e that the Internet is completely safe are learning the error of their ways through this article. Elmer-DeWitt goes on to offer more examples: “publicity-hungry lawyers” sending a promotional mailing to more than 5,000 people; General Electric’s Internet link being infiltrated and temporarily shut down; and a “worm” program which grew out of control. He also offers the reader hard statistical data regarding these Internet break-ins; “in the first nine months of 1994,” he writes, “CERT [Computer Emergency Response Team] logged 1,517 incidents—up more than 75% from 1993.” Now that we have the luxury of looking back, we can see that these numbers are very low; as more people have gotten online, more have begun to hack into any systems they can. Elmer-DeWitt ties his claims and grounds together with a few well-placed warrants. Once he tells the story of the couple who has been the victims of Internet hackers, he describes it as “an Internet nightmare come true” for those who have placed sensitive information online, only to discover that trespassers can gain access to that information as well. He describes the Internet as a “tempting target”, and points out the relative infancy of the technology of firewalls. Steve Bellovin is quoted as saying, “There is no such thing as absolute security. There is only relative risk.” Elmer-DeWitt also states that the Internet is “open and cooperative”, which is both its strength and its weakness. All of these warrants effectively tie the grounds to the claim. Overall, this article offers readers a valid, if pessimistic, view of the Internet and its early role in society. While no qualifiers or rebuttals appear in this article to offer a more balanced view, according to Toulman’s informal method of logic, this is a complete and accurate position.The second article to be analyzed firs...
