In brief: Adobe alerts customers to stolen information

Adobe Systems Inc. said a cyberattack on its systems has exposed credit-card information of 2.9 million customers.

The maker of Photoshop and other software said Thursday that the attacker accessed Adobe customer IDs and passwords on its systems. Through that, they were able to remove customer names, encrypted credit and debit card numbers, expiration dates and other information related to orders from customers worldwide.

Adobe is notifying customers and resetting passwords. It has alerted banks processing Adobe payments.

Boeing delivers 170 planes

CHICAGO – Boeing Co. said it delivered 170 commercial planes during the third quarter as deliveries accelerated for three of its most important planes.

Compared with the same period last year, deliveries sped up for its smaller, workhorse 737, its long-range best-seller 777, and its new 787.

The pace of deliveries so far this year slowed for its super-jumbo 747, which has been a slow seller, and its 767.

Boeing has said it expects to deliver 635 to 645 commercial planes this year.

Surge protectors recalled

NEW YORK – Schneider Electric is recalling 15 million of its surge protectors because they may overheat or start a fire.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said it has received 700 reports of overheating and melting, and 55 reports of property damage from smoke and fire, including $916,000 in fire damage to one home and $750,000 in fire damage to a medical facility.

There were 13 reports of injuries, including smoke inhalation and burns from touching the surge protectors.

The devices are branded as APC SurgeArrest.

Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled surge protectors, unplug them and contact Schneider Electric at (888) 437-4007 or www.apc.com for a free replacement.

Citigroup settles: $30 million

BOSTON – Citigroup Global Markets Inc. will pay $30 million to Massachusetts to settle charges that a company analyst in Taiwan improperly shared research with four major clients a day before making the information widely available to all.

Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin said by giving the information to certain large U.S. hedge fund and institutional clients in advance, it allowed them to profit from weaker sales of Apple iPhones.

Citigroup said in a statement it is “pleased to have this matter resolved.” The analyst has been fired.

Ballmer’s bonus at 79 percent

Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer was awarded 79 percent of his target bonus for the company’s latest fiscal year, with the software giant citing falling profits for its Windows division and sluggish sales of the Surface tablet.

The $550,000 award was detailed in a securities filing Thursday and is tiny compared with Ballmer’s $11.3 billion fortune in Microsoft stock. But it reflects the Microsoft board’s dissatisfaction at a key turning point in the company’s 32-year history as it tries to become a devices and services company, moving beyond mostly software.

Ballmer, 57, said in August that he’d step down within 12 months and Microsoft is searching for a new CEO.