Techmeme: Gemalto confirms probable hack by NSA and GCHQ, but says there was no massive theft of SIM encryption keys, only a breach of its office network (Gemalto)

Open Links In New Tab

Mobile Archives Advertise Site News Contact Editors

February 25, 2015, 12:15 PM

Top News

Bloomberg Business:

Apple told to pay $532.9M to Smartflash LLC for patent infringement in iTunes, will appeal — Apple Told by Jury to Pay $532.9 Million in Gaming Patent Trial — Don't Miss Out — (Bloomberg) — Apple Inc. was told to pay $532.9 million after a federal jury said the company's iTunes software …

Gemalto:

Gemalto confirms probable hack by NSA and GCHQ, but says there was no massive theft of SIM encryption keys, only a breach of its office network — Gemalto presents the findings of its investigations into the alleged hacking of SIM card encryption keys by Britain's Government Communications Headquarters …

Sebastian Anthony / Ars Technica:

Source: Top-end 128GB Samsung Galaxy S6 priced at $1,189, curved model facing supply constraints — Source: Curved Samsung Galaxy S6 will suffer from yield issues at launch — One of Samsung's carrier partners gives Ars Technica the skinny. — According to a source …

More: BGR, Business Insider, Droid Life, Android Authority, GadgeTell, TechnoBuffalo, ExtremeTech, Forbes, The Overspill, SamMobile, Ubergizmo and Gotta Be Mobile

Dan Seifert / The Verge:

Motorola's new Moto E has LTE and a bigger screen for just $149 — Motorola teased an announcement in the form a hand-delivered package last week, and sure enough, today the company delivered a box with a new Moto E. The second-generation Moto E is still Motorola's most affordable smartphone in its lineup …

More: Engadget, ABC News, TechCrunch, ZDNet, PC World, The Next Web, CNET and Electronista

Facebook:

Internet.org's 2014 State of Global Connectivity report: Internet adoption growth slows to 6.6%, just 32% of people have Internet access in emerging economies — The State of Global Connectivity — State of Connectivity: A Report on Global Internet Access, a new study by Internet.org examines …

More: GeekWire, SiliconANGLE, SocialTimes and The Next Web

Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:

Perceptiv introduces SHIFT, a plug-in accessory for drones that lets filmmakers track and frame subjects; available fall 2015 for $600 — Perceptiv's SHIFT Turns Drones Into Smart Dollies For Filmmakers — Drone tech is exciting and full of potential, but few companies are focusing on tech …

More: Techvibes Global News

Paul Carsten / Reuters:

Since Snowden leaks, China has dropped Cisco, Apple, McAfee, and others for government purchases — Exclusive: China drops leading technology brands for state purchases — (Reuters) - China has dropped some of the world's leading technology brands from its approved state purchase lists …

More: The Verge, Patently Apple and MacDailyNews

Steven Davidoff Solomon / New York Times:

Dish Network saved $3.25B by bidding for spectrum as a “very small business” using loopholes — How Loopholes Turned Dish Network Into a ‘Very Small Business’ — Charles W. Ergen, the billionaire who controls the satellite-TV provider Dish Network, and his company …

More: Bloomberg View

Jordan Novet / VentureBeat:

Hortonworks falls short with $12.7M in revenue in its first earnings report — Updated at 4:38 p.m. Pacific to remove references to Cloudera's customer base. A Cloudera spokeswoman says Cloudera and Hortonworks count customers differently. — Hortonworks, a company selling a distribution …

More: ZDNet, Gigaom, Hortonworks and Gizmorati

Dan Thorp-Lancaster / Android Central:

Ting launches open beta for GSM service on T-Mobile's network — Ting launches open beta for its GSM network — Ting's GSM network, which it announced late last year, has officially entered into an open beta. Previously, customers could test the network out on an invite-only basis.

More: Ting.com, Gigaom, Phandroid, PhoneDog.com and Android Police

Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet:

Microsoft Garage incubator delivers new Windows Phone, Android productivity apps — Summary:Microsoft has made a handful of new, free experimental productivity apps for Windows Phone and Android available for download from its Garage incubator. — In October 2014, Microsoft announced …

More: Microsoft, BetaNews, TechCrunch and FierceMobileIT News

Ben Popper / The Verge:

Layer launches to the public with the aim of unifying mobile messaging in all apps — As messaging apps proliferate, one service aims to power them all — We live in a world where messaging apps command $20 billion valuations, but amidst that embarrassment of riches is a major pain for users …

More: TechCrunch. Tweets: @hunterwalk

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Target Says Credit Card Data Breach Cost It $162M In 2013-14 — When it comes to data breaches, retailers are one of the biggest targets these days, and today we have some detail on the costs around one of the more high-profile attacks. Target today said that it has booked $162 million …

More: Business Wire and Business Insider

Inside BlackBerry:

Blackberry Classic will launch on Verizon Feb. 26; $100 with $50 rebate on two-year contract — BlackBerry Classic Available This Thursday On The Verizon Wireless Network — BlackBerry Classic Available Feb. 26 on the Verizon Wireless Network — Familiar Design and QWERTY Keyboard on the Nation's Most Reliable 4G LTE Network

More: Business Insider, FierceWireless, Verizon Wireless Promotions, TechnoBuffalo, PhoneDog.com, TWICE, Digital Trends, The Verge and The Next Web

Kim Zetter / Wired:

Firmware is vulnerable because vendors rarely sign or authenticate the software — Why Firmware Is So Vulnerable to Hacking, and What Can Be Done About It — When Kaspersky Lab revealed last week that it had uncovered a sophisticated piece of malware designed to plant malicious code inside …

Mark Hosenball / Reuters:

US offers $3M reward for Russian hacker Evgeniy Bogachev for his role in GameOver Zeus botnet — U.S. offers highest-ever reward for Russian hacker — (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department and FBI on Tuesday announced a $3 million reward for information leading to the arrest or conviction …

More: US Department of State, FBI, FBI, Digital Trends, CNET, Qntra.net, BBC, Forbes, TIME, PC World and Slashdot

Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:

Google Acquires Facebook Marketing Startup Toro — Toro, a startup that helps developers promote their apps on Facebook, just announced that it's been acquired by Google. — The company was originally known as Red Hot Labs, and it's led by Amitt Mahajan and Joel Poloney.

More: Toro Blog, VatorNews, SiliconANGLE, Bloomberg Business, Xconomy, The Tech Portal, Socialnomics and Gizmorati. Tweets: @joshelman

Catherine Shu / TechCrunch:

Twitter's “While You Were Away” Feature Launches On Android — One month after launching on iOS, Twitter's “While You Were Away” feature is finally available for Android users. — “While You Were Away,” which Twitter first previewed last fall, represents a significant departure from the real …

More: GeekWire, Digital Trends, TechnoBuffalo and PC World

Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:

Google Tests Live Chat With Businesses From Search Results — Google is testing out a service that incorporates live chat with businesses right into search results, via a new link that shows whether a business is currently available, and immediately launches a chat via Google Hangouts (on either desktop or mobile) if they are.

More: PC World, Search Engine Land, WebProNews, Beyond Search, Ubergizmo, Street Fight, Tech Gadget Central, Understanding Google …, Search Engine Land and 9to5Google

Dennis Fisher / Threatpost:

Google turns annual Pwnium bug-hunting contest into year-round program with unlimited rewards — Google Pwnium Program Now Open All Year — Google is expanding its successful Pwnium vulnerability reward program-which has run at various security conferences for a couple of years …

More: Gizmorati

Caroline Humer / Reuters:

Anthem says breach may have also affected up to 18.8M Blue Cross Blue Shield customers — Anthem says at least 8.8 million non-customers could be victims in data hack — (Reuters) - Health insurer Anthem Inc, which earlier this month reported that it was hit by a massive cyberbreach …

More: Help Net Security, PYMNTS.com, Gizmodo, The Hill, Minneapolis Star Tribune, NBC News, bizjournals, Bloomberg Business, Wall Street Journal, The Register and VTDigger

Tom Warren / The Verge:

Microsoft removing Google Talk integration and discontinuing support for Facebook chat in Outlook — Microsoft kills off Google and Facebook chat for Outlook.com — Microsoft is revealing today that it plans to kill off Google and Facebook chat from its Outlook.com email service “within the next couple of weeks.”

More: ZDNet, The Register, InvestorPlace, BetaNews, SiliconANGLE, SuperSite for Windows, GeekWire, The Next Web and Neowin

Liz Gannes / Re/code:

Former Kleiner Perkins partner Trae Vassallo to testify she was harassed by same partner as Ellen Pao — Venture Capitalist Trae Vassallo to Testify She Was Harassed by Same Partner as Ellen Pao — One of the first witnesses in the gender discrimination case brought by former partner Ellen Pao …

More: bizjournals, Ars Technica, CNET, USA Today, Bloomberg Business, TechCrunch and Timmins Press

Paul Smith / The Australian Financial Review:

Xero lands $100M backing from Accel Partners for US expansion ahead of expected IPO — Xero lands $NZ132.9 million backing from Accel Partners ahead of US listing — Online accounting software maker Xero has scored a $NZ132.9 million ($US100 million) investment from Silicon Valley …

More: PE Hub Blog, VentureBeat, Forbes, ITWire.com, StartupSmart, TechCrunch, bizjournals and The Diversity Blog

Sponsor Posts

Subquadratic:

Subquadratic: the LLM built for 12M-token reasoning — SubQ can reason across entire codebases and document sets in one pass with no RAG workarounds. Read how SubQ 1.1 Small holds near-perfect retrieval out to 12M tokens.

Cloudflare:

Cloudflare Connect 2026: The Agentic Conference — Stop preparing for agents. Start running them. 100+ sessions, workshops, and speakers from OpenAI, Arm, and Cloudflare across AI, security, and performance.

Zoho:

App Spotlight: Google Sheets Magic Lookup for Zoho CRM — Our App Spotlight brings you hand-picked apps to enhance the power of your Zoho apps and tools. Visit Zoho Marketplace to explore all apps, integrations …

IDrive:

Protecting your Cloud Applications Data — Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Salesforce data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Sponsor Techmeme

Featured Podcasts

Big Technology Podcast:

Special Report: Will AI Wipe Out Humanity? (And Who Profits)

The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.

Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.

Channels with Peter Kafka:

The Atlantic's CEO on AI, Billionaire Owners, and Moonlighting as a Creator

Media and tech aren't just intersecting - they're fully intertwined. To understand how those worlds work, Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers.

Subscribe to Channels with Peter Kafka.

Sources:

Mark Zuckerberg on Muse, Meta's biggest AI bet yet

Candid conversations with the leaders shaping what's next in AI and the broader tech industry. Hosted by Alex Heath, who has covered Silicon Valley for more than a decade.

Subscribe to Sources.

Lenny's Podcast:

How we built Grok Bot in a month | Roman Ugarte (SpaceXAI)

Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.

Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.

Invest Like the Best:

Walter Russell Mead - How America Keeps Winning

The leading destination to learn about business and investing. We do this by showcasing exceptional talent and ideas.

Subscribe to Invest Like the Best.

Grit:

The AI Race Has a Leaderboard | Arena CEO Anastasios Angelopoulos

Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.

Subscribe to Grit.

Add your podcast here

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 12:15 PM ET, February 25, 2015.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.