The federal government is launching a wide-reaching cyber-security initiative that will monitor the internet for attacks on government agencies and private firms, like utilities companies, deemed crucial to national security. Cyber attacks are a very real concern, but the program, dubbed "Perfect Citizen," will be run by the super-secretive National Security Agency and the contractor setting up the program, Raytheon, said in a leaked email: "Perfect Citizen is Big Brother." Is this a good idea?
Better cyber security helps us all: "Perfect Citizen" sounds "damn scary," says Casey Chan in Gizmodo, but the truth is that many of the aging computer systems we all rely on "could maybe use a big brother." And if it helps other U.S. companies, like Google, avoid costly security breaches, this could even be considered "charitable by our government" — as long as the feds don't "extend a peek into unimportant ol' me," of course.
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