Social networking tools have made it easy for hackers to brag about their exploits - sometimes issuing press releases - where in the past hackers lurked quietly in the shadows, Cluley says.
"There's no reliable count of just how many hacks take place,"
Cluley says. "What has changed recently is that some of the hackers are getting more effective and keener to publicize their hacks."
Anonymous and LulzSec, Cluley says, have elaborate public relations components to publicize their hacking exploits. LulzSec uses Twitter frequently, while Anonymous has set up a blog which purpose is to issue press releases on its latest exploits. Anonymous also has several YouTube channels.
Such public display of their work is unusual, says SANS Internet Center's Johnannes Ullrich.
"Usually, attackers try to avoid this kind of publicity,"
he said via an e-mail exchange. Better publicity means more news coverage, and thus the appearance of increasing hacks.
Trace Security's chief technology officer. The public needs to know when it's putting its personal information at risk, he says.
"There is no doubt these attacks have brought attention to a fundamental problem that most people would prefer to ignore,"
Stickley says.
"It doesn't matter how much you spend on technology ... there is a very good chance hackers will be able to gain some level of access."
In fact Stickley says he wouldn't be surprised if many of us have already had our personal information exposed once or maybe several times in the past several years. Ullrich seemed to share those concerns.
"I do think the larger threat comes from attacks we don't hear about, and users should always be concerned about how well their data is secured,"
he said,
"In many ways, the very public attacks performed by LulzSec may help improve some of these problems."
