Sophos' head of technology, Paul Ducklin, says he doesn't see any positives in the actions of groups like LulzSec and refuses to use words such as 'activism' in the same sentence as LulzSec "without a strong negative to join them".

"LulzSec, whoever he/she/it/they was/were, expressly stated that their 'hacking' was for fun, because the cyber security industry was boring," he says. "If you must find a silver lining to the ugly cloud that is LulzSec, then perhaps it will be that more business managers will see security as having value to be sought, not just as being a cost to be avoided."

Ducklin also points to the Hackers For Charity group -- a non-profit organisation that seeks to solve technology challenges for various non-profits and provide food, equipment, job training and computer education to the world's poorest citizens.

"As for 'the future of hacktivism' -- to the Anonymous and LulzSec hangers on out there, grow some social conscience and learn to hack for good, if you're good enough," Ducklin says.

Future Tense