A hacker mapped out where in the store certain 'products' could be bought, featuring the Class A drug cocaine. Other high profile victims of similar stunts include the US White House and the UK Metropolitan Office. Furthermore, companies and institutions don't need to have high profiles in order to be at risk. The companies targeted by Herbless in his protest against fuel prices were mainly small to medium sized and not widely known. They simply assisted in his efforts to work through as many alphabetically as he could.
Website defacement involves the distortion of images, text and ultimately, the company message.
If an alteration is subtle, such as a price or word change, the company may not be immediately aware of it. In the meantime, customers could be turning away to competitors' sites or developing an incorrectly informed opinion of the company. Dramatic defacement that obviously hasn't been generated by the company can be equally as damaging. Website defacement is embarrassing, especially when the mass media gets involved, as it so often has. Attacked businesses use silence as their final defensive measure.