But rather than change their trash-talking ways, the executives say the real lesson of the Sony hack is to assume that no email is safe from prying eyes. And so in recent days, when they had something vulgar or highly sensitive to share, they have found themselves going back to the old-fashioned phone call. Some are even walking down the hallway to deliver profanities in person.

According to a producer in Hollywood, people have been staying clear of email and opting for cellphones over the past two weeks as studios have been bolstering firewalls and email systems. “Everyone has been doing business on their cellphone since this happened,” the person said, asking not to be named. “The reality is, every studio has emails in their system that would cause the chaos if they came out."

Or as Jenni Konner, a writer and executive producer for HBO’s “Girls,” said on Twitter Tuesday night: “The worst thing about the Sony hacks is people using the phone again.”

It’s not only people in Hollywood who are picking up the phone again in case of an email hack.

For the rest of us, the Sony hacking is just another example of how our emails are highly insecure. “Don’t put anything in an email that you wouldn’t want to see on the front page of The New York Times the next day,” said Brian Krebs, who specializes in cybercrime and operates the website Krebs on Security. “It’s like putting a postcard in the mail.”

“And you can’t unsay anything you’ve said on the Internet,” Mr. Krebs added.

Anyone who thinks they are immune hasn’t been following the news this year. If I had to give 2014 a tech moniker, it would be The Year of the Hack, with numerous companies including Home Depot, JPMorgan Chase and now Sony the victim of cyberattacks in which millions of customers’ information were stolen.

So what are we supposed to do: never utter a negative word about anyone ever again? That’s about as unrealistic as high school students not standing by their locker gossiping (or doing so via text message).