Economy Briefs

CYBERSECURITY

Nintendo says attack compromised no data

TOKYO — Nintendo was targeted in a recent online data attack, but no personal or company information was lost, the Japanese maker of the Wii game console said Sunday.

The server of an affiliate of Nintendo Co.’s U.S. unit was accessed unlawfully a few weeks ago, but there was no damage, company spokesman Ken Toyoda said.

“There were no third-party victims,” Mr. Toyoda said, declining to elaborate. “But it is a fact there was some kind of possible hacking attack.”

The damage from what could be part of a recent spate of such data breaches targeting big-name brands was more serious at rival Sony Corp.

COMMERCE

Wal-Mart CEO pushes plan to keep retailer growing

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Wal-Mart Stores Inc. unveiled a $15 billion share-buyback program Friday as it hammered home its message to shareholders at its annual meeting that the world’s largest retailer will keep growing.

At a packed basketball arena at the University of Arkansas, CEO Mike Duke said Wal-Mart would add sales wherever it can: overseas, online, and in small towns and big cities.

With Wal-Mart’s U.S. namesake business in a two-year slump, Mr. Duke assured shareholders that the “greatest priority” is to get its revenue at stores open at least a year — a key measure of a retailer’s health — to rise again.

But he said Wal-Mart continues to look for new customers around the globe — online and at its stores from China and the blue-collar suburbs of Sao Paolo, Brazil, to neighborhoods in Chicago. It’s testing new services like its grocery-delivery service in San Jose, Calif.

CYBERSECURITY

FBI-partner firm hit by password thieves

A group of hackers say they’ve stolen 120 passwords from a Georgia-based FBI affiliate.

Lulz Security says the passwords belonged to members of the Atlanta chapter of Infragard, a public-private partnership devoted to sharing information about threats to U.S. physical and Internet infrastructure.

The group also says it used one of the passwords to steal nearly 1,000 work and personal emails from the chief executive of Wilmington, Del.-based Unveillance LLC.

It wasn’t immediately possible to verify all the group’s claims, although the FBI says it is aware of the incident and that steps were being taken to mitigate the damage. Infragard’s website was briefly defaced before being taken down over the weekend. It remained “under construction” Sunday.

COURTS

Colombian lawsuits against Chiquita to continue

MIAMI — A federal judge refused Friday to dismiss lawsuits filed by thousands of Colombians against produce seller Chiquita Brands International over its payments to a right-wing paramilitary group responsible for killing and terrorizing civilians during Colombia’s lengthy civil conflict.

U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra’s 95-page ruling permits at least 4,000 Colombians to pursue claims for damages against Chiquita for torture, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the AUC, the Spanish acronym for the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, which was formed in 1997 to combat leftist anti-government guerrillas.

Chiquita paid the group $1.7 million over a seven-year period, even after it was designated by the U.S. as a foreign terrorist organization in 2001. Chiquita pleaded guilty in 2007 to U.S. criminal charges stemming from the payments and paid a $25 million fine, but attorneys for the Colombians suing the company say civil damages could reach many times that amount.

From wire dispatches and staff reports