Yikes! A Whole New Internet?

From Do We Need a New Internet? This sounds like a movie plot. Wake up Neo!

Conficker remains a ticking time bomb. It now has the power to lash together those infected computers into a vast supercomputer called a botnet that can be controlled clandestinely by its creators. What comes next remains a puzzle. Conficker could be used as the world’s most powerful spam engine, perhaps to distribute software programs to trick computer users into purchasing fake antivirus protection. Or much worse. It might also be used to shut off entire sections of the Internet. But whatever happens, Conficker has demonstrated that the Internet remains highly vulnerable to a concerted attack.

“If you’re looking for a digital Pearl Harbor, we now have the Japanese ships streaming toward us on the horizon,” Rick Wesson, the chief executive of Support Intelligence, a computer consulting firm, said recently.

I think anonymity on the Internet has a purpose, so I can't say the total loss of anonymity comes free of costs. But on the whole, I think most are willing to give up the right to hide for the peace of mind that comes not working about conficker and Mr. Smith.