Account hacks are the unfortunate result of many people feeling that they simply have too many complex and high-security passwords to create and remember. At its most basic level this is an IT problem; information infrastructure becomes unsecured because there are encryption issues. However, it’s a problem that we almost all have a hand in. Most of us have so many passwords to remember that we pick simple passwords, or we use the same one across platforms.

The Sony Playstation Network was hacked in April exposing the personal data and billing details of as many as 100 million users. It took nearly a month to get everything back up and running.

On May 27, George Lepp an Ontario Progressive Conservative candidate, had his BlackBerry stolen and a photo of a naked man (NSFW) from the waist down posted on his Twitter account. Lepp’s BlackBerry had been stolen.

These events were followed by Google’s announcement that hundreds of gmail accounts had been targeted, and while attack was stopped, it put considerable amounts of personal information at risk.

On the morning of June 7, someone hacked the Conservative Party of Canada website and posted a fake news release claiming that the prime minister had choked on his breakfast.

These prominent gaps in security were all made public within a matter of weeks. Does this signal something new? Not really. It is the same thing that has gone on since computers were networked to each other, and has existed in one form or another since one person had something another person wanted. There is an ongoing arms race between IT security professionals and hackers. That’s not going to change.

In each of the cases there were different responses by the companies or people affected. As Sony began to restart key features of the Playstation Network, it released apologies and created “welcome back” gifts. Response from the Ontario PC party was initially varied as parties tried to figure out exactly what had happened. Google responded with a strongly worded release and suggestions on how to make information more secure. The Conservative Party of Canada responded quickly and effectively.

In every case the public response was every bit as important, if not more so, than the IT response. For Sony and Google, it shook the public’s faith that the information was being kept securely by third parties, while for congressman and candidate it caused embarrassment and possibility that voters would assume the worst.

When we counsel in a crisis we remind them that “speed kills.” You need to get your response into the dialogue as soon as possible to avoid being left behind. This isn’t a problem that is going to go away. A stolen BlackBerry or a hacked password are scary. The key is to prepare. IT departments should be prepared with a full “lockdown” procedure to prevent any theft of information, but equally important is to have a crisis communication plan ready for action.

As an addendum, this post was going to mention Anthony Weiner… until it turned out that his account hadn’t been hacked at all, and he was the victim of his own actions.