There is so much good about the Internet. It allows us to communicate instantly, freely and widely for business and personal purposes. Unfortunately, whether there is good, the forces of evil also lurk.
This point is driven home by an international plot to hijack millions of computers, as has been reportedly disclosed by a recently unsealed New York indictment. The aim of the plot has been to use malware to hijack computers in various countries such that people visiting common Web sites such as Netflix, ESPN, Amazon and IRS.gov are rerouted to other sites. These other sites have generated millions of dollars of wrongfully gained profits.
The indictment reportedly states that a half million computers in the United States alone have been infected. Some of the computers are used by important government agencies like NASA, as well as computers of educational institutions and nonprofits.
So, while there are many benefits to our Internet use, we still must be afraid, very afraid, of online wrongdoing.