Internet users in Turkey were on Friday experiencing severe difficulties accessing social media after the country was plunged into new turbulence by the detention of its main pro-Kurdish leaders, correspondents and a watchdog said.

Microsoft on Tuesday warned that a Windows vulnerability exposed by rival Google was being exploited by a hacking group suspected of cyber attacks on U.S. political institutions.

Hackers that Microsoft researchers call "Strontium" launched a low-volume spear-phishing campaign aimed at a specific set of people, Windows and Devices Group executive vice president Terry Myerson said in a blog post.

The tablet market shrank in the recently-ended quarter, as shipments of bargain-priced computers with detachable screens hit a record high, according to market analysis firm International Data Corporation.

Tablet makers shipped 43 million units in the quarter, down 14.7 percent from the number shipped in the same period a year earlier, according to an IDC global quarterly report.

After a seemingly endless barrage of cyberattacks, debate is heating up on hitting back at hackers where it hurts.

Amid calls for ways to punish and deter hackers without sparking a so-called "cyber war," a panel of experts assembled by the George Washington University Center for Cyber and Homeland Security said in a report Monday that US policies should be eased to allow "active defense" measures by both the government and private sector.

Samsung on Thursday acknowledged technical problems that killed off its Galaxy Note 7 may extend beyond its battery, and vowed an ongoing probe would examine all elements of the flagship smartphone.

Apple's quarterly profit slumped on a widely expected drop in iPhone sales, but gains in  services offered some optimism on its move to ease dependence on its smartphone.

The company said Tuesday that profit fell 19 percent to $9 billion in the fiscal quarter ending September 24. Revenue fell nine percent to $46.9 billion from $51.5 billion a year earlier.

A South Korean law firm said Tuesday that it expected thousands more people to join a class action lawsuit seeking compensation from Samsung over its combusting Galaxy Note 7 smartphones.

Major internet services including Twitter, Spotify and Amazon suffered service interruptions and outages on Friday as a U.S. internet provider came under a cyber attack.

The internet service company Dyn, which routes and manages internet traffic, said that it had suffered a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack on its domain name service shortly after 1100 GMT.

The Apple iPhone 7 went on sale in South Korea on Friday, seeking to fill a void left by arch-rival Samsung on its home turf following a damaging recall fiasco over the Note 7 smartphone.

A senior German politician said Friday that social media giants like Facebook should face penalties if they fail to tackle hate speech, after a surge in xenophobic comments linked to the migrant influx.