World

In the coming weeks, a government review of cyber security is due to land on the desk of US President Barack Obama.
“The president takes the issue of cyber security very seriously, which is why he ordered a top-to-bottom review shortly after taking office,” said White House spokesman Nick Shapiro.
He added that the White House was not aware of “any disruptions to the power grid caused by deliberate cyber-activity here in the United States”.
Mississippi Democratic Representative Bennie Thompson, chairman of the House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee, said he would introduce legislation to address weaknesses in the system.
“Our electric system is critical to our way of life, and we cannot afford to leave it vulnerable to attack. Our oversight indicates there is a significant gap in current regulation to effectively secure the infrastructure,” he said.
The North American Electric Reliability Corp, the industry group with responsibility for grid reliability and security, said it was unaware of any cyber-attacks that had led to disruptions of service.
“NERC and industry leaders are taking steps in the right direction to improve preparedness and response to potential cyber threats. There is definitely more to be done,” the group said in a statement.
“To date the number of people in the position to cause harm on SCADA has been thankfully relatively small,” Mr Kaminsky told the BBC.
“But however small, it is big enough to be a problem and a problem that can potentially turn the lights out and cause economic harm to our country. The game is up,” he said.

2008 will be remembered by the British people as a year of economic crisis. Things have steadily worsened as the year has gone on with companies going into administration, job losses, falling house prices and the collapse of banking institutions.
Britain is just one of the many victims of a wider global financial crisis and sadly the predictions for 2009 do not show any sign of improvement for the British economy.
2008 also sadly saw the worst earthquake in China in over 30 years. The Great Sichuan Earthquake registered 8 on the Richter scale and killed around 70,000 people in May, not to mention the tens of thousands who were injured or went missing.
On a happier note, China also hosted its first Olympic games this summer in Beijing. It was a very successful games with an amazing opening ceremony and a staggering 43 new world records and 132 new Olympic records set.
China topped the medals table with 51 gold medals and Great Britain had its most successful Olympics in over a century with 19 gold medals and 47 medals in total.
2008 will also be remembered in history as the year Barack Obama was elected as the first black President of the United States. This was particularly poignant in a country where black people were once slaves and where segregation existed as little as half a century ago between black and white people.
In the British world of entertainment, Madonna and Paul McCartney’s high-profile divorces were finalised.
Reality TV remained as popular as ever where celebrities learning to ice skate, ballroom dance and survive in the jungle dominated headlines.
TV talent shows also ruled the airwaves with 8 million people voting for Alexandra Burke to win the X Factor, Britain’s most famous talent contest. Her first single ‘Hallelujah’ has become this year’s biggest-selling UK song.