The past few weeks have been horrible for Sony as it recovers from its hacked network, but the troubles are not over. Sony Pictures, which is a specific part of its network database, was hacked and leaked thousands of passwords, emails and dates of birth. Think of what this could mean for corporations that are looking for laptop rentals and computer purchases. The most devastating aspect of this attack was how easy it was, and how fast it took place.

The group that attacked the Sony network calls itself LulzSec, and they even held their own press release where they described how they hacked into the network. This group is gathering a lot of attention lately with their recent defacing of the PBS homepage.

“Sony stored over 1,000,000 passwords of its customers in plaintext,” said the hackers’ press release, “which means it’s just a matter of taking it.”

The hacking of websites is understandable, primarily because hackers can be devious and downright hard to stop, but this is a new low for one of the largest network/videogame corporations in the world.

The hacking techniques by groups like LulzSec are seem by some as juvenile and obnoxious , but that does not overshadow the point that the website’s security was weak.

One million user accounts have been compromised, as well as 75,000 music codes and 3.5 million coupons being uncovered. The Sony network is leaking like a bucket with a hole in the bottom, and only time will tell how it reacts and recovers.

It’s a scary time for Internet based corporations and agencies, because it’s obvious that hacker attacks are becoming more frequent and much less tolerant. Along with the Sony attack, in April there was a hacker infiltration of confiscated data in the Oakridge National Laboratory, which was founded by the US Department of Energy. Another hacker group broke into Epsilon Interactive, the world’s biggest email marketing firm, and exposed customer names and data of extremely high profile companies.

We’re entering an era where network safety is a primary need for large active corporations. With laptop rentals circulating quickly, and companies growing larger on the Internet, it’s important to ask yourself: is my network safe?