And they disarm the public by giving cute names to their sinister pranks. None other than the computer security firms that stand to benefit from hyping the threat. How nice it would be if this laissez faire attitude toward hacking were completely justified. What an uncomplicated world it would be if hacking was no more dangerous than the spray painting that street gangs leave behind when they mark urban alleyways. But that's not the way it is.
Hackers already are far more dangerous than most people know.
In the last year alone, intentionally inflicted viruses have taken down airport control systems and 911 emergency call centers. They have permanently converted millions of personal computers into cybertrash. They'll have the power to destroy our computers the moment they arrive, via e-mail or the Internet. They'll make broadband attacks on the backbone of the Internet.