The term "hacktivism" describes the use of technology and hacking methods to advance a social or political cause. Hacktivists are people or organizations that employ hacking to further a particular cause, such as environmental protection, civil rights, or freedom of speech. While some hacktivists adhere to the law, some do things that are against the law, which can have major repercussions.

 

Types of Hacktivism:

 

Leaks of Information:

Whistleblowing: Hacktivists may divulge sensitive or secret material to reveal government or business wrongdoing. WikiLeaks, which revealed confidential information pertaining to many countries and organizations, is a significant example.

Data dumps: To draw attention to a number of concerns, organizations like Anonymous have released data dumps containing private information, including emails and contact information.

 

Website vandalism:

Websites may be targeted by hackers who add statements or graphics supporting their cause in place of the original material. This is a type of cyber-protest or cyber-vandalism.

 

Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Attacks:

DDoS attacks entail flooding a target website or service with traffic in order to briefly make it unreachable. DDoS attacks have been utilized by Anonymous in the past to protest against particular institutions.

 

Social media advocacy:

 

To spread awareness of social or political issues, hacktivists may develop or spread hashtags, memes, or online campaigns. To promote their messages, they can potentially hack into social media accounts.

 

Bombing emails:

To stymie communication, hacktivists may flood email accounts with a huge amount of messages. This may be done as a form of protest or to bring attention to a problem.

 

Cyberattacks and malware:

Some hacktivist organizations may deploy malware or launch cyberattacks to interfere with or harm their targets' systems. An example of a cyberattack with political ramifications is Stuxnet, a computer worm thought to have been created by nation-states.

 

Transparency Hacking:

By breaking into the systems of organizations or governments, some hacktivists want to expose corruption or unethical behavior.

 

Internet censorship avoidance:

To get around internet censorship and access restricted material, hackers may create tools and methods. Examples of such initiatives include the Tor network and circumvention tools like Psiphon.

 

Privacy Advocacy:

Some hacktivists concentrate on defending personal privacy and pushing for robust encryption and online security.

 

It's critical to remember that hacktivism is a contentious activity. Others consider it to be unlawful and dangerous, while some regard it as a way to fight injustice. Legal repercussions for hacktivism can be serious and include jail time and high fines.

 

Hacktivism has developed recently as a result of the widespread use of the internet by organizations and people to spread awareness of a variety of social and political issues. Hacktivism's efficacy and moral implications are still up for discussion.