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