Techmeme: With Operation Torpedo, FBI installs “drive-by” spyware on Tor web servers to identify visitors (Kevin Poulsen/Wired)

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August 6, 2014, 12:35 AM

Top News

New York Times:

Russian gang holds 1.2B username/password combos, stolen from 420K vulnerable websites scanned via botnet, say security researchers — Russian Gang Said to Amass More Than a Billion Stolen Internet Credentials — A Russian crime ring has amassed the largest known collection …

More: Wall Street Journal, CNET, PC Magazine, BBC, The Register, Re/code, Tech Times, NEWS.com.au, ZDNet, Los Angeles Times, CNNMoney.com, ABC News, Slate, SecurityWeek, Daily Dot, SlashGear, Business Insider, Gizmodo, Lifehacker, ITworld.com, Fox News, Ars Technica and The Next Web

Tweets: @pkedrosky, @dangillmor, @kashhill and @sarahw

Kashmir Hill / Forbes:

Firm That Exposed Breach Of ‘Billion Passwords’ Quickly Offered $120 Service To Find Out If You're Affected — The New York Times dropped the freakiest security story since Heartbleed Tuesday, warning people that a “Russian gang has amassed over a billion passwords.”

Tweets: @lorenzofb. Thanks:@aatilley

Ina Fried / Re/code:

Sprint to name Marcelo Claure, board member and head of Brightstar, as its new CEO — Exclusive: Sprint to Name Brightstar's Marcelo Claure as CEO — Sprint plans to name Marcelo Claure, one of its board members and head of wireless distributor Brightstar, as its new CEO, Re/code has learned from a number of sources.

More: The Register, DSLreports and Ars Technica

Wall Street Journal:

Sprint Abandoning Pursuit of T-Mobile — Sprint Corp. is ending its pursuit of T-Mobile US Inc., according to people familiar with the matter. The company and its parent, SoftBank Corp. decided it simply would be too difficult to win approval from regulators, the people said.

More: The Next Web, Bloomberg, New York Times, CNNMoney.com, Reuters, MacRumors, SlashGear, AppleInsider, VentureBeat, The Verge, Gigaom, iMore, Telegraph, PhoneNews.com, Droid Life, Phandroid, TmoNews and Mashable

Tweets: @emilychangtv, @dsilverman, @shaliniwsj and @brkend

Alex Sherman / Bloomberg:

Sprint to replace CEO Dan Hesse as soon as tomorrow — Sprint Said to End T-Mobile Talks, Plans to Name New CEO — Sprint Corp. (S) has ended talks to acquire T-Mobile US Inc. (TMUS), a person with knowledge of the matter said, after talks reached an impasse amid disagreements over financing and a drop-dead date for a merger.

More: Re/code, GeekWire, PC Magazine, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Computerworld, TechCrunch, Engadget, bizjournals, PhoneArena, Cult of Mac and Android Police

Tweets: @zpower, @gregbensinger and @ericjackson

Steve Kovach / Business Insider:

T-Mobile's stock down as much as 9% after hours, Sprint down as much as 16%, following breakdown of merger talks

More: CNET, Fortune, 9to5Google and Business Insider. Tweets: @stevekovach

Kevin Poulsen / Wired:

With Operation Torpedo, FBI installs “drive-by” spyware on Tor web servers to identify visitors — Visit the Wrong Website, and the FBI Could End Up in Your Computer — Security experts call it a “drive-by download”: a hacker infiltrates a high-traffic website and then subverts …

More: Forbes, Engadget, TechSpot, Gizmodo and The Verge

Adam Satariano / Bloomberg:

Apple, Samsung Agree to End Patent Suits Outside U.S. — Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) are starting to wind down their global patent battle. — The companies said in a joint statement today that they have agreed to drop all suits against each other in countries outside …

CNBC:

Apple touts record App Store revenue, record number of customers making transactions in July — Apple says July was record-setting month for app store revenue — Apple's app store saw record-setting revenue numbers in July, the company told CNBC. The Cupertino-based company …

More: MobileBurn.com, iPhone in Canada Blog, MacDailyNews, PadGadget, Cult of Mac, AppleInsider, BGR and App Advice. Tweets: @drbarnard

John Paczkowski / Re/code:

Apple to hold iPhone event on Sept. 9 — Code/red: Apple to Hold iPhone Event on Sept. 9 — New iPhones to Suck All the Air Out of the Tech News Cycle on Sept. 9 Onstage at our inaugural Code conference earlier this summer, Apple SVP Eddy Cue described the company's fall product pipeline …

Kyle Russell / TechCrunch:

Uber announces UberPool, a ride-sharing, cost-splitting experiment to begin Aug. 15 in SF — UberPool Lets You Split Uber Fares With Other Passengers Along The Same Route — In the ongoing war between Uber, Lyft, and all of the other me-too ride-sharing services, competitors are looking …

More: Uber Blog, The Verge, Digital Trends, CNET, Gigaom, iMore, GeekWire, The Next Web, Mashable and Business Insider. Thanks:@ryanlawler

Euan Rocha / Reuters:

BlackBerry completes restructuring process, expects to start recruitment in “modest numbers” — BlackBerry closes chapter on restructuring process : internal memo — (Reuters) - BlackBerry Ltd has concluded a protracted and painful restructuring process and is back on a growth footing …

More: CNET, Wall Street Journal, Tech Times, Neowin, Pocket-lint, TechnoBuffalo, Ubergizmo, Engadget, DailyTech, TechCrunch, Electronista, MobileBurn.com and VentureBeat

Edward C. Baig / USA Today:

Timex Ironman One GPS+ smartwatch to debut this fall for $399 with AT&T cellular connectivity and a Qualcomm mobile OS — Timex enters smartwatch category. No phone needed. — NEW YORK — All the early smartwatches generating buzz (if not a lot of sales) come not from traditional watch brands …

More: VentureBeat, Re/code, TechCrunch and The Verge. Tweets: @benbajarin

Jordan Kahn / 9to5Mac:

Apple files for HealthKit trademarks w/ classifications for watches, fitness sensors, & medical devices — Apple has just filed for Healthkit trademarks in both the US and Europe ahead of iOS 8's launch this fall and in at least one filing includes watches in a list of goods that could take advantage of the health-tracking software.

More: AppleInsider, TechnoBuffalo, Business Insider, MacDailyNews, Pocketnow and Patently Apple

BBC:

Sony gives up on selling e-readers — Sony has given up selling its line of Reader devices for e-books after failing to find a big enough market. — “We do not have plans to develop a successor Reader model at this time,” the Japanese firm told the BBC. — The PRS-T3 was the last version …

More: The Next Web, Telegraph, Engadget, The Digital Reader, ITProPortal, Pocket-lint, Inquirer and Electronista

Emil Protalinski / The Next Web:

Justin.tv shuts down after 7 years amid reports Google is acquiring Twitch — Twitch today announced that the Justin.tv website, mobile apps, and APIs are no longer in service. A very simple explanation is given for the shutdown: since rebranding the company to Twitch Interactive in February 2014 …

More: CNET, TechCrunch, TechHive, Geek News Central, The Verge, Electronista, VatorNews, Digital Trends, Daily Dot, Gigaom, Ars Technica, Re/code, SiliconBeat and VentureBeat. See also Mediagazer

Bloomberg:

IBM offered to pay Globalfoundries $1B to take IBM's chip-manufacturing business — IBM Said to Have Offered GF Cash to Take Over Chip Unit — International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) was willing to pay Globalfoundries Inc. to take on IBM's money-losing chip-manufacturing operations …

More: Business Insider. Tweets: @charlesfitz and @alexbarinka

Kim-Mai Cutler / TechCrunch:

Felicis Raises New $96M Fund, Pledges To Always Vote Shares With Founders — Five to ten years ago, the notion of a super-angel, or an angel backed with a notable but still small-sized fund, was relatively new concept. — There were players like Aydin Senkut, Jeff Clavier and Dave McClure.

More: VentureBeat, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, New York Times, go.bloomberg.com and PE Hub Blog

Charlie Osborne / ZDNet:

Cisco: new exploit kits, Java vulnerabilities, PoS attacks are most serious threats in 2014 — Exploit kit variety, point-of-sale attacks reign in 2014: Cisco — Summary: Cisco's security team says that exploit variety is gaining steam, and both the Internet of Things and point …

More: eWeek, InfotechLead.com, FedScoop, PC Advisor, National Defense Magazine, Tech Times, IT World Canada, Network World and Wall Street Journal

Todd Bishop / GeekWire:

Satya Nadella's first big hire: Microsoft confirms ex-Qualcomm exec Peggy Johnson as biz dev chief — Microsoft just confirmed that it has hired Peggy Johnson, a 24-year Qualcomm veteran, as the Redmond company's new executive vice president of global business development, reporting to CEO Satya Nadella.

More: Microsoft Corporation, Re/code, CNET, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal and Light Reading

Jon Russell / The Next Web:

Google under threat as forked Android devices rise to 20% of smartphone shipments — Android dominates the world's smartphone market. A new report from analyst firm Strategy Analytics pegs the Google-owned operating system's global market share at 85 percent.

More: ABI Research, Forbes, Beyond Search and ITworld.com

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