Hacktivism

What is hacktivism?

Hacktivism (a portmanteau of the words hacking and activism) is the use of technology to achieve activism-related goals, such as accessing data or influencing another’s network functionality. Both traditional activism and hacktivism attempt to influence political and social situations—the main difference being that a hacktivist will use computing tools to achieve their aims. Just as with traditional activism, the actions of a hacktivist may be viewed as legally ambiguous.

Hacktivism can take several different forms, including disclosing information the hacktivist thinks others should know (information leaks), thwarting the efforts of entities a hacktivist disagrees with, addressing perceived human rights offenses, and promoting free speech or freedom of information. Hacktivism is personal by nature—it’s based on the political, religious, or social value system of the hacktivist. A hacktivist can’t be objectively categorized as “good” or “bad.” From the hacktivist’s point of view, their goal is laudable; from the target’s perspective, hacktivism is just like any other cyberattack. Some people use the term hacktivism to include actions that others would categorize as cyberterrorism.

Who is a hacktivist?

There’s no single profile for a hacktivist. They may be a single person, or part of an otherwise unaffiliated group brought together over a common cause. A hacktivist can also belong to a group sponsored by another entity, like a government. Hacktivists may commit a single act of hacktivism, or may operate continuously over time. The targets are most often government or corporate entities, but may occasionally include high-profile individuals or those in a position of power.

A hacktivist is differentiated from a hacker by the hacktivist’s intent of “doing good” without the goal of financial profit. That said, hacktivists and hackers use many of the same tools and methods, and in both cases their actions are often considered illegal, or at least existing in a legal gray area. Some label hacktivism as civil disobedience, while others would disagree with this characterization.

There have been several well-known hacktivism events—perhaps the most notable being the several WikiLeaks document leaks. Another recognized group, called Anonymous, is known for its attacks on governments and corporations. Recent high profile hacking between Russia and Ukraine illustrates the turn hacktivism has taken in recent years to include attacks between nations.

Tools and methods of a hacktivist

Some of the more common methods used by hacktivists include:

• Doxing: This tool is generally used against high profile individuals. The hacktivist publishes private information about the targeted individual, like a phone number or physical address.
• DoS/DDoS attacks and virtual sit-ins: These attacks overwhelm a targeted website or network with a large volume of traffic, with the goal of disrupting normal functionality. Distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks accomplish this using botnets, while a virtual sit-in uses actual people repeatedly connecting to a website.
• Data theft: Hackers can use a variety of tactics to break into a secured network and steal data, usually to gain user data, passwords, or other info, and hold that data ransom. Hacktivists will use the same tactics to steal data, but they are more likely to want the stolen data in order to expose a person, company, or government to public scrutiny. Sometimes this information is also used to conduct further attacks.
• Hijacking: By hijacking social media accounts or websites, a hacktivist can greatly increase visibility for their message. The hijacked platforms can be used to broadcast the hacktivist’s message, or direct readers to their own websites or social media accounts.

Hacktivists also employ mainstream methods of communicating, like maintaining their own websites, anonymous blogs, or other information-sharing platforms for disseminating leaked data. To circumvent censorship attempts, they can set up mirrored websites that replicate their own or others’ censored content.

Does hacktivism present risks for individuals?

A hacktivist often focuses their efforts on high profile targets—large entities they believe are acting improperly, or the individuals in charge of these organizations. The average individual is usually not a direct target of a hacktivism campaign. However, this doesn’t prevent individuals from becoming collateral damage in a hacktivism event (or what some might qualify as a hacktivism attack). For example, a document leak of corporate or government records could contain sensitive information about employees, turning them into unintended victims. And a DDoS attack on a website can hamper an individual getting access to their own accounts.