What is Hacktivism?
The term hacktivism has been a bit of a buzz word for the past couple of decades, falling in and out of popularity in accordance with the number of politically motivated hacks that grab media attention. There is no doubt that this word carries some weight in our industry, but what does it actually mean?
Definitions
Hacktivism has a few definitions; it really depends on who you ask. Each definition carries its own set of boundaries. In its purest form, hacktivism is an act of civil disobedience using computer technology to promote a political agenda. Mostly these hacks call for political or social change, whether it is a message to a government entity or individual social groups, it’s up to the hacktivist. When looking at the culture around hacking, the definition begins to get a little fuzzy. The biggest debate is whether the scope of the term encompasses highly illegal activity. Most definitions won’t include illegal activity but that’s not the concern. The problem is whether hackers are willing to include highly illegal activity into their ‘hacktivism’. If that sort of activity is widely accepted in the community, then the risk that hacktivism poses is higher. So, when the word hacktivism is used, we can assume that the hack probably included illegal activity, as most hacks do, but the important thing is to understand what this looks like on a case-by-case basis.
Origin
The term hacktivism appeared first in 1995 when writer Jason Sack used it in his article reviewing the film Fresh Kill. The movie features a couple that hack into a corporation that has contaminated food causing the mutation and disappearance of their daughter. The film is considered an important part of hacktivist media because it is responsible for the creation of the term hacktivism. However, the article didn’t actually define the term. This left it up for interpretation.
Types
Just like hacking, hacktivism can come in many forms. The most common form of hacktivism is a denial-of-service attack. This is where hacktivists flood a site with requests and messages so that it clogs it and halts any ability to access the site and its services. Following any kind of attack is usually data exfiltration or the unauthorized transfer of data. This is often a public leak where sensitive information is posted online or for sale. This includes doxxing, geo-bombing, and website mirroring. Doxxing happens when sensitive information on a person or group is made public. This often includes highly personal or embarrassing information and documents, but it can also go beyond that to include government and military information. Geo-bombing is used by hackers to make a video's location of filming available to the public. This can be used for good to try and locate political prisoners or missing persons, but it can become dangerous when someone is actively being threatened. Website mirroring is exactly what it sounds like. Hackers copy the content of a censored site and publish it. Going hand in hand with website mirroring is website defacing, where hacktivists change the messages on the homepage of a website to reflect their cause. These aren’t the only forms of hacktivism, but they are the most frequently used. Often these occur in large numbers, for example, a large amount of document leaks all at once.
Targets
Most hacktivists or hacktivist groups target large entities like governments, corporations, or individuals in positions of power. Occasionally they do target regular, everyday people. However, those people are often doing very bad things online and have stumbled into the view of a hacktivist. There are three main topics that motivate hacktivists. Their reasons are often political, social, or religious. Political motivations are obvious, they call for government intervention or change. Social motivations vary. Sometimes it is about exposing injustices or human right violations. Sometimes it manifests as calling out an individual or group’s actions for harming others or the planet. The third topic is a little less common. Religious motivates often show up as a hacktivist group trying to expose a religious organization for its wrongdoings. An example of this is Anonymous' war against the Church of Scientology. This motivation can include both discrediting or encouraging a certain religion or set of religious beliefs.
At the end of the day, hacktivism is still hacking and is often illegal. Even if the intention or message is good, that doesn’t mean that the process of spreading that message is above the law. Throughout the next month, we plan to discuss some of the biggest hacktivist groups and events over the past few decades to paint the full picture of hacktivism.
