One could not persuade thousands of revolutionaries to sit-in at Macy's, Meijer's or Harrods, but one could program thousands of innocent computers to do so. This could be the work of someone who lost their life savings to electronic commerce. Or maybe it's the work of communists. I am amused that even hackers worry about their image. Conspiracy buffs and some privacy advocates go even further.
Actions produce reactions, and in some cases they can be worse than the crime that prompted it.
The White House is proposing the formation of a new cyber security center. And that is likely to have political impacts. It is already around the world. The KGB is back in action in Russia with a new Internet surveillance program. In China, sites are being systematically censored.