The common discourse for a computer hacker is of a person without morals, unleashing hazardous viruses and jamming servers across the globe. They have no intent other than being a complete nuisance. This discourse is beginning to change as many hackers are either turning to activist political causes, or activists have realised the potentials that hacking can create. Denning (2000) describes it simple as the convergence of computer hacking and political activism. Electronic civil disobedience as it also known, uses similar methods to traditional protest action. A hacker will aim to trespass and block certain passageways which will inevitably disrupt and bring attention to by various mainstream media. They can disrupt government or commercial entities by brining down websites, clogging servers, and unleashing viruses or e-bombs (Denning, 2000).
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This is when thousands of participants access a pre-announced website at same time, which contains activated FloodNet software. A targeted web page will receive thousands of hits from users participating and will inevitably clog and bring down the targeted webpage. FloodNet is a program with similar characteristic of a physical sit-in. The target will be inconvenienced(as in a physical blockade), participants could be identifiable by their IP address (such as a photo or police arrest), and bandwidth could be affected (inconvenience to general public) (Meikile 2002 143-144).
In 1998 (when internet security measures were considerably lower) a young British hacker successfully manipulated HTML code of 300 diverse websites based in locations all across the world. The hacker placed anti-nuclear images and text, and was the first major political hack to occur (Wray, 1999). Also in 1998, hackers successfully manipulated Sweden’s right-wing conservative party on the eve of their general election. They defaced pages and established links to left-wing party’s and pornography websites (Wired, 1998). These events spurred many other hackers to do the same, with hacking activity increasing in every major continent. This received considerable mainstream attention, causing upgrades to internet security (Wray, 1999).
When hactivism or online protests are coupled with traditional activism the results can be quite effective. During the protest against World Economic forum in Melbourne 2000, hactivists hijacked many websites. Not only did they bring down the World Economic forum's website, they also redirected people trying to access websites such as Nike or the Olympics, to that of their own (Meikle, 2002, p.163).
During the years mainstream media and governments have often incorrectly linked hactivism with cyber terrorism, using the terms almost in exchange and stating that hactivism is a serious breach to national security. While hactivism has the intent of disrupting normal operations for a specified target, they will not cause serious damage to the organisation. Cyberterrorism on the other hand is involved with politically motivated hacking attacks with the intent of causing serious loss of life or severe economic damage (Denning, 2000). The confusion of the two terms gives political hacking bad publicity and a bad image. It also suggests the potential for restricted freedom’s and access of the internet in the future, which could affect the entire online public sphere.
Denning, D.E. (2000) Activism, Hacktivism, and Cyberterrorism: The Internet as a Tool for Influencing Foreign Policy, viewed 5 September 2004, <http://www.totse.com/en/technology/cyberspace_the_new_frontier/cyberspc.html>
Wray, S. (1999) Electronic Civil Disobediance and the World Wide Web of Hacktivism: A Mapping of Extraparliamentarian Direct Action Net Politics, viewed 9 Septrember 2004, <http://switch.sjsu.edu/web/v4n2/stefan/>
McKay, N. (1998, Sep. 22) "The Golden Age of Hacktivism," Wired News, viewed 10 October 2004, <http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,15129,00.html>
Meikle, G. (2002) Future Active: media activism and the internet, New South Whales: Pluto Press.
Jason Spierings 22:21, 27 Oct 2004 (EST)
