Microsoft tackles China piracy with free upgrade to Windows 10

By Bill Rigby and Paul Carsten SEATTLE/BEIJING (Reuters) – Microsoft Corp is making its biggest push into the heavily pirated Chinese consumer computing market this summer by offering free upgrades to Windows 10 to all Windows users, regardless of whether they are running genuine copies of the software. The move is an unprecedented attempt by Microsoft to get legitimate versions of its software onto machines of the hundreds of millions of Windows users in China

Read more

Alibaba leaning away from plans to invest in India’s Snapdeal: Recode

(Reuters) – Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd may scrap plans to invest in Indian online marketplace Snapdeal, technology website Recode reported, citing a person who was familiar with the matter. Last week, a person informed about the deal had told Reuters that Alibaba was in talks with Snapdeal over a potential cash investment in what could have been the Chinese e-commerce giant's first direct investment in India. Alibaba has held discussions with Snapdeal about a possible investment, but the Chinese company is leaning away from investing in Snapdeal right now, Recode said

Read more

Microsoft warns Windows PCs also vulnerable to ‘Freak’ attacks

By Jim Finkle BOSTON (Reuters) – Hundreds of millions of Windows PC users are vulnerable to attacks exploiting the recently uncovered “Freak” security vulnerability, which was initially believed to only threaten mobile devices and Mac computers, Microsoft Corp warned. News of the vulnerability surfaced on Tuesday when a group of nine security experts disclosed that ubiquitous Internet encryption technology could make devices running Apple Inc's iOS and Mac operating systems, along with Google Inc's Android browser vulnerable to cyber attacks

Read more

French minister visits U.S. Internet firms about militants’ messaging

France's chief internal security official is traveling to California's Silicon Valley to discuss his government's concerns about violent jihadist social media messaging with leading tech and Internet companies. French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve told a Washington news conference on Thursday that “all the Internet operators were welcoming me,” including Twitter Inc, Google Inc, Microsoft Corp and Facebook Inc.

Read more

Hackers infect Forbes.com to spy on visitors: researchers

By Jim Finkle BOSTON (Reuters) – The Forbes.com financial news site was infected by Chinese hackers with spying software that targeted specific visitors, including those at U.S. financial services and defense firms, according to two cybersecurity firms. The hackers infected Forbes.com in November by inserting malware into a Forbes.com “Thought of the Day” widget that appears when any page on Forbes.com is accessed, cybersecurity firms iSight Partners Inc and Invincea Inc said on Tuesday

Read more

Facebook dumps Microsoft Web search results

By Alexei Oreskovic SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Facebook Inc has stopped including results from Microsoft Corp's Bing search engine on its social networking site. The move, confirmed by a company spokesperson, comes as Facebook has revamped its own search offerings, introducing a tool on Monday that allows users to quickly find past comments and other information posted by their friends on Facebook

Read more

Facebook dumps Microsoft Web search results

By Alexei Oreskovic SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Facebook Inc has stopped including results from Microsoft Corp's Bing search engine on its social networking site. The move, confirmed by a company spokesperson, comes as Facebook has revamped its own search offerings, introducing a tool on Monday that allows users to quickly find past comments and other information posted by their friends on Facebook. The decision may reflect the increasing importance that Facebook sees in Web search technology, a market dominated by rival Google Inc

Read more