Chief Executive Howard Stringer apologized for "inconvenience and concern" caused by the security breach that compromised personal data from more than 100 million online gaming accounts as the company’s shares dived.

The electronics giant firm was 2.80 percent down by noon in Tokyo trade Friday, after earlier plunging 4.1 percent as Japanese markets reopened following the Golden Week holiday.

The Internet has become a major tool in European organized crime, which uses it for drugs and human trafficking and money laundering as well as cyber crime, Europol's top official said Wednesday.

There has been a marked increase over the last two years in criminal groups turning to the Web to commit crimes regarded as "more traditional" rather than purely computer-based crime, Europol director Rob Wainwright said.

Amazon unveiled a membership-only private sales site on Tuesday called Myhabit.com offering designer and boutique brands.

The Seattle, Washington-based online retail giant said Myhabit.com will offer up to 60 percent off list prices on selected fashion products, such as designer clothing through daily events.

Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer announced Tuesday that the U.S. software giant's Bing search engine and maps would be the default service on BlackBerry devices.

Ballmer made the announcement during a surprise appearance at the three-day BlackBerry World developers conference being held by BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) in Orlando, Florida.

Apple on Tuesday announced that it beefed up its iMac all-in-one desktop computers with powerful new-generation Intel chips and high definition cameras.

The latest iMac computers were touted as 70 percent faster than their predecessors with a threefold improvement in graphics.

Computer security experts warned on Monday that online scammers have already started to exploit the death of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden to spread malware.

"Watch out for the links you're likely to come across in email or on social networking sites offering you additional coverage of this newsworthy event," Paul Ducklin of computer security firm Sophos said in a blog post.

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) on Monday unveiled a pair of slim, powerful new handsets as their entries in the fiercely competitive smartphone arena.

BlackBerry Bold 9900 and 9930 models to hit the market mid-year will run on a new generation of the Canada-based firm's smartphone operating system.

A U.N. human rights expert has marked World Press Freedom Day by hailing the epoch-making power of the Internet and the role online social networking has played in uprisings in the Middle East.

"As one activist tweeted during the protests in Egypt, 'we use Facebook to schedule the protests, Twitter to coordinate, and YouTube to tell the world'," said Frank La Rue, U.N. special rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression.

Users of Sony's PlayStation Network will have to change their passwords, the Japanese entertainment and technology giant said Sunday as it looks to boost security after its system was hacked.

Sony apologised for a security breach that compromised millions of users, and said that while it had no evidence that credit card information was stolen it could not rule it out.

The United States, Britain, Australia and Hong Kong are investigating the hacking and theft of personal data from Sony's PlayStation Network, which has 77 million users worldwide, Agence France Presse reported on Saturday.

The PlayStation Network and Qriocity streaming music service were shut down on April 20 after what Sony described as an "external intrusion" and remain offline as the company upgrades security and works with Federal investigators.