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The catastrophic data breach of Sony Pictures helped reveal a major issue that many Americans often ignore: the important need for proper cybersecurity, as companies and government agencies are under attack. Most data breaches occur silently, with companies being breached and often not realizing for many months that data has been stolen.

"From a critical infrastructure and economic perspective, we've seen a lot worse than Sony," said Jeff Bardin, Treadstone 71 cyberintelligence training firm, in a statement to NBC News. "Let's put it in the context of the real issues: attacks on our power grid, our banks, are happening."

It might not matter how it occurs, as long as people become more aware that cybersecurity will remain a significant problem for years to come. Whether it's small hacker groups - or organized state-sponsored cybercriminal groups - they love stealing US data, which often means consumer personal information.

South Korea is under cyberattack from an unknown source, as its Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co. has been breached, with "non-critical" data being stolen. The country's nuclear installations and atomic reactors aren't at risk, but cybersecurity experts remain highly concerned the country's nuclear reactors could be at risk from future attacks.

"This demonstrated that, if anyone is intent with malice to infiltrate the system, it would be impossible to say with confidence that such an effort would be blocked completely," said Suh Kune-yull, from the Seoul National University, in a statement to reporters. "And a compromise of nuclear reactors' safety pretty clearly means there is a gaping hole in national security."

As organized cyberattacks from foreign states continue to launch attacks, stealing data from utility providers and other critical infrastructure remains high on the list.

The "Operation Poisoned Helmand" operation, as part of the "Poisoned Hurricane" campaign, is reportedly targeting visitors to Afghan government websites, according to the ThreatConnect cybersecurity company. The attacks reportedly originated from China and looks to compromise Internet users visiting gov.af websites - using corrupted JavaScript files.

"We found continued activity from Chinese specific actors that have used the Afghan government infrastructure as an attack platform," said Rich Barger, ThreatConnect CIO, in a statement to Reuters.

As the United States and NATO slowly wind down operations in Afghanistan, it looks like China wants to step up and become more active in the volatile country. This isn't the first time Afghan ministry websites have been targeted, with malware found on justice, foreign affairs, commerce, industry and education ministry websites in the past.

Madonna was forced to release six songs from her new album because 13 pre-released recordings - her entire album - were posted online. Madonna and her manager, Guy Oseary, have taken to Twitter in an effort to identify how the music, along with other data, managed to find their way to the Internet.

"We don't put things up on servers anymore," Madonna recently said in an interview with Billboard. "Everything we work on, if we work on computers, we're not on Wi-Fi, we're not on the Internet, we don't work in a way where anybody can access the information."

Despite increased security protocols Madonna tried to put in place, that doesn't mean her music was safe - it would appear it was an outside attack, as unpublished photos of Madonna were also made available at the same time "Rebel Heart," one of the songs from her album, were leaked online.

North Korea is having Internet problems, as the country - which has limited and restricted Internet access - with problems dating back a few days, though the nation's infrastructure took a severe beating over the past few days.

"Their networks are under duress," said Doug Madory, Dyn Research Internet analysis director, in a published statement. "I haven't seen such a steady beat of routing instability and outages in KP before. Usually there are isolated blips, not continuous connectivity problems. I wouldn't be surprised if they are absorbing some sort of attack presently."

Internet access in North Korea typically is reserved for government and military users, and it's unknown who is behind the attack. Internet outages wouldn't impact normal citizens of the country, but could set a dangerous precedent if the United States is responsible for the attack.

Sony Pictures is working to rebuild itself following a nasty cyberattack and subsequent data breach, courtesy of the Guardians of Peace. As such, the company has chosen cybersecurity firm FireEye's Mandiant to help clean up the mess - and FireEye likely couldn't be any happier with its decision.

Following the news, FireEye's stock value has increased, because of the high-profile nature of the data breach - and the fact that Sony Pictures could have chosen a few other large, high-profile firms. On the first day of news Mandiant was chosen, FireEye's shares increased 4.8 percent up to $32.39, and should continue to receive additional stability.

Here is what The Street Ratings recently offered: "We rate FireEye a SELL. This is driven by some concerns, which we believe should have a greater impact than any strengths, and could make it more difficult for investors to achieve positive results compared to most of the stocks we cover. The company's weaknesses can be seen in multiple areas, such as its feeble growth in its earnings per share and deteriorating net income."

Popular Aussie tech evangelist to the 'mainstream', gamer and cosplayer, Rae Johnston has recently been snapped up by Allure Media - she's been seen around various media entities including being on TV shows such as 'Mornings' on free-to-air offerings, alongside writing for multiple tech websites scattered around the globe.

Johnston has just completed a TEDx talk about gaming and social media in TEDx Ultimo, claiming that "Avatars Are People Too" - touching on a few points of interest and giving her own impressions on them.

Allure media services large-scale Australian websites such as Kotaku, Gizmodo and more.

If the US sanctions North Korea for an alleged hacking attack, they have been told by the North's National Defense Commission that a retaliation shall be expected on the White House and other high-profile US targets.

US President Barrack Obama stated on Friday that "we will respond proportionately and we'll respond in a place and time and manner that we choose," once again mentioning that he believes North Korea is at fault for the large-scale Sony hacking controversy that has been happening over the last few weeks.

North Korea's NDC replied that they "are fully ready to stand in confrontation with the US in all war spaces including cyber warfare space to blow up those citadels," further commenting that "our toughest counteraction will be boldly taken against the White House, the Pentagon and the whole US mainland, the cesspool of terrorism, by far surpassing the 'symmetric counteraction' declared by Obama."

The Anonymous hacker collective has criticized Sony Pictures for bowing down to the Guardians of Peace hacker group - and while Sony weighs its options to release "The Interview" - it appears Anonymous might be willing to do it for the company.

Anonymous released the following message (via Twitter): "You're gonna let Kim Junk Uno and his minions boss you, a multimillion dollar corporation responsible for billions of dollars in revenue? We're not with either side, we just want to watch the movie too... and soon you too will be joining us. Sorry, @sonypictures."

The hacker group also mentioned that it previously breached Sony Pictures' networks, and were surprised the company didn't work to improve its cybersecurity defenses.

The Chinese government, which has been blamed for organizing cyberattacks against foreign interests, spoke out against the cyberattack that crippled Sony Pictures. However, the country didn't specifically call out North Korea for its likely role in the breach, which stemmed because of the government's disdain for "The Interview."

"(China) opposes any country or individual using other countries' domestic facilities to conduct cyberattacks on third-party nations," according to a statement issued by Wang Yi, the Chinese Foreign Minister, when speaking to US Secretary of State John Kerry.

North Korea and China have a strong political friendship - as one of Kim Jong Un's only foreign allies - and would be an important asset for any future cyberattacks. Pres. Obama's administration is weighing potential options to retaliate against North Korea, though China would likely strongly condemn any future actions.

If you're looking to add a little safety to your rig and already have a surge-protection power-board installed, Taiwanese motherboard manufacturer BIOSTAR are now offering built-in LAN surge protection for their whole product range.

They've added an integrated chip to strengthen the electrical stability of their newest motherboards, said to prevent any damage from lighting strikes and electrical surges. BIOSTAR is the first manufacturer of its kind to offer such a service, with this features official name being "SUPER LAN Surge Protection" as laid out in their recently issued press release.

All motherboard models released by BIOSTAR in 2015 and onwards will have this protection by default, set to reduce the risk of electrical surges blowing up your PC or components through random surges.

Half of drivers tested by researchers from Wayne State University committed "lane excursions" into other lanes, while being instructed to text and drive with one hand on the steering wheel. However, it would appear older, more experienced drivers were more likely to drift into other lanes - as 100 percent of drivers from 45 to 59 years of age committed this driving error, with younger drivers doing better.

Eighty percent of drivers from their mid-thirties to mid-forties committed lane excursions, with that number dropping to 50 percent for drivers from 25 to 34 years of age. Just 25 percent of drivers from 18 to 24 years of age swerved while texting and driving, researchers noted, doing better than what many would assume.

"Generally, people believe that younger drivers are more easily distracted and therefore would be more susceptible to the dangers of texting and driving," said Randall Commissaris, one of the authors of the study. "However, our study - which included drivers ranging in age from 18 to 59 - demonstrated just the opposite. Although texting while driving had a negative impact on drivers of all ages, younger drivers were less distracted by texting, and older drivers' performance was much worse because of their texting."

Often it's a pretty heated debate on the internet - "is competitive gaming a real sport?". Well, in more MLG news - they're bringing Valve's popular FPS title Counter-Strike: Global Offensive to the public scene and the television via the X Games and ESPN. This comes to light after we've recently reported on MLG working behind the scenes to run the biggest Dota2 league in history.

Set for kickoff on the 23rd of January 2015, X Games Aspen will be looking for another sell-out audience - seeing eSports now added to the foray of hardcore high-adrenaline sports on offer. This partnership will see MLG.tv team up with the ESPN and ABC to bring this event to the wider audience.

Sundance DiGiovanni, Co-founder and CEO of MLG, commented that "2014 was a breakout year for eSports with the first ever MLG tournament at X Games Austin, millions watching competition on MLG.tv, and more than 71 million people competing in or watching eSports events around the globe," further adding "Our X Games debut was such a success we knew we had to continue the tradition. The MLG X Games Aspen Invitational will further elevate eSports placing our top competitors amongst the best winter athletes in the world and continues to solidify MLG.tv as the leading destination for premium eSports pro gaming."

Featuring a minimum prize pool of $475,000 alongside an offered $90,000 worth of player travel support, joinDOTA have teamed up with Major League Gaming (MLG) to build the world's largest Dota 2 league.

Coming off the back of an extremely successful 'International' held by the game developer Valve in 2014, seeing over $10m in prize money being given out to the competing teams alongside free travel and hotel arrangements, joinDOTA and MLG are trying to step up the game - offering a long-standing tournament for many teams to compete in.

Claimed to take "competitive Dota 2 to the next level," their recently issued press release states that this World Championship event follows on from the renewal of the joinDOTA league. Teams who competed in the last 'jDL Division 1' competition will be given the chance to qualify for a spot in the season finals, alongside multiple big-name entities being selected to attend.

Have you ever used ChatOn to chat to your friends? We haven't either. Samsung's unpopular messenger service has been marked for closure on the first day of February, 2015.

Unfortunately this messenger app didn't really gain traction in the wider market, which is currently heavily saturated. If you're wanting to chat to a friend there is a seemingly endless list of ways to contact them in this day and age through your mobile. Off the top of my head I can immediately rattle off: Steam, Skype, Facebook Messenger, Xfire, WhatsApp, Line - amongst many others.

Announced in 2011, Samsung were said to have big plans for ChatOn's development - setting it up for pre-installation on Samsung devices to try and push it into the market. This claimed by many to be a good move as Samsung was just gaining massive market share in the smartphone sector, however its three-year service will be coming to an end in two months time.

"I've got your back bro" exclaims Virgin Media. If you're prone to falling asleep on the couch or have had a long day at work, Virgin Media has developed a new device that will auto-record your show to a connected TiVo box when you slip off to sleep.

This wristband is named be KipstR and works in conjunction with a TIVo box, designed by 15 year old Ryan Oliver and 14 year old Jonathan Kingsley - two youngsters who were commissioned by Virgin Media to develop this 3D-printed device in their Manchester Creative Studio.

We've seeing more 3D-printed devices hit the market which is awesome to see. The way this hot piece of tech works is to utilize a pulse-oximeter to closely monitor the wearers blood flow and content of oxygen located within. When your heart slows down due to you nodding off, the KipstR will sense this and start recording your session.

Perhaps emboldened by the success of this summer's western reboot of the 'Godzilla' franchise, which itself will recieve a sequel, the original rights holder to the beast, Japanese studio Toho has its own plans to rejuvenate their franchise.

According to The Guardian, Toho is forging ahead with production of the 29th movie in the franchise, the first since the disappointing reception in 2004's 'Godzilla: Final Wars', saying "We have received lots of sincere requests from fans for him to be revived". Toho hope to have the next film out in time for Tokyo hosting the 2020 Olympic Games.

Sony Pictures originally pulled "The Interview" from theaters, bowing to terrorist threats issued by the Guardians of Peace, but is looking for different online methods to distribute the controversial movie. It's possible Sony could release the movie on the Crackle online streaming video service, as a way for interested fans to watch the movie.

"Sony has been fighting to get this picture distributed," said David Boies, Sony attorney. "How it's going to be distributed, I don't think anybody knows quite yet. But it's going to be distributed."

The entire Sony Pictures drama has taken many peculiar turns, and CEO Michael Lynton admitted the company has struggled to find streaming or video-on-demand distribution partners. However, BitTorrent is willing to help Sony Pictures share The Interview, though sharing it on Crackle could also be extremely effective - as social media will certainly help drive viewers to the movie.

President Obama has said the United States will respond "proportionately" against North Korea for its role in attacking Sony Pictures, but said the country is not engaged in a cyberwar against North Korea. Instead, the US may reintroduce North Korea to a list of countries accused of sponsoring terrorism, and will look for other methods to retaliate against the reclusive country.

"I don't think it was an act of war," Obama recently said on CNN's State of the Union. I think it was an act of cyber vandalism that was very costly, very expensive. We take it very seriously. We will respond proportionately, as I said. We've got very clear criteria as to what it means for a state to sponsor terrorism. And we don't make those judgments just based on the news of the day. We look systematically at what's been done and based on those facts, we'll make those determinations in the future."

There aren't many things the United States can do to attack North Korea with cyberattacks, as the US has much more to lose in an ongoing battle - and the US is more interested in trying to create generational change to help better the North Korean people, rather than directly fight with the government.

Office retailer Staples recently issued an update to a data breach investigation that took place earlier in the year, targeting its retail point-of-sale (PoS) systems. The company said 115 of its stores nationwide were targeted, with 1.16 million customers affected, providing cybercriminals potential "access to some transaction data at affected stores, including cardholder names, payment card numbers, expiration dates, and card verification codes."

Retailers remain under fire from foreign cybercriminals targeting their PoS systems - and the problem likely won't suddenly go away anytime soon. Despite Staples' data breach much smaller than Target (40 million compromised) and Home Depot (56 million compromised), shows that major problems still exist.