Total online security may be an impossible mission. Risk is inevitable. In many parts of the country, it's now possible to pay your taxes, renew your driver's license, contact your elected officials and get your passport, all online. At the same time, many still shun the use of such online services. Some simply don't have or can't handle the technology.
Hackers are able to get that data and abuse it.
Databases connection to the Internet, agreed noted cryptographer Bruce Schneier, are not secure. And probably can't be secured with current technology. The government is taking a huge gamble with personal privacy by putting them on the Internet. Schneier, a tireless privacy advocate, is also head of Counterpane Systems, an Internet security firm. Credit card numbers, for example, are stolen every day without the help of computers.