I've said this a few times, but back in college I lived and breathed Counter-Strike. In fact, I'd even say I majored in the damn game. Well, one of the biggest turn-offs to me, after a while, was the rampant hacking and cheating that took place in CS. To continue this not-so-proud tradition, it seems some young hooligan hackers have decided to lash out on Valve and their much-maligned Steam by showing just how vulnerable the system really is ... allegedly.

From Next-Gen:

The owner of No-Steam, a site slanted against Half-Life and Counterstrike house Valve Software, claims to have hacked the developer’s servers, gaining access to sensitive info such as credit card numbers. No-Steam member MaddoxX claims to have gained access to credit card information, Valve balance sheets, cyber café and other files sensitive to both Valve and its customers.

"cIntX," who described himself as one of MaddoxX's "helpers" and answered a Next-Gen inquiry via MaddoxX's e-mail account, said that the hackers are not afraid of any legal repercussions. He added, "We are not happy [to exploit] Valve's security holes. We are just trying to show people how secure Valve actually is and how much [the company] is investing for your security."

It's also notable that the e-mail was injected with plenty of anti-Valve rhetoric, including claims that Valve "steals" consumers' money and the company's services and products "aren't worth" the money. cIntX also claimed that Valve deactivated MaddoxX's account "some years ago...without a good reason."

When asked what would happen to allegedly compromised credit card information, the "helper" said cryptically, "I'm not god I'm just a friendly guy."

Are these hackers justified in what they're doing, or are they complete a-holes for stealing our information?