State Department upgrades network security against cyber attacks

The State Department on Friday said it was upgrading the security of its unclassified computer network to defend against cyber attacks, leaving some employees unable to send outside emails or access the internet. Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the agency, which in November said it had suffered a cyber attack, was improving “the security of its main unclassified network during a short, planned outage of some Internet-linked systems.” The agency carried out an upgrade in November that also left workers unable to send outside emails or to get to the internet. In a brief statement, Psaki said the department continued to monitor “activity of concern” on its unclassified network but did not address whether there had been a recent, new attack that prompted the latest security upgrade.

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Exclusive: IBM looking at adopting bitcoin technology for major currencies

By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) – International Business Machines Corp is considering adopting the underlying technology behind bitcoin, known as the “blockchain,” to create a digital cash and payment system for major currencies, according to a person familiar with the matter. The blockchain – a ledger, or list, of all of a digital currency's transactions – is viewed as bitcoin's main technological innovation, allowing users to make payments anonymously, instantly, and without government regulation.

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British spies carry out mass interception of emails, but only read a few: report

By Michael Holden LONDON (Reuters) – British spies carry out mass interception of the public's emails and access large databases with individuals' personal details, but their actions are not indiscriminate or unlawful, a powerful committee of lawmakers said on Thursday. Britain's security agencies have been accused of unfettered snooping on electronic communications since disclosures by U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden indicated spies had been hoovering up emails, text messages and internet communications

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Snapdeal drums up custom in Slumdog’s Dharavi

By Nivedita Bhattacharjee MUMBAI (Reuters) – For viewers of Oscar-winning film “Slumdog Millionaire”, Mumbai's vast Dharavi slum is a byword for poverty, but to online retailer Snapdeal.com it is a battleground for new customers and, it hopes, a source of better margins. The three are already fighting over India's 300 million-strong urban middle class, who have come to expect price wars and great deals on everything from mattresses to motors, but as competition intensifies, Snapdeal has begun chasing a different demographic. It tied up with remittance provider FINO PayTech in November to set up online shopping services in semi-urban, rural and low-income residential areas across India.

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German retailer REWE steels for Amazon move into food

By Matthias Inverardi and Nikola Rotscheroth COLOGNE, Germany (Reuters) – Germany’s second-biggest supermarket group REWE is investing heavily in grocery ecommerce even though it does not expect to turn a profit soon, as it braces for Amazon to expand its food delivery service. “We know that we will still not work profitably for several years, but it is not blowing money,” REWE Chief Executive Alain Caparros told Reuters in an interview.

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Liberty Global’s Unitymedia eyes expansion in B2B, mobile

By Julia Fioretti BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Liberty Global’s German unit has set its sights on business-to-business (B2B) broadband and mobile as part of its strategy to keep expanding in Europe’s biggest cable market, ramping up the pressure on established telecom players.

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Rifts within India’s movie censor panel spill into the open

By Shilpa Jamkhandikar MUMBAI (Reuters) – A prominent member of India's government censors took to social media on Thursday to rail against its chairman, exposing rifts within a censorship panel that has thwarted the theatrical release of films such as Hollywood hit “Fifty Shades of Grey”. Ashoke Pandit, a Bollywood film-maker, accused censor chief Pahlaj Nihalani of treating India's Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) like his personal fiefdom.

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More data from South Korea nuclear power operator leaked

A hacker believed to be behind cyber attacks on South Korea’s sole nuclear power plant operator released more files on Thursday, but a company official said the data was not believed to have been newly stolen but from previous hacking. Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, part of state-run utility Korea Electric Power Corp, said in December its computer systems had been hacked but only non-critical data had been stolen and operations were not at risk

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