--- alerts blurb --- INTERNET: The big internet story as we go into 2011 is security. The Wikileaks scandal showed how easily data can be copied, while the lesser-known Stuxnet worm was a sophisticated digital weapon. Governments everywhere want the weaponry, without the weaknesses. Plus: six websites to watch in the coming year. (pics: could we use one of Julian Assange, please?) THE INTERNET COLUMN By Giles Turnbull [Standfirst] If there's one hot topic for the internet as we enter 2011, it's cyber security: if governments can't control the net, who can? Giles Turnbull reports. WIKILEAKS WAS JUST THE BEGINNING With the Wikileaks scandal so much in the headlines recently, the internet has become front-page political news. So where is it heading in 2011? To answer that, we need to look back at another story from 2010 that didn't get quite the same share of the limelight: that of Stuxnet. Stuxnet was a malicious computer worm, but one with a mission. It was targeted at the computers that control crucial equipment in Iran's nuclear weapons development programme. It did nothing at all on any other computer it reached. Only when it found the target did it act - and even then, in a way so subtle that it was hard to tell what had caused any malfunction. Experts believe that Stuxnet was the work of a powerful and well-funded spy organisation engaged in an act of cyberwar. (There's a good summary of the story here: http://fxn.ws/hgYada.) Later, the Wikileaks scandal erupted, with Julian Assange (pictured) at its centre. America was furious about the leaking and publishing of its secret diplomatic cables, and it hit back with cyberbattles of its own, causing Wikileaks' suppliers and bankers to shut down all their services to it. The site just went underground, and was "mirrored" (or copied) to thousands of servers within hours - rendering useless all efforts to keep the documents secret. Stuxnet was a sniper's bullet. Wikileaks was a bomb loaded with shrapnel. Both have given governments around the world the jitters about cyber security. In the coming year, we should expect to see renewed efforts by those governments to crack down on internet freedoms and more tightly control how data gets shared, and by whom. PINPOINT PRECISELY Pinpoints (www.yourpinpoints.com) is a new web service that matches up precise locations with shareable web addresses. You pick your place on the map, and Pinpoints gives you an address you can send round to friends. They click it, and see exactly the same place. You can add your contact details, photos, and other useful extras. It works on phones, too. SIGN TO A MAJOR My Major Company (www.mymajorcompany.co.uk) is a record label for the internet age. If you make music, you can submit your work to be reviewed by online A&R people. If you like music, you can become an investor, chipping in money to help the musicians you like best. If an artist or band raises enough cash, they can start releasing their own CDs, and they get a higher share of the profits than with traditional record labels. GOOGLE'S NOTEBOOK Google has unveiled its own notebook computer, the catchily-named CR-48. But you can't buy one. It's a prototype machine, designed to work with Google's new "web operating system". There are no files and folders - just a web browser (Google's own Chrome, of course) and a wifi connection. Google wants people to try it out, so it's giving a few away. But you have to be in America, and you have to ask nicely (at google.com/chromenotebook). A retail version for all of us can't be far off. BROWSING AROUND ... SIX SITES TO WATCH IN 2011 :: Lanyrd, for conference geeks www.lanyrd.com :: Minecraft, the independent web game www.minecraft.net :: Glitch, another online game www.glitch.com :: A notepad in the cloud notepad.cc :: Where will the government axe fall? www.wherearethecuts.org :: Share music and other home-made audio www.soundcloud.com THING OF THE WEEK :: Use up your Christmas leftovers sensibly resourcefulcook.com Giles Turnbull has a website at gilest.org End