The Washington Post reported over the weekend that the CIA had warned U.S. utilities of the possibility of attacks, or threats with extortion demands, via the internet. At a conference in New Orleans attended by security officials from governments, utilities, and companies such as Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) and BP (NYSE: BP), a cybersecurity analyst broke with CIA disclosure polices to detail several recent cyber intrusions outside the United States, one case resulting in a power outage that affected several cities.

Increasingly sophisticated intrusions into corporate computer systems have cost companies worldwide more than $20 billion each year, according to some estimates. And extortion is a growing threat, with attackers radically increasing their take from online gambling sites, e-commerce sites, and banks, which pay up to prevent their sites from being shut down and to avoid public knowledge their sites have been hacked.

With the rising tide of cyber attacks on the infrastructure over the past year or so, and the vulnerability of the power grid, transportation systems, and big banks becoming increasingly clear, investors have to wonder how secure the exchanges are from extortion or efforts to manipulate the markets by individuals or organized groups. The London Stock Exchange suffered a cyber attack this past June. Such attacks frequently originate from overseas, sometimes supported by foreign governments, and perpetrators can be next to impossible to track down and bring to justice.

After reading gobs and gobs of information over the last few days on the Apple, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:AApl) iPhone (which has captured my attention like much of the press), I can't help but be awed by what that company has done. Not, not in terms of technology nor customer friendliness -- although those are apparent like with anything Apple does -- but by the impact this device may have on both the mobile phone manufacturing segment as well as the mobile phone carrier business.

After all, only Cingular Wireless, which is soon to be AT&T, Inc. (NYSE:T), will get this phone during the "exclusivity" period. Will carriers like Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ), Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE:S), Alltel Corporation (NYSE:AT), and T-Mobile suffer? From many accounts, they will. I'm not sure how to estimate the wireless customers who will "jump ship" to Cingular just to buy the iPhone, but it won't be small at all most likely.

Many of us know that Google Earth gives millions around the world an unprecedented view of almost every area on earth. From satellite close-ups of the Andes mountains to the Eiffel Tower and even Cape Breton Island north of Nova Scotia, web surfers around the world can peek down on the Earth just like a professional weather station used to be able to do. It's free and it's downloadable from Google right now. But, is this product a threat to governments worldwide?

Government agencies from around the world have had to contact Google to have sensitive areas "blurred out" to make sure terrorists and other possible foes could not easily study areas for possible exploitation, among other things. I'm quite sure that U.S. Air Force training grounds are really not meant to be public domain from any computer on earth with Google Earth installed.

Although Google's mission is to "organize all the world's information", that needn't apply to sensitive national defense areas, I would think, and even countries outside the U.S. are chiming in. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) in India has recently taken issue with the resolution Google Earth has of the New Delhi and Bangalore areas, with satellite resolution getting down to almost one meter -- too close for comfort for the country of India, in other words.