Hackers breach US electricity grid

News of a recent security breach in the US electrical grid is prompting new security worries and calls for better protection, says Computing.co.uk.

A report in The Wall Street Journal claimed spies from China and Russia had breached security protections on US electrical grids and installed software, which could have been used to cripple systems such as water treatment centres and power plants.

The report noted that no malicious activity had taken place. However, given the severity of such an attack, security experts are issuing dire warnings that protections must be improved.

Nasa has said its Mars Exploration Rover Spirit mysteriously rebooted twice during the holiday weekend, reports The Register.

"While we don't have an explanation yet, we do know that Spirit's batteries are charged, the solar arrays are producing energy and temperatures are well within allowable ranges," says John Callas of Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in a statement.

"The rover is in a stable operation state called automode and taking care of itself. It could stay in this stable mode for some time if necessary while we diagnose the problem."

Elections can be funky - that appears to be the message of an EU campaign using the MTV entertainment network to stir interest among young Europeans, says the BBC.

"Can you hear me Europe?" involves a series of TV adverts aimed at getting young people to vote in the European Parliament elections on 4 to 7 June.

They will be able to express their wishes and ideas on the Web site www.caneuhearme.eu.

A prolific Internet worm battered microblogging site Twitter over the weekend in four separate attacks, resulting in thousands of compromised accounts, says Channel Web.

The worm, a computer program designed to propagate and infect users over a network, targeted the San Francisco-based Twitter site in a series of four attacks from Saturday morning until early Monday morning.

Twitter co-founder Biz Stone said in a company blog that the attackers initially created four accounts that rapidly spread the worm over the site early on Saturday morning. Stone said Twitter's security team was deployed later that morning to address the threat.