Hacktivism

Hacktivism is a portmanteau of hacking and activism, which was coined in the US by the hacker group Cult of the Dead Cow in the 1990s. It is the subversive use of computers and computer networks to promote a political agenda or a social change. With roots in hacker culture and hacker ethics, its ends are often related to the free speech, human rights, or freedom of information movements.

As the cyber threat landscape continues to evolve, the ability to monitor, detect, and defend against cyberattacks has now become more arduous than ever.

Hacktivists operate within the fabric of cyberspace, struggling over what is technologically possible in virtual lives, and reaches out of cyberspace utilising virtual powers to mould offline life. Social movements and popular protest are integral parts of twenty-first-century societies. Hacktivism is activism gone electronic.

Cyberattacks by hacktivists are at an all-time high. With the use of social media, hacktivists can now spread the word and recruit across the globe with a single tweet or a Facebook post to carry out their agenda driven attack.

Hacktivists who are motivated by nationalism or patriotism tend to target government websites within the state offending their patriotic sentiments and will be referred to as ‘hacktriots’—patriotic hackers.
Hacktivism