An Internet-enabled refrigerator was identified as the source of a major email spam attack. The attack is considered the first spam attack stemming from a device associated with the "Internet of Things," a phrase used to described Internet-enabled appliances. The refrigerator was one of many botnets that sent about 750,000 malicious emails between Dec. 23 and Jan. 6.

Security documents were stolen from Microsoft employee email accounts this week after the accounts were compromised, the company reported this week. The news comes after the company was recently hacked into by the Syrian Electronic Army. "While our investigation continues, we have learned that there was unauthorized access to certain employee email accounts, and information contained in those accounts could be disclosed," explained the Microsoft blog.

Pinterest is a more popular tool for sharing content online than email, according to a new study by ShareThis, a company that makes widgets that facilitate online sharing. During Q4 2013, ShareThis found that Pinterest was the third-most popular means to sharing content online. Facebook and Twitter topped the list.

Hotmail user David Peck was the victim of a Google glitch and was unfortunate enough to have his email address associated with searches for the word "Gmail" while Gmail was out on Friday. The mixup resulted in Peck's Hotmail inbox getting overloaded with emails. "Due to a technical glitch, some email addresses on public webpages appeared too prominently in search results. We've fixed the issue and are sorry for any inconvenience caused," Google explained in a statement.

Retailers are looking at email receipts as an opportunity to expand relationships with customers. According to a report from Epsilon International, 83 percent of retailers that offered electronic receipts used it as an opportunity to acquire a customer's email address. Ian Goldman, CEO of Celerant Technology Corp told Today.com that it is a good way to connect with customers. However, Jason Shapiro, CEO of TransactionTree, says that this approach could be too intrusive.

Online ad retargeting company AdRoll has acquired email marketing firm userfox, in a deal whose terms were not disclosed. The acquisition brings the company a new source of data collection, which already includes Facebook, Twitter, and Google. Last year AdRoll acquired Bitdeli, a company focused on helping users create dashboards and visualisations for marketing campaigns.

Jon von Tetzchner, former CEO of Opera, has launched Vivaldi a new online community and email service that will give a home to the soon-to-be-shuttered My Opera Community. Von Tetzchner has hired a crew of former Opera employees to develop a replacement community at Vivaldi.net, a community of about 10 million users. "When Opera decided to close the community site," von Tetzchner told TechCrunch, "that gave us a very good reason to build a new community site." The new site includes forums, blogging tools and an email service.

Hacker Hunter Moore and Charles Evens were arrested in Los Angeles for allegedly stealing nude photos from hundreds of hacked email accounts and posting the images online. Evens plead not guilty in a Los Angeles court. Moore didn't enter a plea. Both remain in jail.

Emails that look like they are from mailers such as FedEx, UPS or even made-up delivery companies are going around. These spam messages are taking advantage of consumers making them think that they have an undelivered item that needs to be delivered. They include a link to download the tracking information. These links contain malware and put the recipient's computer at risk.

The U.S. Olympic Committee has received emails about potential security threats at the Sochi Winter Olympics. "The safety and security of Team USA is our top priority. As is always the case, we are working with the U.S. Department of State, the local organizers and the relevant law enforcement agencies in an effort to ensure that our delegation and other Americans traveling to Sochi are safe," said USOC CEO Scott Blackmun, in a statement.