In brief: Hackers got email addresses

NEW YORK – Hackers stole 53 million email addresses in addition to customers’ card data, Home Depot said Thursday.

The nation’s largest home improvement chain had disclosed the massive breach of 56 million debit and credit cards in September.

The file that was hacked did not contain passwords or other sensitive personal information, according to Home Depot.

Home Depot said hackers initially accessed its network in April with a third-party vendor’s username and password. Home Depot said hackers stole information through malware installed on self-checkout systems in the U.S. and Canada. That’s similar to what happened at Target where thieves hacked into the password of a third-party supplier.

LOS ANGELES – Labor strife at major West Coast sea ports is threatening the delivery of holiday goods that consumers expect and retailers need to turn a profit.

Until now, dockworkers and their employers have been negotiating a new contract with little of the drama that characterized past talks.

No longer. The association representing companies that ship cargo in and out of 29 West Coast ports and manage containers once they are onshore is accusing the dockworkers union of deliberately slowing work to gain bargaining leverage.

The association said crane operators in Washington state are moving cargo at half-speed, while in Southern California the union isn’t dispatching enough workers to load containers efficiently onto trucks and trains.

The union says cargo flow is gummed up because companies can’t provide enough truck chassis to meet demand.

Microsoft giving away basic Office

SAN FRANCISCO – Microsoft is offering free upgraded versions of its Office software for iPhones and iPads, as the software giant further embraces the so-called “freemium” strategy. Give away a basic version of a popular service, and the world may beat a path to your door and be willing to pay a little more for extras, or so the thinking goes.

Microsoft is hoping to keep people using its products across all their devices, while betting that many will ultimately pay for fuller-featured versions of the software.

The apps released Thursday, including Word, Excel and PowerPoint, replace a limited iPhone version and upgrade a more powerful set of apps that the company released for iPad tablets in March.

Texan arrested in bitcoin scheme

NEW YORK – A New York prosecutor says the federal government has brought its first bitcoin securities fraud case, accusing a Texas man of engineering a bitcoin Ponzi scheme.

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara announced the arrest Thursday of 32-year-old Trendon Shavers, of McKinney.

Shavers made an initial court appearance in Texas on charges of securities fraud and wire fraud. He was released on bail.

Authorities say Shavers has already been ordered by a federal court in Texas to give up more than $40 million and pay a $150,000 penalty in a related civil case.

Bharara says Shavers caused about half of 100 investors to lose all or part of their bitcoin investment in 2011 and 2012.

Mortgage rates increase again

WASHINGTON – Average U.S. long-term mortgage rates rose this week, with the benchmark 30-year loan crawling back over 4 percent. It was the second straight week of increases in rates after they had fallen for five weeks amid concern over global economic weakness.

Mortgage company Freddie Mac said the nationwide average for a 30-year mortgage increased to 4.02 percent from 3.98 percent last week.

The average for a 15-year mortgage, a popular choice for people who are refinancing, jumped to 3.21 percent from 3.13 percent.