To say my dear forever dad was upset was an understatement. I don’t particularly care for when my people are unhappy, so this is something I’ve come to dislike almost as much (if not more) as my dad. It’s nothing he won’t get over, but it’s something that I can’t stop thinking about.
There’s this news story flying around the Internet right now about the “Christmas Coal,” otherwise known as a complete shutdown of video game systems due to hacking issues. It started Christmas Eve and three days later the issue still has not been fixed. 
The group of hackers responsible for the problem is claiming a big reason they did this was to raise awareness about the lack of proper security procedures and methods within the networks that support the systems. That this was something in the best interest of gamers everywhere who they are ultimately trying to protect.
I think that’s a bunch of rubbish. Even if its true, there is something awfully sad about everything involved with that idea. It diminishes an underlying tone of hope and trust and understanding of common decency in society. It’s rude. And it’s sad.
Dad will get over it. Surely those like him will also get over it. As will the families who saved up all year to buy their children a system for Christmas I suppose. I guess I too will even get over the disappointment dad had (and still has, since the network remains compromised three days later). I also recognize the silver lining in all the extra time anyone who has been affected by this will have with their friends and family as a result.
But I won’t get over the lesson I’ve learned from all of this. I can’t get over that. It’s a simple lesson that is apparently lost on some people. It’s something you may even debate in Ethics 101. Doing a bad thing for the right reasons doesn’t make it the right thing to do. It’s as simple as that.
Wiley's Wisdom 