Intelligence and security research group Stratfor was hacked Saturday, and a a list of clients, personal information and credit card numbers purloined from its servers.

Having exposed the group's customers, the hackers apparently used the card numbers to make donations to the Red Cross and other charities.

The New York Times' Nicole Perlroth writes that the attack was also likely intended to embarrass Stratfor. She ends with a curious quote from Jerry Irvine, a member of the Department of Homeland Security's cybersecurity task force:

“The scary thing is that no matter what you do, every system has some level of vulnerability,” says Jerry Irvine, a member of the National Cyber Security Task Force. “The more you do from an advanced technical standpoint, the more common things go unnoticed. Getting into a system is really not that difficult.”

Sure, if it's a web server, exposed to the public by design.

But Stratfor didn't just expose a website to the public. It also, apparently, put all this other stuff online, in the clear, for the taking.

It's true that websites are like storefronts, and that it's more or less impossible to stop determined people from blocking or defacing them now and again.

Here, however, it looks like Stratfor left private files in the window display, waiting to be grabbed by the first guy to put a brick through the glass.

Now, I'm not a member of the national IT security planning task force. But I'm pretty sure that putting unencrypted lists of credit card numbers and client details on public-exposed servers isn't quite explained by "no matter what you do, every system has some level of vulnerability."

UPDATE: One Anon claims that the hack was not the work of Anonymous. However, the usual caveats apply: no structure, no official channels, no formal leaders or spokespersons.

This piece was originally published on a now-defunct website for general audiences. It now lives on here in vaguely inappropriate perpetuity

My first computer was a Sinclair ZX Spectrum, most likely bought at Dixons in Worthing, England, circa 1986. But that's not the one I'd like to talk about, because it was defective and went right back to the store.

Dad, convinced by Clive Sinclair's legendary quality control that you get what you pay for, opted for the expensive Amstrad CPC over a replacement or a Commodore 64. Together, these three machines were the ruling triumvirate of 8-bit home computing in Thatcher's Britain. The Amstrad wasn't much different to the Commodore -- brighter graphics, tinnier sound -- but came with a built-in tape deck, a crisp color monitor, and a decent warranty.

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The Microsoft YouTube channel was hacked over the weekend, but it was totally the weakest hack of all time. Nary a nyan cat, not one dicksuit, not a speck of porn, not a single Katy Perry bewb. You call that a defacement, son?

The Los Angeles Times reports that the FBI has made an arrest in its investigation of celebrity phone-hacking in Hollywood. As every heterosexual male of fapping age on the internet knows, nude snapshots of Johansson made their way online not long ago. The FBI wants to plug that leak. Plug it hard.

The break comes several weeks after reports that the cellphone accounts of Scarlett Johansson and other stars had been breached.

The FBI did not name the victims in the investigation, dubbed Operation Hackerazzi. Officials scheduled a news conference later Wednesday morning to release additional information.

More: Los Angeles Times.

Scarlett Johansson poses for photographers on the catwalk before the Dolce & Gabbana Spring/Summer 2012 women's collection during Milan Fashion Week September 25, 2011. REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini