As hacker groups in the Middle East threaten to launch a \"cyber-Jihad,\" or electronic holy war, against companies with ties to Israel, security experts said Internet security at most U.S. companies remains woefully inadequate to defend against such attacks.

Nationwide rolling blackouts could have a devastating impact on the economy, but experts also fear that the stress being placed on the nation\'s power grid could make it more susceptible to disruptions from hackers.

The Internet, so relentlessly hyped in the late 1990s, may actually be doing more to boost U.S. productivity than most people have imagined. Its unique ability to foster human interaction may prove to be a hidden catalyst for solving some of society's toughest problems.

The author wonders if we should trust computers with missile defense when they are consistently unreliable for far simpler tasks.

The U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Science, Technology and Space yesterday held the Senate's first hearing on the new science, signaling recognition of nanotechnology's growing importance to U.S. global competitiveness. But while government and business investment in nanotechnology is on the rise, it may not be enough to fix some of the research and funding problems affecting the industry, said experts who testified at the hearing.

An interview with security guru, Bruce Schneier. Among other observations, Schneier argues that the threat of cyberterrorism is overblown.

The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is accepting research proposals to create a self-aware computer system that would reason in a variety of ways, learn from experience and adapt to surprises. It would be aware of its behavior and explain itself. It would be able to anticipate different scenarios and predict and plan for novel futures.

The number of organized hacking syndicates targeting financial institutions around the world is growing at a disturbingly fast rate. And so is the number of banks willing to pay these high-tech extortionists hush money to protect their reputations, according to a security expert at The World Bank.

New intrusion-detection software is being developed that mimics biological immune systems, learning to watch for unusual events. Other software randomly generates "detectors," throws away those that match normal behavior, and retains those that represent abnormal behavior.

Researchers are developing computer systems that systems become their own security experts, adapting to threats as they unfold and staying one step ahead of the action.