CHAPTER
Imagine a place where anonymous vandals can spray repugnant
graffiti about you or your business without any consequence. They
may call you a criminal, accuse your business of fraud, or reveal your
most personal secrets. And this graffiti is viewed not only by a hand-
ful of passersby—instead, it is spread worldwide and instantly broad-
cast to anyone who looks for information about you. You can’t remove
the smear, and copies of it are permanently saved around the world.
Sound frightening? You don’t have to imagine this scenario. It
happens every day on the Internet. The victims are innocent peo-
ple—parents, teachers, students, managers, wor