At the Intersection of Interests and Objectives in Cybersecurity

The exponential increase in the advancements registered across all sectors of the information technology field gave a new, ever-expanding dimension to the idea of protesting against national governments by introducing political activism into cyberspace. Despite the apparent noble objectives, there is a thin line between hacking as a form of protest against the established order and cyber-criminal activity that can cause financial or material prejudice against organizations. This aspect outlines several dimensions of hacktivism which will be brought into discussion. Another interesting characteristic in hacktivist psychology is the pursuit of “digital clout” as a way to measure success: the more notorious a group becomes, the more attention it will get from the press alas the more successful it is. Even though it is a clear distinction between financially motivated threat actors and hacktivists, some shifts were observed in the cyber threat spectrum in the very politically charged context of war, with different groups which had a history of financially motivated cybercrime, joining the cyber conflict and engaging in hacktivist campaigns either on the one side or the other.