When LulzSec hacked the PBS site and , there was at least a hint of nobility in it. PBS ran a documentary on Wikileaks which was not flattering, and LulzSec was taking action in what it saw as retaliation in support of Wikileaks.

When LulzSec turned its sights on Sony, there also seemed to be at least some tenuous connection to a "Robin Hood-esque" hacktivism cause. Sony had taken heavy-handed legal action when it attempted to sue George Hotz, the infamous hacker of the Sony PS3 gaming console. Sony and Hotz settled out of court, but that didn't stop online groups from targeting Sony anyway.

While I don't support or , or other hacking groups, these early attacks were easy to accept due to the noble vigilantism in them. There was also an assumption--at least by me--that the attacks were complex, and required dedication, and a significant investment of time and effort to stage.

Not to take anything away from the skills of the LulzSec members, but in retrospect I think I may have been giving the network and server security of the targets more credit than it deserved. The relative ease with which LulzSec is taking down sights and compromising data suggests that it is fairly trivial, and that these organizations have little, if any, defense against attack.

In that sense, whether the attacks are connected to some noble hacktivist cause, or are simple juvenile antics that are just part of some pissing match for hacker bragging rights, we owe LulzSec a little gratitude. Why? Because these attacks are raising awareness and bringing attention to the fact that the network and server security in place at most organizations is woefully inadequate.