If Sony can get the hack made into an official terrorist attack they may be eligible for US Government emergency assistance. Also, instead of taking responsibility for their own incompetence they can shift the blame to the NSA/FBI for not stopping a terrorist cyber attack.
Overall this is BS, Sony should know better, they have had big hacks before so they should have been one of the better secured companies. By all accounts though it sounds like they didn't learn anything from the Playstation hack or any of the others.<p>At the same time, no company will ever be impenetrable, just like no government is. History has proven that with the number of spies caught on all sides in so called top secret programs. So I do understand Sony wanting US government assistance, but it should not alleviate them from the liability given their total lack of security over people's personal and private data they were entrusted with.