WHY WAS THE ARPANET NOT PROTECTED FROM IDENTITY THIEVES?
Because the ARPANET was built to be completely unrestricted. This had the fortunate benefit of allowing every researcher access to all data available on the network. When the ARPANET was transformed into the Internet by connecting the ARPANET to non-governmental LANs, the design philosophy of the ARPANET was transferred to the Internet as well. As a result, the Internet is completely lawless and unregulated, and the data transmitted through it has no data security or privacy beyond that of anonymity. However, digitally advanced lawyers, or those who outsource their IT, can use a “direct” email transfer for “highly sensitive” transmissions to clients that bypass the Internet altogether in a method technologically analogous to a fax.
