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London: WhatsApp , the Facebook-owned mobile messaging service, is vulnerable to interception, the Guardian newspaper reported on Friday, sparking concern over an app advertised as putting an emphasis on privacy. The report said that WhatsApp messages could be read without its billion-plus users knowing due to a security backdoor in the way the company has implemented its end-to-end encryption protocol. The system relies on unique security keys “that are traded and verified between users to guarantee communications are secure and cannot be intercepted by a middleman,” the report said. But WhatsApp can force the generation of new encryption keys for offline users “unbeknown to the sender and recipient of the messages,” it said. Tobias Boelter, a cryptography researcher at the University of California told the Guardian : “If WhatsApp is asked by a government agency to disclose its messaging records, it can effectively grant access due to the change in keys.” ALSO READ: Google drops drea

Mumbai: Shares of Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS) tumbled 3.9% on Friday, posting their biggest decline since 9 November, as the exit of CEO N. Chandrasekaran to head the holding firm Tata Sons overshadowed largely in-line December quarter earnings TCS named its chief financial officer Rajesh Gopinathan to succeed Chandrasekaran (popularly known as Chandra) as CEO. On Friday, TCS shares closed 3.9% lower at Rs2,252 apiece on the BSE. In comparison, the BSE IT index shed 1.9%, while the 30-share Sensex closed flat. The plunge shaved of Rs17,990 crore from the market capitalization of India’s most-valued firm. For Mumbai-headquartered TCS, the protracted period of subpar growth continued as India’s largest technology outsourcing firm reported a 0.3% dollar revenue growth, marginally higher than street expectations, in the October-December period. “...major management changes with current CEO being elevated to group chairman and replaced by current CFO overshadowed the results and co

New Delhi: Signalling a gradual improvement in external demand conditions, India’s merchandise exports expanded for the fourth consecutive month in December by 5.72%, while a 48.5% dip in gold demand saw imports increase by 0.46% during the month. The trade deficit in December declined to $10.4 billion from $13 billion the previous month. However, excluding gold, silver and petroleum products, imports grew 6.1%, which could mean a revival in demand in the economy if sustained. Cumulatively, for the period April-December, exports picked up marginally by 0.75% to $198.8 billion while imports shrank 7.42% to $275.3 billion, leading to a trade deficit of $76.5 billion. ALSO READ: Base effect, capital goods power IIP growth for November In December, exports of gems and jewellery (27.86%), drugs and pharmaceuticals (12.49%), chemicals (18.15%), engineering goods (19.9%) and petroleum products (8.22%) picked up while shipments of readymade garments declined (-0.3%) probably as a fallout of de

New Delhi: Removing squatters from good wind potential sites, inordinate delays in signing of power purchase agreements, timely payments and distribution firms shying away from procuring electricity generated from wind energy projects will be some of the issues that the National Democratic Alliance-led Narendra Modi government plans to discuss at an apex meeting of states and the nodal agencies for ironing out issues plaguing the green energy sector. The meeting called on 23 and 24 January is scheduled to be attended by top officials from the states and the Centre involved in helping India achieve its clean energy commitments. Some of the other issues on the agenda for the meeting, available on the website of the ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE) inlcude; proper scheduling and forecasting of wind energy, availability of transmission facilities and rationalisation of transmission tariffs for wind energy projects. Under the topic Issues for Discussion with States , the agenda

Beijing: India’s trade deficit with China mounted to a whopping $46.56 billion last year as Indian exports continued to decline while the bilateral trade marginally slowed down by 2.1% to nearly $71 billion. The total India-China bilateral trade in 2016 amounted to $70.8 billion, a decline of 2.1% as per the trade figures released by General Administration of Customs (GAC). China exports totaled to $58.33 billion, registering an increase of 0.2% compared to $58.25 billion in 2015, as GAC data accessed by PTI . While it is not clear yet the areas of decline in India’s exports as detailed data is not released yet, officials say it reflected on the continuing declining trend in the last few years. ALSO READ: Chinese head home in world’s biggest annual human migration The exports from India to China pegged down at $11.76 billion, about 12% decline compared to 2015. The Indian exports showed the declining trend for a while as they totaled to $13.38 billion in 2015 and $16.4 billion in 2014.

Los Angeles: Sony Entertainment chief executive Michael Lynton will step down to become chairman of the board of messaging app owner Snap Inc, a move that puts an experienced Hollywood executive in a prominent role as the technology company prepares for an initial public offering. Lynton will give up his current position at Sony’s movie and television unit on 2 February but remain as co-CEO for six months to help find a successor, Japanese conglomerate Sony Corp said in a statement on Friday. Snap, the owner of the popular Snapchat app, is expected to go public early this year, vying for a $25 billion valuation. Lynton was an early investor in the company co-founded by 26-year-old CEO Evan Spiegel, and has served on its board for nearly four years. The Venice, California-based company has made a push into news and entertainment content, a strategy that heightened competition with social networks such as Facebook Inc and Twitter Inc. In 2015, it began sharing video and articles from TV

Detroit/Washington: Japan’s Takata Corp on Friday agreed to plead guilty to criminal wrongdoing and to pay $1 billion to resolve a US Justice Department investigation into ruptures of its air bag inflators linked to at least 16 deaths worldwide. The deal was announced hours after prosecutors in Detroit charged three former senior Takata executives with falsifying test results to conceal the inflator defect, which triggered the world’s biggest automotive safety recall. Takata will pay a $25 million fine, $125 million in a victim compensation fund, including for future incidents, and $850 million to compensate automakers for massive recall costs, the Justice Department said. The auto parts supplier will be required to make significant reforms and be on probation and under the oversight of an independent monitor for three years. The company’s shares rose 16.5% in trading in Japan on news of the anticipated settlement, in which it agreed to plead guilty to a single felony count of wire fr