Why Willie Sutton Robbed Banks: the real answer, and what it has to do with the #SonyHack

Willie Sutton was one of the most notorious American bank robbers of the twentieth century, spending two years on the FBI's list of Ten Most Wanted Fugitives.

Sutton is also the subject of one of the most frequently cited - and bogus - anecdotes in all of security (we're talking everything from physical security to information security and cybersecurity). At just about every security conference that I've attended, someone has used some version of the following:

"When a reporter asked the bank robber Willie Sutton why he robbed banks, Sutton replied: "Because that's where the money is.""