The Internet has brought profound changes across the globe, but its rapidly expanding criminal side threatens to undermine both its achievements and its promise. Today, thieves using computers can rob banks and steal corporate trade secrets from the other side of the world. Hackers opposed to U.S. policies can sabotage government websites, and some experts warn that a hostile country could bring the United States to a virtual standstill without firing a shot, such as by hacking into the power grid or disrupting transportation. New cybersecurity legislation has not been passed since 2002, and with new laws stalled in Congress, President Obama announced on Feb. 12 he had signed an executive order aimed at protecting government and businesses from "the rapidly growing threat from cyber-attacks." Meanwhile, some countries are moving to control Internet content, often in the name of cybersecurity.

Roland Flamini is a Washington-based correspondent who writes a foreign-affairs column for CQ Weekly. Fluent in six languages, he served as Time magazine's bureau chief in Rome, Bonn, Beirut, Jerusalem and the European Common Market and later served as international editor at United Press International.