Cybersecurity: as Far Back as the Middle Ages, Historians Will Attest That Any Well-Traveled Footpath Was Rife with Thieves and Thugs. These Hoodlums Would Lurk in the Ditches or Woods and Await Their Chance to Steal or Hurt Unsuspecting Souls Along the Route (Small Telcos Tackle‪)‬

Flash forward to the 21st century and it's clear we have our own brand of digital villains who camp out on the information super-highway, waiting for their chance to steal information and disrupt service. According to the Government Accounting Office, cybercrime--defined as computer crimes, identity theft and phishing--costs the U.S. economy $117.5 billion a year in terms of direct and indirect costs associated with stolen money, pirated intellectual property, and the repair and replacement of damaged networks and equipment. A study by the University of California, Berkeley found that banks and telecommunications companies make up half of all instances of identity theft, with Sprint and AT&T averaging more identity thefts than any other institution except Bank of America.