It’s funny because I know what cyberterrorism is but defining something is always so difficult. So, I needed to find the perfect definition. Cyberterrorism is “the politically motivated use of computers and information technology to cause severe disruption or widespread fear in society” (Cyberterrorism, 2019). Hacktivism is actually quite similar to cyberterrorism. Both gain access to computer programs and use it for political gain. The biggest example I can think of is from the group called “Anonymous”, who are a group of hackers. When anything bad is going down in the world, they step in. Other examples would be breaching websites to steal people’s data. There has been a lot of that happening in the last decade.
While both are similar in nature. The point of cyberterrorism is to actually cause harm. The word hacktivism itself is implying that they are activists trying to gather information to help others who are kept in the dark.
Technology has greatly helped these different types of groups. The dark web used to be nonexistent. However, nowadays anyone can buy or sell any type of information they wanted without being tracked. Even companies are creating things that will mask IP addresses for people to hide their real location. It is easier than ever to hack into someone’s information.
I don’t really think our government has responded well to these types of hackers. I feel that they’re doing their own shady stuff and are trying to collect their own information on people. Obviously, people are worried about our freedom, but it seems that everyone is distrusting of everyone.
I do think hacktivism is a subset of cyberterrorism but it can be justified. I recently saw a video where a man from Canada hacked into an American mans home video system to let him know that all of his private information has been leaked online. He told the man everything he needed to do to fix it so that his information won’t get out there and sold. There are hackers out there that are trying to do the right thing and protect people.
I will include the video of the exchange between the hacker and homeowner. It’s pretty interesting.
Watch as a Canadian Hacker Talks with Phoenix Man via Nest Security Camera (Links to an external site.)
Reference
Cyberterrorism. (2019). Retrieved February 17, 2020, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cyberterrorism