According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, hackers are becoming increasingly brazen and are widening the scope of their targets. While hackers once picked on companies that stored financial data or housed classified government information, they’re increasingly breaking into firms that don’t fit that profile. For instance, over the weekend “hactivists” posted a fake article on the web site for the PBS show “News Hour” in retaliation for a documentary called “WikiSecrets.”

While the breach was quickly contained, hackers also successfully attacked Lockheed Martin Corp. on May 21. Lockheed supplies weapons to the U.S. military and information technology to the federal government. In another attack, two South Korean hackers gained access to Hyundai Capital’s database and held it for ransom. Other companies attacked in recent months include EMC Corp.’s RSA security unit, Epsilon Data Management, two of South Korea’s largest banks and Sony, which received a ton of bad press because of its hobbled PlayStation network.

The WSJ quoted Alex Stamos, chief technology officer at security firm iSEC Partners, as saying “Almost anyone is a target,” and professional hackers now “have good tools and good technique and know how to string them together.”

Read more at the Wall Street Journal ^[1].