He stressed that attackers can do more than take down websites: They can use viruses to physically destroy electronic devices, as was the case with personal computers at Saudi Arabian Oil Co.

WSJ: Cyberattack on Spam Fighter Said to Be Over

"We don't think it's a good idea for parents to spy on their kids surreptitiously, because eventually they're going to find something they have to confront them about, and it's going to destroy the other lines of communication, " Justin Patchin, a criminal justice professor and co-director of the Cyberbullying Research Center, told CNN in 2010.

CNN: John D. Sutter,