company on Wednesday reported audience numbers that suggest it is poised to take on mainstream media as an advertising force, helping investors to overlook Facebook's huge spending on hiring and building data centers

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China consumers to spend more in November 11 ‘Singles Day’ shopping spree: Nielsen

Most online consumers in China will spend more during the Nov. 11 “Singles' Day” shopping promotion this year than they did last year, according to the results of a survey by consultancy Nielsen Holdings made available to Reuters on Wednesday. In a survey of more than 1,000 internet users in China this month, 56 percent said that they would spend more on Singles Day this year compared to 2014

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Messaging software firm Slack plans mass-media push to boost growth

By Eric Auchard DUBLIN (Reuters) – Slack, the group messaging platform valued at nearly $3 billion, plans to accelerate its growth by spending some of its $250 million cash pile on mass-market advertising, founder and CEO Stewart Butterfield said. “We are switching from trying to keep up with growth to trying to generate growth,” Butterfield said in an interview at Web Summit, Europe’s biggest conference for start-ups

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Internet firms must store usage data for one year: UK surveillance bill

Internet companies will have to store customer usage data for up to a year according to a new bill the British government will present to parliament on Wednesday, local newspapers reported. Britain's Investigatory Powers Bill, a renewed attempt to give security agencies powers to track online communications, will also tackle criticism from privacy campaigners by including assurances that any access of so-called Internet connection records would need judicial authorization, the Guardian said.

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British police make fourth arrest in TalkTalk cyber attack

British police have made a fourth arrest in connection with a cyber attack on telecoms company TalkTalk (TALK.L) in which the company said bank details of more than 20,000 customers were hacked. A 16-year-old boy from Norwich in eastern England was in custody and his address was being searched, London police said in a statement on Tuesday. TalkTalk shocked customers last month when the broadband, TV, mobile and fixed-line service provider said it had been hacked, potentially putting the private details of its 4 million customers into the hands of criminals

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Mobile technology and targeted marketing barge in on holidays

By Sarah Young LONDON (Reuters) – Thumbing through guide books for restaurant and shopping tips while on holiday could soon be a thing of the past, thanks to mobile travel technology that knows where you are and what you like and can ping you personalized recommendations. People are increasingly turning to their mobile phones to book flights, hotels and make other travel-related purchases, with $96 billion, or 12.5 percent of global online travel sales, made via the devices in 2014, according to a report by Euromonitor International. Using data from those purchases, travel providers will soon be pushing personalized options for hotels and restaurants via mobile devices, Euromonitor's WTM Global Trends Report 2015 forecast

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U.S. and UK to test financial cyber-security later this month

The United States and Britain will test later this month how its regulators would respond if their financial sectors suffered a major cyber-attack or broader IT problems, a British official said on Monday. The test, for which no date has yet been set, will focus on how regulators for the world's two biggest financial centers in New York and London communicate in an emergency, a spokesman for British government cyber-security body CERT-UK said.

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