[citation][nom]neiroatopelcc[/nom]It's not like a security hole is the same as granting those hacker kids permission to break in. There'll always be a way in if you look hard enough.[/citation]
They aren't exploiting security holes. They're brute forcing it, that is what a DDoS and the other attacks are. It doesn't matter how strong the gates are, enough punishment will knock them down.
Sony got taken down by Amazon's cloud service because they offer up time on the processing farms that run the cloud service to be rented by anyone for any purpose. It's how WPA encryption was cracked (by a networking engineer), it's how Sony was cracked (by this supposed groupt), and similar methods are being employed for these attacks.
I think the current trend in these attacks is due to the hit Sony's network took. Think about it: you're a hacker looking to make money, your usual prey are mom and pop sites that don't have the world's best security so you can do simple stuff like SQL injectors and redirects to leech CC info from people. Not much money, but it's simple, safe, and guaranteed success. Previously if you thought to hack a large corporate website there was a bit of a stigma as these are multibillion dollar industries so surely they are locked up like Fort Knox.
Oh wait, that's not the case? Someone took down a giant like Sony in a matter of minutes and leeched 12 MILLION credit cards, more than you can steal in a month on these mom and pop, no name sites? I wonder if these other companies are vulnerable. Ya know, all these video game companies have digital distribution methods so they maintain CC info on their servers, not to mention a bunch of kids with accounts and mind numbingly simple methodologies about their logins on the internet (same name/email and password for every account they own). They've just received an upgrade to prime target status, especially now that an example has been made that they are not invulnerable, and are actually not well prepared.
As far as what this group is doing, I think it's very childish. They are not only hurting the companies they attack, but the consumers. If I pay for a product I don't want to have to be paranoid that it won't work because some juvenile asshat feels the need to show everyone how big his e-peen is. It's okay though. They will eventually slip up, like always, and give away their location in some way shape or form, because if anything is a guarantee about these people, it's that they are very narcissistic and will make a stupid move in an effort to get some credit for their work.