Tokyo,Japan

Toshiba Corp. said Tuesday that it will reduce output of NAND flash memory by 30 percent due to falling sales of electronic gadgets like digital cameras and cell phones.

"Recession in the global economy and the slowdown in consumer spending are having a significant impact on demand for semiconductors," Japan's biggest chipmaker said in a statement. "This is particularly notable in NAND flash memories, where decreased demand for applications such as memory cards and MP3 players has generated excess supply."

Computer infections with viruses by way of USB flash memory drives are spreading in Japan, according to a Trend Micro Inc. survey released Saturday.

Based on the finding, the Tokyo-based virus-scanning software company called on PC users to take precautions when sharing data with others via USB memory sticks.

A USB flash memory drive is a portable data-storage device that has become popular as an alternative to a floppy disk.

Two researchers have opened a new can of worms that could let hackers wreak havoc on network managers.

Erik Tews and Martin Beck say they have found a way to crack the widely used Wireless Protection Access (WPA), a standard supported by the Wi-Fi Alliance and currently used to secure wireless computer networks. The researchers say they have specifically cracked the Temporal Key Integrated Protocol (a set of algorithms used by WPA), a feat that had been considered nearly impossible.

Industrial conglomerate Siemens AG is poised to sell its 50-percent stake in the joint venture Fujitsu Siemens Computers to Japan's Fujitsu Group, two people familiar with the deal told The Associated Press on Monday.

Siemens has been contemplating a sale of its half in the joint venture at least since August. Chief Executive Peter Loescher said then that the company was in talks with Fujitsu about the fate of the unit, which makes personal computers and laptops and posted sales of 6.6 billion euros but a pretax profit of just 105 million euros last year.