I can't speak from the SF aspects, however I can say this, if you put it out there, it can be found. I used to be a P.I. combined with my background as an S.E. this was one of the first things I searched. As far as others searching and keeping things secure, I shall attempt to paraphrase something an unnamed hacker once said when asked how to keep a computer totally secure: "Unplug it, bury it in the ground, and MAYBE I wouldn't be able to get into it." In my limited time at the State Dept. I felt good to find that they followed that to the letter. 
__________________
“Though much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.”
|