The new Department of Homeland Security will have a major effect on computer security and IT in general. Whether this effect will be negative or positive remains to be seen, but -- call me paranoid -- there's cause for concern about the formation of this bureaucracy.

First, the facts. Legislation to create the Department of Homeland Security was passed just this week. It is a sweeping bill whose overall intent is to coordinate the many government organizations in charge of security, from the FBI and the CIA to the National Security Agency.

In addition to coordinating these groups' efforts, the bill also (and here's where it gets worrisome) will give the agencies significantly heightened powers to peer into your PC.

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