> Schneier: government, big data pose bigger 'Net threat than criminals >
> By Dan Goodin
>
> As Bruce Schneier spent the past decade watching the growing rash of
> phishers, malware attacks, and identity theft, a new Internet threat
> has emerged that poses even greater risks, the security expert said. >
> Unlike the security risks posed by criminals, the threat from
> government regulation and data hoarders such as Apple and Google are
> more insidious because they threaten to alter the fabric of the
> Internet itself. They're also different from traditional Internet
> threats because the perpetrators are shielded in a cloak of
> legitimacy. As a result, many people don't recognize that their
> personal information or fortunes are more susceptible to these new
> forces than they ever were to the Russian Business Network or other
> Internet gangsters.
>
>
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I've been saying for years that my son and others of his generation didn't realize what they were giving up by using Instant Messenger and its follow-on products. They gave up the last vestige of privacy they have in the electronic age: the names of their friends.