And the law, as often happens when technology advances quickly, isn't ready. We wind up confronted with cutting-edge issues. The technology also tends to take battles to a new level, said Peter Tippett, president of the Pennsylvania-based National Computer Security Association. It's sort of a new class warfare. Computers can be used in industrial espionage to steal secret formulas or designs or to spread misinformation.
Computers lie at the heart of the controversy over personal privacy.
For instance, Tippett said, anyone with the access to a drugstore's computerized prescription records can find who's taking anti-depressant medication.