Traditionally, much of the intelligence for controlling data communications is spread around a network, managed by proprietary software that comes with each vendor's gear.

WSJ: An Upgrade Race for Data Centers

Although there have been malicious bots around for some time instant messaging, security firm IMLogic believes that this is the first time someone has tried to use bot code to help spread a worm around an IM network by pretending to be a legitimate user.

BBC: Hand on keyboard

What the FBI began to uncover in London provided crucial insights into the growing threat posed by al-Qaeda as it spread its network across the globe.

BBC: The extradition suspects 'who led to Bin Laden

And this discovery was made not by professionals, but by a network of amateur astronomers spread throughout the world, using back-garden telescopes and swapping their data via the internet.

ECONOMIST: Astronomers may have found their first Saturn lookalike