HACTIVISM

University of Split
University department of professional studies

Lecturer: Ivana Čizmić

Contents

• Introduction
• History
• Anonymous
• Future of Hacktivism
• Resources
 Introduction or
“How self-absorbed computer nerds became a
powerful force for freedom ”

Hactivism is the act of hacking, or breaking into a

computer system, for a politically or socially motivated
purpose.

Hackers deployed various forms of malware against

targets to disrupt their operations, hindering progress by
rendering computer systems and networks unusable.
History
• 1950s-1980s - A culture of “hacking” springs up at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, where the term is coined by members of the Tech
Model Railroad Club as they play around with track circuitry
• October 1989 - Computers at NASA and the U.S. Energy Department
are penetrated by an anti-nuclear “WANK” worm. First deployed worm
with an explicitly political aim
• November 1994 - British activist group Zippies launched an “email bomb”
and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack against British government.
It is the first known use of DDoS for political purposes.
Anonymous
• Modern hacktivism has been defined mainly by the group known as
'Anonymous‘
• Anonymous is a decentralized international hacktivist group that is widely
known for its various DDoS cyber attacks against several governments,
government institutions and government agencies, corporations, and
the Church of Scientology.
 Anonymous
• Anonymous originated in 2003 on web site 4chan.
• Their goal was to influence global trends using their hacking skills.
• There is no formal membership, controlling body or internal structure.
•  Anyone can participate in its operations at will, and the targets and attack
vectors it picks are determined by popular consensus amongst its
members and fans.
 Anonymous
Most famous operations:

•Operation Sony
•Operation Payback
•Donald Trump’s Website Hack
•ISIS Website Attack
 FUTURE OF HACTIVISM
Online movement of social protest called "hacktivism" for sure has got its
place in the future. Almost every organization including government, legal
and also criminal organizations are vulnerable to hacking.
It will be interesting to see in which ways hacktivists will reveal affairs, affect
on politics, and how many criminal organizations will they sabotage.
Moving forward, attacks will likely become more automated and more
complex – and hence more difficult to detect and mitigate.
RESOURCES

• https://cybersecuritydegrees.com/faq/the-most-inspiring-cases-of-
hacktivism/
• https://foreignpolicy.com/2013/04/29/hacktivism-a-short-history/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacktivism
• https://www.itpro.co.uk/hacking/30203/what-is-hacktivism