TOP STORY
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Is the U.S. at risk from cyberwarfare?
By Robert McMillan
May was not a good month for geeks in Estonia.
The tiny Baltic republic weathered a month-long cyberattack that shuttered Internet servers nationwide. At the height of the crisis, people who wanted to use payment cards to buy bread or gas had to wait, as the onslaught crippled Estonia's banks.
Investigators traced the attack to Russians angered by Estonia's decision to relocate the statue of a Red Army soldier erected during the Soviet era. Tensions over the incident led to rumors of Russian state involvement in the cyberattacks.
Even if these suppositions are never corroborated, Estonia's experience may be repeated elsewhere. "Estonia shows us how, as we become more networked and more wired, our vulnerabilities increase," says James Mulvenon, the director of the Center for Intelligence Research and Analysis, a Washington, D.C., think tank. With a population of just over 1.3 million, Estonia is one of the most wired countries on earth. Elections, banking, and point-of-sale systems have largely moved to the Web, so cyberattacks such as the one in May can have a profound effect on its commerce.
Read the full article here
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ITWHIRLED
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Etch-a-sketch artist reproduces masterpieces
Jeff Gagliardi, the Etch-a-Sketch wonderkind, has managed to create near-perfect replicas of paintings by Leonardo da Vinci, Vincent van Gogh, and Grant Wood, among others -- all on a child's toy. He does his own paintings as well, but he'll be remembered for his knob-twiddling prowess.
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