From very early on in human societies, people have looked for a way to exchange goods and services efficiently. Currency was the result of this economical need. An easy to carry representation of something of great value to a person. For ours and many other nations this was gold. Dollar bills represented specific amounts of gold, but even then many people had trouble accepting the idea of currency, and for good reason. When many governments begin to fail, the currency that they issue becomes worthless, leaving people with lifelong savings worth pennies. But what about the new currency facing the population of this planet. With the rise of computers and machinery quickly gaining ground in society and our lives, we are beginning to consider these machines Swiss army knives. Capable of doing everything from our taxes, to ordering pet medications. But what about the next step we are beginning to take. The step beyond credit cards, where all money is digital, and nothing real is truly exchanged? Many who oppose this encroaching trend are told that it's safe and not to "be afraid of change". But what about the lack of security on the Internet. How are we to safeguard against those that steal our monies in other countries? These and many other questions come up regarding the security and the saneness of trusting the Internet completely.
In chapter thirteen of the book we see several examples of hackers getting the upper hand. From Trojan horses to viruses and worms, the hackers" tools are close to limitless. No longer is security a matter of being one step ahead of the rest, but rather, it's a matter of catching up. Corporate security experts are getting rusty, and the next generation is becoming more and more creative with their attacks. Combine that with a large volume of financial data on the internet, and you have an almost untraceable way to take money. The movies Office Space and Superman 3 touched on this subject.
