Many, many years ago when I was just starting my career in computers, before the Internet was around, my friend and mentor, Craig Everhart taught me an axiom which I will paraphrase here:
“Never put anything into a computer or on a network that you don’t want anyone else to see.”
The wisdom of this remark is eternal, perhaps even more important now, almost 30 years later, when we find ourselves in the position that everything is in many computers and on the Internet.
In 1992, I once quoted Craig’s axiom on a netnews group, and someone named Roderick Grau (apparently associated with the New York State University at Albany at the time) responded with his own related wisdom (which he didn't attribute):
Why not use a simple quote from some wise old sage: “No matter what precautions you take, you can not make use of something and still have complete security. All you can do is slow down a would be criminal in the hopes that he will be caught before he finishs his crime.”
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