North Korea Releases Its Own 'IPad' which contains 40 Apps only

A North Korean tech company has launched its own tablet computer, called the "Ryonghung iPad."
Despite the similarities in name, the tablet doesn't have much in common with Apple's well-known gadget .

According to an advertising campaign spotted in a foreign trade magazine, the North Korean iPad only has 40 apps to choose from and 8GB of internal storage space.

However, it will allow users to look at documents and "read different sources of digital information" as well as coming with a keyboard attachment.


According to the advertising campaign, the tablet was first revealed at a North Korean expo in 2016 and has become massively popular among North Koreans.

Among the apps are a calculator, a dictionary and a farming app. There is also an app that comes on an SD card that can "diagnose up to 1,200 ailments."

It's unlikely the company behind the tablet, Myohyang IT, will be attempting to market the Ryonghung iPad outside of North Korea.

Norht Korea scares U.S., others with new anti-aircraft system

North Korea tested a new anti-aircraft system that leader Kim Jong Un says will “completely spoil the enemy’s dream to command the air,” the state news agency reported Sunday, following weeks of ballistic missile tests.

The KCNA news agency said glitches detected in an earlier test have been “perfectly overcome,” paving the way for the weapon to be mass produced and deployed nationwide, according to SkyNews.

State media reported the new weapon system is designed to “detect and strike different targets flying from any location.”

The latest test was attended by Kim Jong Un, in addition to three men believed to be the top officials in the reclusive country’s missile program.

The three men were identified by Reuters as Ri Pyong Chol, a former top air force general; Kim Jong Sik, a veteran rocket scientist; and Jang Chang Ha, the head of the Academy of National Defense Science, a weapons development and procurement centre.

North Korean state media said the weapons system would stop hostile nations “boasting of air supremacy and weapon almighty.”

On Friday, officials said the Pentagon will try to shoot down an intercontinental-range missile for the first time in a test this week.

The goal is to more closely simulate a North Korean ICBM aimed at the U.S. homeland, officials said.

North Korea is now the focus of U.S. efforts because its leader has vowed to field a nuclear-armed missile capable of reaching American territory.

He has yet to test an intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM, but Pentagon officials believe he is speeding in that direction.

Marine Lt. Gen. Vincent Stewart, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, said last week that “left unchecked,” Kim will eventually succeed.

The Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency, which is responsible for developing and testing the system, has scheduled the intercept test for Tuesday.

An interceptor is to be launched from an underground silo at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California and soar toward the target, which will be fired from a test range on Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific.

If all goes as planned, the “kill vehicle” will slam into the ICBM-like target’s mock warhead high over the Pacific Ocean.

The target will be a custom-made missile meant to simulate an ICBM, meaning it will fly faster than missiles used in previous intercept tests, according to Christopher Johnson, spokesman for the Missile Defense Agency.

The target is not a mock-up of an actual North Korean ICBM.

“We conduct increasingly complex test scenarios as the program matures and advances,” Johnson said Friday. “Testing against an ICBM-type threat is the next step in that process.”

Source: Fox News

Africa’s 1st nanosatellite to be launched by Nigeria

Nigeria is to launch Africa’s first nanosatellite (an artificial satellite with a wet mass between one and 10 kg 2.2–22 lb)  into the orbit, the Director-General of National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), Prof Seidu Mohammed, has said.

Mohammed told the Correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in New York that the Nigeria’s nanosatellite would be launched alongside four other countries between May 23 to May 27.

The NASRDA chief disclosed that the nanosatellite would be launched “within the window of May 23 and 27” from the launch base at Miami, Florida, U.S.

According to him, the latest satellite to be launched is another feat achieved by the Nigerian engineers.

Mohammed said: “Nigeria, along with other four countries – Japan, Ghana, Bangladesh and Nepal – in the last one year, came together to work in a constellation to build about five nanosatellites.

“You may ask ‘what are these nanosatellites for?’ It’s a scientific satellite that is to study environmental parameters.

“They would help in most of these environmental issues to study them – environmental characterization.

“In addition to that, they would also be carrying camera that would acquire some form of data.

“And what we have also demonstrated by this is the fact that Nigerian engineers and scientists earlier built Nigerian Sat-X using the laboratory in Missouri.

“They’ve gone ahead again to build nanosatellite in the laboratory in Kyushu University in Japan and all these are parts of efforts to sustain technology already transferred to Nigerian scientists and engineers”.

The NASRDA chief said in addition to the feat achieved by the Nigerian engineers, there was the need to encourage the youth to take career in space science and technology.

“Those nanosatellites, each time they are within the Nigerian territory, would be singing National Anthem.

“So those who carry UHF radio would be able to receive it and all these are part of Nigeria’s efforts,” he said.

The space chief also declared that Nigeria would be a space power by 2030, sending an astronaut into space from Nigerian-owned launch facility on Nigeria’s soil.

According to him, the engineers that design and launch Nigerian satellites are at the Centre for Satellite Technology Development at NASRDA.

“There is a ‘Roadmap for Development of Space Science and Technology’ ending in 2030.

“We hope by 2030, facilities for launch would have been provided in Nigeria so that by that year, we would have launched satellite from Nigeria into space.”

He expressed optimism that with the current efforts of the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, the plan would be actualized.

“We would be able to complete our Assembling, Integration, Testing and Design before 2018, and by 2022, most of these efforts would begin to crystallize.

“The large-scale commercialization of space equipment would be possible in our country, and by 2030, we believe that there would be a launching facility from our country.

“We believe before 2030, there will be need for Nigeria to be an international space station,” the NASRDA chief said.

He commended the team of engineers scientists at NASRDA, saying efforts are ongoing to ensure that by 2018, the first satellite would roll out of the agency’s facility.

According to him, NASRDA remains the number one space agency in Africa, adding it has so far launched five satellites – three earth observation satellites and two communication satellites.

NAN reports that NASRDA since inception in 2001 had launched five satellites.

The first satellite, NigeriaSat-I, an international disaster monitoring constellation satellite, built by a UK-based satellite technology company, Surrey Space Technology Limited, was launched in 2003.

NigComSat-I, the second Nigerian satellite was ordered and built in China in 2004; it was Africa’s first communication satellite, launched on May 13, 2007.

NigeriaSat-2 and NigeriaSat-X, which, respectively, were the third and fourth built by Surrey Space Technology Limited., were launched in Aug. 17, 2011.

The fifth, NigComSat-1R was launched by China on Dec. 19, 2011.

US, Russia Looking Into Clues Suggesting North Korea Is Behind Global Cyber Attack

Software companies in the US and Russia have said the North Korea-linked Lazarus Group may be behind a global cyber attack.

Symantec Corp and Kaspersky Lab said yesterday they were looking into clues that may connect the global "ransomware" attack known as WannaCry with programs previously attributed to East Asian country.

The two companies said some code in an earlier version of the WannaCry ransomware - which has encrypted data on hundreds of thousands of computers since Friday and demanded users pay money to regain control of their machines - had also appeared in programmes used by the Lazarus Group.

The North Korean mission to the United Nations was not immediately available for comment.

WannaCry ransomware cyber-attack 'may have N Korea link'

Who was behind the huge global cyber-attack? One prominent theory right now is North Korea - but what we know is far from conclusive.

You may not have heard of the Lazarus Group, but you may be aware of its work. The devastating hack on Sony Pictures in 2014, and another on a Bangladeshi bank in 2016, have both been attributed to the highly sophisticated group.

It is widely believed that the Lazarus Group worked out of China, but on behalf of the North Koreans.

• Microsoft: Cyber-attack a 'wake-up call'

Security experts are now cautiously linking the Lazurus Group to this latest attack after a discovery by Google security researcher Neel Mehta. He found similarities between code found within WannaCry - the software used in the hack - and other tools believed to have been created by the Lazarus Group in the past.

It's a mere slither of evidence, but there are other clues to consider too.

Security expert Prof Alan Woodward pointed out to me via email that time stamps within the original WannaCry code are set to UTC +9 - China’s time zone - and the text demanding the ransom uses what reads like machine-translated English, but a Chinese segment apparently written by a native speaker.

• Next cyber-attack could be imminent, warn experts

"As you can see it's pretty thin and all circumstantial," Prof Woodward said.

"However, it's worth further investigation." READ MORE

Microsoft: Cyber-attack a 'wake-up call'

A cyber-attack that has hit 150 countries since Friday should be treated by governments around the world as a "wake-up call", Microsoft says.

The computing giant said software vulnerabilities hoarded by governments had caused "widespread damage".

The latest virus exploits a flaw in a version of Microsoft Windows first identified by US intelligence.

There have been warnings of further "ransomware" attacks as people return to work on Monday.

• Next cyber-attack could be imminent, warn experts

Many firms have had experts working over the weekend to prevent new infections. The virus took control of users' files and demanded $300 (£230) payments to restore access.

The spread of the virus slowed over the weekend but the respite might only be brief, experts have said. More than 200,000 computers have been affected so far.

But on Monday South Korea said just nine cases of ransomware had been found, giving no further details.

Australian officials said so far only three small-to-medium sized businesses had reported being locked out of their systems while New Zealand's ministry of business said a small number of unconfirmed incidents were being investigated.

A statement from Microsoft president and chief legal officer Brad Smith on Sunday criticised the way governments store up information about security flaws in computer systems.

• Hackers stole data from 500 million accounts in 2014 - Yahoo

"We have seen vulnerabilities stored by the CIA show up on WikiLeaks, and now this vulnerability stolen from the NSA has affected customers around the world," he wrote.

"An equivalent scenario with conventional weapons would be the US military having some of its Tomahawk missiles stolen."

He added: "The governments of the world should treat this attack as a wake-up call."

Microsoft said it had released a Windows security update in March to tackle the problem involved in the latest attack, but many users were yet to run it.

"As cybercriminals become more sophisticated, there is simply no way for customers to protect themselves against threats unless they update their systems," Mr Smith said.

SOURCE

'Nigerian made speed limiter 'superior' than imported ones’ – Minister

The speed limiting device being manufactured in Nigeria is better and cheaper than the imported ones, the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, has said.

Onu, who spoke with the Correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in New York, said that made-in-Nigeria device was a research product where Nigerians in Diaspora could make legitimate money.

The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) began the enforcement of the installation of the device in commercial vehicles in February.

“Our Road Safety Corps has mandated all our commercial vehicles to deploy speed limiting devices and we import this; each one costs an average of N40,000.

“So, for just one million vehicles, we are looking at N40 billion, that’s the business.

“But ultimately, this enforcement will go round, so if you have 10 million to 20 million vehicles, you can imagine looking at almost N800 billion businesses.

“One of our agencies, Sheda Science and Technology Complex (SHESTCO), brought the device to me; it is better than the best that is being brought into the country.

“And I still asked them to go and work and get it to be cheaper and better,” he said.

Onu, however, said that the Federal Government wanted Nigerian investors, particularly those in the Diaspora, to now take the research product and commercialise it.

“Now, we need people like you to come and commercialise it and make the money. This is the message.

“We have taken the risk off you; we have done the research and we have the product, then you come, we will give it to you.

“I will prefer as a minister to give it to a Nigerian than to give it to a multinational corporation, I will prefer to do so.

“Because all the money will remain in Nigeria and the President is very determined, he wants to make sure that all persons, all Nigerians who want to work can work.

“There’s no other way we are going to create these jobs unless we commercialise our research findings,” he said.

The minister regretted pressure on the Naira, saying the currency had been fallen because the country depended too much on imported commodities.

“We now depend on importing everything into the country, including toothpicks. So the pressure on the currency is too much,” he said.

Acknowledging the efforts of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to defend the Naira, Onu said “Nigeria must start producing at home” adding that there was no shortcut to stronger Naira but local production.

(NAN)

Russia Launches Its Fleet's 'Most Deadly Ever Nuclear Attack Submarine

Russia government has launched its most dangerous nuclear attack submarine EVER - which can strike targets on land 1,500 miles away.

Much secrecy has surrounded the construction of the 'top secret' Project 885 Yasen class fourth-generation Kazan nuclear submarine since work began in 2009.

But the high-tech vessel set sail to huge fanfare at the Sevmash shipyard in Severodvinsk in northern Russia on Friday - when the sub’s commander Captain Aleksandr Beketov smashed a bottle of champagne over its hull.

One of the most dangerous machines on the planet, the sub is rumoured to be intended by Vladimir Putin to evoke memories of the Soviet Cold War era for a nation in need of a morale boost.

The Russian military as a whole is finding life harder since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 - after which its navy was forced to scrap many of its relatively new ships and keep others in harbour due to its lack of funds.

Russian submarines have meanwhile recently increased patrols to a level last seen during the Cold War era.

And a recent boost in funding has enabled the Russian navy to develop technological advances beyond those of its Western counterparts.

US will assist North Korea alone - Trump

US President Donald Trump has said the United States will "solve" the nuclear threat from North Korea, with or without China's help.

"If China is not going to solve North Korea, we will. That is all I am telling you," he said in an interview with UK paper Financial Times.

Pressed on whether he thought he could succeed alone, he replied: "Totally."

Mr Trump was speaking ahead of a scheduled visit from Chinese President Xi Jinping this week.
"China has great influence over North Korea. And China will either decide to help us with North Korea, or they won't. And if they do that will be very good for China, and if they don't it won't be good for anyone," Mr Trump told the FT.

Asked if he meant "one-on-one" unilateral action, Mr Trump said: "I don't have to say any more. Totally."

He did not give any further details on what action he would take.

Mr Trump's brief comments, published just days before the key meeting with Mr Xi at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday, are the latest in a series of warnings over North Korea's nuclear development.

There are fears that Pyongyang could eventually develop the ability to launch long-range nuclear missiles capable of striking the mainland United States.

During a trip to Asia in March, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said pre-emptive military action was an option "on the table".

A month earlier, Defence Secretary James Mattis warned that any use of nuclear weapons would be met with an "overwhelming" response.

China - which is North Korea's only international ally - has taken action in light of the reclusive nation's latest missile tests.

In February, it banned coal imports from North Korea until the end of 2017, cutting a major source of cash income for Pyongyang.

But Mr Trump is expected to pressure China's president to do much more at their meeting this week - and he has implied that the issue of trade could be used as leverage.

The president told the Financial Times that "trade is the incentive. It is all about trade." But he said he did not plan to discuss tariffs during the meeting.

US to ban electronics on flight from eight countries

The US is banning electronic devices such as laptops and tablets from cabin baggage on flights from eight Middle Eastern and North African countries.

A US government source told the BBC that the measure would affect nine airlines operating out of 10 airports.

US media reported the order was sparked by intelligence gathered overseas.
It will reportedly include all large electronic devices such as laptops, tablets cameras, DVD players and electronic games.

But mobile phones and smartphones will still be allowed in carry-on luggage.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) declined to comment on the issue but is expected to make an announcement on Tuesday.

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Facebook to assist fight blasphemy - Pakistan

Information publish via BBCNews,Facebook has agreed to send a team to Pakistan to address reservations about content on the social media site, according to the interior ministry.

Blasphemy is a highly sensitive and incendiary issue in Pakistan.

Critics say blasphemy laws, which allow the death penalty in some cases, are often misused to oppress minorities.

Earlier this week Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif voiced his support for a wide-ranging crackdown on blasphemous content on social media.
In a statement on his party's official Twitter account, he described blasphemy as an "unpardonable offence".

Then on Thursday, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar reasserted Pakistan's determination to tackle the issue, saying he would take "any steps necessary" to make sure Pakistan's message gets across.
He said he had asked officials to liaise with the FBI in the US and with social media platforms on a daily basis.

"Facebook and other service providers should share all information about the people behind this blasphemous content with us," he is quoted as saying by the Dawn newspaper.

In a statement quoted by the AP news agency, Facebook said it viewed government requests with care keeping in mind "the goal of protecting the privacy and rights of our users.

"We disclose information about accounts solely in accordance with our terms of service and applicable law. A Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty or other formal request may be required for international requests, and we include these in our Government Requests Report.''

Facebook has not confirmed whether it will be sending a delegation to Pakistan to address the concerns of the government.

Pakistan has often blocked access to pornographic sites and sites with anti-Islamic content and in 2010 a Pakistani court blocked Facebook after over caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad.

Facebook users receive $15 checks after it used members' names and faces in adverts without their permission (Photos)

                                

A group of Facebook users have received payouts from the social media giant, Facebook, for a class action lawsuit between Fraley vs Facebook on an account of the company using images belonging to people in ‘Sponsored Story ads’ without getting their permission first.
According to MailOnline, five plaintiffs claimed that the site used their image for 'Sponsored Story ads', which are created when members 'like' company pages or websites.
The suit also claimed that consent was not received by the parents of people under the age of 18, whose images were used by the giant company, for ads.

Facebook was then ordered to pay $20 million to all those who joined the suit as at May 2, 2013, when the case was been tried in court as part of settlement from the case which was filed in April 2011.

However, Facebook is said to have broken a Californian law which states that companies are forbidden from using the likeness of people in ads, without their consent. This was after in different occasion, Facebook was quoted to have vowed that its users would have more control over how their images would be used in ads, a promise which was violated when it used people’s ads without their permission.

Meanwhile, it took two years of deliberation on the lawsuit before a U.S. federal judge approved the $20 million settlement in August 2013. The case spent years in appeal court, which is why the payout took so long to reach customers. However, finally this year, all the appeals were settled, allowing payments to be released to the all plaintiffs involved.

On Monday, dozens of people posted on social media saying that they have all got $15 checks.

See some of the reactions to the payment below:

                              

                              

                             

                            

Amazing photos of made in Nigeria security cars as shared by facebook user

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Whether there is poverty or not trust me many people are unlocking their intelligent potential right now. Please join them! What is stopping you from making your own contributions?

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China boosts space program with new heavy rocket launch

                                 
China has launched its new Long March-5 heavy rocket, state media said, sending its payload into orbit in the country's latest step in advancing its space exploration program.

The launch comes after China began its longest manned space mission last month, sending two astronauts to spend a month aboard a space laboratory that is part of a broader plan to have a permanent manned space station in service around 2022.

The rocket, larger than previous versions of China's Long-March carrier rockets, blasted off on Thursday night from a pad in the southern province of Hainan, state news agency Xinhua said, a launch intended to verify its design and performance.

"Its successful launch has propelled China to the forefront of the world in terms of rocket carrying capacity, and marks a milestone in China's transition from a major player in space to a major power in space," Xinhua cited the ruling Communist Party's Central Committee and powerful Central Military Commission as saying in a letter.

The two-stage rocket's ability to put 25 tonnes of payload into low-Earth orbit and 14 tonnes to geostationary transfer orbit gives it a carrying capacity 2.5 times larger than previous models, Xinhua said.

"With the heavy-lift carrier rocket, China can build a permanent manned space station and explore the moon and Mars," the news agency said.

Advancing China's space program is a priority for Beijing, which insists it is for peaceful purposes.

The U.S. Defense Department has highlighted China's increasing space capabilities, saying it was pursuing activities aimed at preventing other nations using space-based assets in a crisis.

Despite its space program's advancements for military, commercial and scientific purposes, China is still playing catch-up to established space powers the United States and Russia.

China's Jade Rabbit moon rover landed on the moon in late 2013 to great national fanfare, but soon suffered severe technical difficulties.

The rover and the Chang'e 3 probe that carried it there were the first "soft landing" on the moon since 1976. Both the United States and the Soviet Union had accomplished the feat earlier.

U.S. companies, including SpaceX and Blue Origin, are now developing commercial space flight capabilities. Both companies are developing reusable rockets, and SpaceX has put forward the ambitious goal of a human mission to Mars as early as 2024.

The Skype sex scam - a fortune built on shame

                                

One night a young Palestinian man living abroad fell victim to an online scam, involving a web camera and a beautiful woman. Here Samir (not his real name) tells the story of how he was trapped - and below the BBC's Reda el Mawy visits the Moroccan boomtown where many of the scammers are based.

WARNING: this story contains descriptions of sexual acts

It happened when I was home alone. This girl added me on Facebook. I didn't think it was anything strange - I often get friend requests from old school friends who I don't know well.
Read More on BBC

Man's chilling google searches before he murdered a bride-to-be - Court

In a disturbing murder case from New South Wales, Australia, it's been revealed that killer Vincent Stanford searched Google for terms including "bride rape" and "bride kidnapping" before he murdered school teacher and bride-to-be Stephanie Scott just days before her wedding.

Stanford had worked as a casual cleaner at a number of schools in the area, including Leeton High School, where 26-year-old Stephanie had worked as a drama teacher. According to court documents, he started acting suspiciously, hanging around at the school over weekends in the weeks before he murdered Ms Scott in April last year when he wasn't required to be there. Stanford was also reportedly sighted loitering near the girls' toilets at the school during another time he wasn't working.

But Stanford's murderous fantasies became real on Easter Sunday last year, when he'd spotted Stephanie at the school where she had gone to plan lessons for a supply teacher who was looking after her class while she was away getting married to her partner of five years, Aaron Leeson-Woolley.

Explaining how he killed her, Stanford told police that he picked Stephanie up from behind after she wished him a happy Easter. He confessed to dragging her into a store room with a hand over her mouth before he beat her 30 or 40 times until she died.

"I did it at the high school...I beat her to death," he said. "I had to kill her. I wasn't angry or anything. Basically emotionless. Just that I had to kill her."

With no apparent explanation as to why he murdered Ms Scott, Stanford said: "I think I went a little nuts. I think I needed to see a psychiatrist but I didn't."
Source: cosmopolitan

Samsung Galaxy Note 7 owners told to turn off device

Samsung has urged owners of the Galaxy Note 7 to turn off the smartphone while it investigates new reports of the device catching fire.

The South Korean firm also said it would stop all sales of the phone.
Samsung recalled 2.5 million phones in September after complaints of exploding batteries and later assured customers that all replaced devices were safe.

But there are now reports that even those phones that had been replaced were catching fire.
A man in Kentucky said he woke up to a bedroom full of smoke from a replaced Note 7, days after a domestic flight in the US was evacuated after a new device started emitting smoke in the cabin.

"Because consumers' safety remains our top priority, Samsung will ask all carrier and retail partners globally to stop sales and exchanges of the Galaxy Note 7 while the investigation is taking place," the company said.

"Consumers with either an original Galaxy Note 7 or replacement Galaxy Note 7 device should power down and stop using the device and take advantage of the remedies available," it added.

South Korean media reports suggest the company is likely to stop selling the phone permanently.
The problems for Samsung come at a crucial time for the firm, technology analyst Andrew Milroy of Frost & Sullivan told the BBC.

"Samsung had been making a comeback against its rivals. This catastrophic product fault will seriously damage its competitive position in the smart phone market," he said.
Jake Saunders of ABI research said the situation for Samsung was now "very serious" with "the consequences beginning to snowball".

"The concern now will be the knock-on consequences on the reputation of the brand."

Germany blocks WhatsApp data transfers to Facebook

German data protection authorities on Tuesday said they had blocked Facebook from collecting subscriber data from its subsidiary WhatsApp, citing privacy concerns.

Facebook and WhatsApp promised in the wake of the Silicon Valley giant’s 2014 acquisition of the messaging app that they would not share data, Hamburg’s Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information Johannes Caspar recalled in a statement.

He added that Facebook would be required to delete any data already received from WhatsApp in Germany.

“It has to be (the users’) decision whether they want to connect their account with Facebook,” Caspar said. “Facebook has to ask for their permission in advance.”

WhatsApp announced in August that it would begin sharing data with Facebook, in a bid to allow better targeted advertising and fight spam on the platform.

Currently, users of the instant messenger must opt out of sending information to Facebook through WhatsApp’s settings on their smartphone.

Caspar said that he had acted to protect the privacy of 35 million WhatsApp users in Germany — a fraction of some one billion worldwide — and that of people saved in their address books, whose details might also be forwarded under the data-sharing arrangement.

Facebook’s activities in German-speaking regions are managed through its subsidiary in Hamburg, placing the firm under the jurisdiction of the regulator in the northern port city.

Spokespeople for Facebook could not immediately be reached for comment on the ruling.

WhatsApp’s announcement that it would share information with Facebook came just four months after the service introduced end-to-end encryption by default, saying that the content of messages would become unreadable for anyone except the sender and receiver.

In mid-September, the European Commission recommended tighter privacy and security requirements for services including WhatsApp and Microsoft-owned video calling service Skype, saying they should be regulated more like traditional telecoms.

Subjecting the internet firms to such rules could force them to offer emergency calling services and to obey stricter privacy rules.

AFP

Hackers stole data from 500 million accounts in 2014 - Yahoo

Yahoo Inc (YHOO.O) said on Thursday that at least 500 million of its accounts were hacked in 2014 by what it believed was a state-sponsored actor, a theft that appeared to be the world's biggest known cyber breach by far.

Cyber thieves may have stolen names, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth and encrypted passwords, the company said. But unprotected passwords, payment card data and bank account information did not appear to have been compromised, signaling that some of the most valuable user data was not taken.

The attack on Yahoo was unprecedented in size, more than triple other large attacks on sites such as eBay Inc (EBAY.O), and it comes to light at a difficult time for Yahoo.

Chief Executive Officer Marissa Mayer is under pressure to shore up the flagging fortunes of the site founded in 1994, and the company in July agreed to a $4.83 billion cash sale of its internet business to Verizon Communications Inc (VZ.N).

"This is the biggest data breach ever," said well-known cryptologist Bruce Schneier, adding that the impact on Yahoo and its users remained unclear because many questions remain, including the identity of the state-sponsored hackers behind it.

On its website on Thursday, Yahoo encouraged users to change their passwords but did not require it.

Although the attack happened in 2014, Yahoo only discovered the incursion after August reports of a separate breach. While that report turned out to be false, Yahoo's investigation turned up the 2014 theft, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Analyst Robert Peck of SunTrust Robinson Humphrey said the breach probably was not enough to prompt Verizon to abandon its deal with Yahoo, but it could call for a price decrease of $100 million to $200 million, depending on how many users leave Yahoo.

Steven Caponi, an attorney at K&L Gates with a practice including merger litigation, said that Yahoo's breach could fall under the "material adverse change" clause common in mergers allowing a buyer to walk away if its target's value deteriorates.

"That would give Verizon the opportunity to renegotiate the terms or potentially walk away from the transaction if it is a material change. Whether it is a material change will depend in large part on what kind of information was compromised," Caponi said.

Still, it is rare for mergers to fall apart over material changes. Verizon said in a statement it was made aware of the breach within the last two days and had limited information about the matter.

"We will evaluate as the investigation continues through the lens of overall Verizon interests," the company said.

Shares of Yahoo stock closed a penny higher at $44.15, while shares of Verizon, were up about 1 percent.

The Yahoo breach follows a rising number of other large-scale data attacks and could make it a watershed event that prompts government and businesses to put more effort into bolstering defenses, said Dan Kaminsky, a well-known internet security expert.

Retailers and health insurers have been especially hard hit after high-profile breaches at Home Depot Inc (HD.N), Target Corp (TGT.N), Anthem Inc (ANTM.N) and Premera Blue Cross.

"Five hundred of the Fortune 500 have been hacked," he said. "If anything has changed, it's that these attacks are getting publicly disclosed."

Three U.S. intelligence officials, who declined to be identified by name, said they believed the attack was state-sponsored because of its resemblance to previous hacks traced to Russian intelligence agencies or hackers acting at their direction.

Yahoo said it was working with law enforcement on the matter, and the FBI said it was investigating.

"The investigation has found no evidence that the state-sponsored actor is currently in Yahoo's network," the company said.

While the breach comprised mostly low-value information, it did include security questions and answers created by users themselves. That data could make users vulnerable if they use the same answers on other sites.

A former Yahoo employee said the Q&A were deliberately left unencrypted, which allowed Yahoo to catch fake accounts more easily because fake accounts tended to reuse questions and answers.

News of the massive breach at one of the nation's largest email providers may fan concern that U.S. companies and government agencies are not doing enough to improve cyber security.

    Democratic Senator Mark Warner said in a statement he was "most troubled by news that this breach occurred in 2014, and yet the public is only learning details of it today."

Technology website Recode first reported Tuesday that Yahoo planned to disclose details about a data breach affecting hundreds of millions of users.