Overprotective or not, the General Accounting Office today issued a report citing the unstable environment associated with computer networks and the associated fallout related to national defense, taxation, law enforcement and air traffic control.

Part of the report focused on statistics compounded by the risky networks, including the number of times the federally funded emergency response team at Carnegie Melon University's CERT Coordination Center responded to security problems. The number has risen from just over 1,300 in 1993 to more than 4,000 during the first half of 1999.

Compounding the problems are viruses like Melissa that occurred earlier this year, as well as private-sector systems that control many of the industries that run our country, including telecommunications and financial services.