22 Trade secrets and other confidential information can also pose legal problems. Unauthorized entry into a computer system is illegal, whether the target machine is connected to the Internet or not. Nevertheless, hackers still manage to get past the most difficult of firewalls. 24 Compromise of company secrets can lead to millions of dollars in damages. Hacking is not the only danger to sensitive information, however.
Some software can tell webmasters which visitors came from which links.
In addition, all e-mail has an address attached. Even if the messagecontent is encrypted, system administrators have access to the fact of communication between two parties. The existence of communication can itself often be secret, and the Internet cannot provide absolute security. In many ways, the Internet abhors secrecy. Many netizens believe in an absolute free-flow of all information.