This is Internet On The Air, I'm Todd Mundt. The Internet connects millions of people around the world...some wonder whether this jeopardizes national security. Details in a moment.

Funding Credit: Internet On The Air is a production of the University of Michigan School of Information and Michigan radio, made possible by a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

Anyone who has lived through a blackout realizes how much we depend on networks to supply our power, water and natural gas. A natural disaster can leave us in the dark, or high and dry.

Information is now being carried by networks...and some policy-makers are concerned that a system breakdown is a problem just waiting to happen. A hacker could shut down computers controlling a city's power plant -- or, even worse, break into the nation's top-secret security centers.

Problems have surfaced already...two years ago, a hacker in Sweden managed to disrupt the emergency 9-1-1 phone service in several towns in Florida. Now 9-1-1 services are better protected...but other systems may be vulnerable.

Brent Greene chaired the Presidential Commission on CriticalInfrastructure Protection, which released its first report last fall. Greene says the good news is that a catastrophe is not likely... but the potential for a major disruption involving the Internet is growing, and that could threaten national security or economic prosperity.

The Commission called for news laws and partnerships between government and industry to encouraging the reporting of security breakdowns and the development of new solutions. The report concludes that the "good guys" have to stick together in Cyberspace to keep the "bad guys" from getting ahead.

To learn more about security on the Internet and to listen to an interview with Brent Greene, visit our Web site at www.iota.org. For Internet On The Air, I'm Todd Mundt.