My view is more practical. Hackers who deface Web sites aren't in it for the money. They may not even be in it for the publicity. They do it because they can. But the end result is that sites go down.
Money is lost.
IT people scramble, and vendors shake their heads. That's why we need to understand the attacks. Sure, there will be more furious attacks in the future. But educating IT people with the tools and knowledge we have now is still very powerful. See more Wide Angle columns.