Total gridlock - Cyber threat to critical infrastructure

Cyber security is becoming an increasingly important issue, as governments and companies evaluate the potential risks that cyber attacks could pose. In May, United States President Barack Obama announced a new cyber security strategy to co-ordinate national cyber security initiatives, warning that the cyber threat is one of the most serious economic and national security challenges facing the United States.

In a sign of the administration's commitment to countering cyber threats, Obama created a new cyber security office in the White House, stating that the country's digital infrastructure would now be treated as a strategic national asset. A month later, the military created a four-star cyber command to focus on efforts to protect networks from potential cyber attacks.

Such concerns about cyber security gained media attention in April, when the Wall Street Journal reported that the US power grid had been infiltrated by foreign spies. Such an infiltration could be used to shut down or disrupt the power grid, perhaps in a time of war, posing a major threat to national security. Although such an infiltration was not confirmed, the report highlighted the vulnerabilities of the control systems that manage critical infrastructure, such as the electricity grid.