Privacy is a precious commodity.
In a world where reliance on electronic transmission of data is growing every day, it's easy to be lulled into a false sense of security where privacy is concerned. Most of us think that e-mail correspondence, and the files attached to it, will be seen only by the recipients that they are addressed to. From a practical point of view, that makes about as much sense as assuming that no one reads postcards sent through the mail. As a message traverses the Web, for instance, it can pass through dozens of private and public networks, routers, and bridges. It only takes a little money and talent to compromise the security of communications that pass through a network.