The opinion department of the New York Times is very frightened by recent techno-geopolitical developments, and it wants you to be frightened too. The (alleged) North Korean aggression against Sony Pictures, an editorial explains today, is a wake-up call to a slumbering and inadequately technology-defended nation:

The attack on Sony is particularly alarming because it raises the possibility that North Korea, aware that sending troops into South Korea or unleashing a nuclear weapon will bring crushing retaliation from the United States, has found a more devious weapon against its adversaries.

Is that alarming? Particularly? Some people might find it comforting to learn that North Korea had found an outlet for its aggression other than full-on military incursion or nuclear attack. A few embarrassing weeks for Amy Pascal, or a radioactive glass crater where the 10 million inhabitants of Seoul used to be? Hard to say which is more chilling to contemplate, really.

But the computer realm holds special terrors for the Times editorial board. Nothing short of all-out mobilization of "corporations and governments at every level" will be enough to deter the threat. The opinion board is so agitated about this, its language comprehension seems impaired:

The federal government also has a vital role. President Obama has promised a proportional response to what he has called "cybervandalism" by North Korea.

The president promising a "proportional response" to "cybervandalism" was more or less the opposite of declaring the Sony hack an international security crisis. The proportional response to "cybervandalism" would be to put some cyberpaint over it, sentence Pyongyang to 36 hours of cybercommunity service, and cyberget on with our cyberlives.

[Photo via AP]