Krebs was mining a conceptual shift, one in which our dependence on the Internet and networked computers had turned code into the DNA of physical infrastructure.

FORBES: Dim Reading in Geekville

These cases represent the dark side of addiction, certainly, but internet addicts with a milder version of the disorder might argue that their dependence is actually beneficial, since it lets them be more productive professionally.

FORBES: Internet Addiction: The New Mental Health Disorder?

But what is also striking is that both he and the Bank of England's brainy financial stability director Andy Haldane have been waxing lyrical about the long-term potential of new-age internet-based lenders - what are known as peer-to-peer lenders - to significantly reduce our dependence on traditional banks.

BBC: What threat to banks from internet lenders?