Hacker mastermind Albert Gonzalez was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court to two concurrent 20-year stints in prison for his role in what prosecutors called the "unparalleled" theft of millions of credit card numbers from major U.S. retailers.

The U.S. Rural Utilities Service (RUS) on Thursday announced US$254.6 million in funding for 22 broadband deployment projects in 18 states across the U.S. as it works to wrap up a first round of broadband funding made available in a huge economic stimulus package passed by Congress early last year.

A new undersea fiber-optic cable has gone into operation that links Japan with the regional Trans-Pacific Express Cable Network (TPE), Japanese carrier NTT Communications said Monday.

A former Massachusetts prison inmate has been given an 18-month prison sentence for hacking prison computers while he was incarcerated.

A U.S. district court judge has ordered the largest "spam gang" in the world to pay nearly US$15.2 million for sending unsolicited e-mail messages marketing male-enhancement pills, prescription drugs and weight-loss supplements, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said Monday.

Europe's Council of Ministers extended a controversial program on Monday that hands over information on international financial transactions to the U.S. for antiterrorism purposes.