Hacktivism#Forms and methods

Writer Jason Sack first used the term hacktivism in a 1995 article in conceptualizing New Media artist Shu Lea Cheang's film Fresh Kill.{{cite magazine|last=Logan|first=Jason|date=November 1995|title=Take the Skinheads Bowling|url=http://info-nation.com/skinhead.html|url-status=dead|magazine=InfoNation|location=Minneapolis |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970207061623/http://info-nation.com/skinhead.html|archive-date=7 February 1997|access-date=3 June 2019}}{{cite journal|last1=Webber|first1=Craig|last2=Yip|first2=Michael|date=June 2018|title=The Rise of Chinese Cyber Warriors: Towards a Theoretical Model of Online Hacktivism|url=https://www.cybercrimejournal.com/Webber%26YipVol12Issue1IJCC2018.pdf|journal=International Journal of Cyber Criminology|volume=12|issue=1|page=230|access-date=2020-07-13|archive-date=2022-06-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220621062324/http://www.cybercrimejournal.com/Webber%26YipVol12Issue1IJCC2018.pdf|url-status=dead}} However, the term is frequently attributed to the Cult of the Dead Cow (cDc) member "Omega," who used it in a 1996 e-mail to the group.{{Cite book|last1=Shantz|first1=Jeff|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nRjtBAAAQBAJ|title=Cyber Disobedience: Re: // Presenting Online Anarchy|last2=Tomblin|first2=Jordon|date=2014-11-28|publisher=John Hunt Publishing|isbn=9781782795551|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151116134639/https://books.google.com/books?id=nRjtBAAAQBAJ|archive-date=2015-11-16|url-status=live}}{{cite web|last=Mills|first=Elinor|date=30 March 2012|title=Old-time hacktivists: Anonymous, you've crossed the line|url=https://www.cnet.com/news/old-time-hacktivists-anonymous-youve-crossed-the-line/|access-date=3 June 2019|website=CNet}} Due to the variety of meanings of its root words, the definition of hacktivism is nebulous and there exists significant disagreement over the kinds of activities and purposes it encompasses. Some definitions include acts of cyberterrorism while others simply reaffirm the use of technological hacking to effect social change.Peter Ludlow [http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/13/what-is-a-hacktivist/ "What is a 'Hacktivist'?"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130521020503/http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/13/what-is-a-hacktivist/|date=2013-05-21}} The New York Times. January 2013.{{Cite web|last=Jordon|first=Tomblin|date=2015-01-01|title=The Rehearsal and Performance of Lawful Access|url=https://curve.carleton.ca/4c458bdb-33fb-42b1-bf6b-a390e973c792|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160203055526/https://curve.carleton.ca/4c458bdb-33fb-42b1-bf6b-a390e973c792|archive-date=2016-02-03|access-date=2016-01-16|website=curve.carleton.ca}}

File:Anarchist hackers.jpg

Self-proclaimed "hacktivists" often work anonymously, sometimes operating in groups while other times operating as a lone wolf with several cyber-personas all corresponding to one activist within the cyberactivism umbrella that has been gaining public interest and power in pop-culture. Hacktivists generally operate under apolitical ideals and express uninhibited ideas or abuse without being scrutinized by society while representing or defending themselves publicly under an anonymous identity giving them a sense of power in the cyberactivism community.https://www.crowdstrike.com/en-us/cybersecurity-101/threat-intelligence/hacktivism/

In order to carry out their operations, hacktivists might create new tools; or integrate or use a variety of software tools readily available on the Internet. One class of hacktivist activities includes increasing the accessibility of others to take politically motivated action online.{{Cite journal |last=Romagna |first=Marco |last2=Leukfeldt |first2=Eric Rutger |title=Becoming a hacktivist. Examining the motivations and the processes that prompt an individual to engage in hacktivism |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/371138711_Becoming_a_hacktivist_Examining_the_motivations_and_the_processes_that_prompt_an_individual_to_engage_in_hacktivism |journal=Journal of Crime and Justice |volume=47 (1)}}

Repertoire of contention of hacktivism includes among others:

1. Code: Software and websites can achieve political goals. For example, the encryption software PGP can be used to secure communications; PGP's author, Phil Zimmermann said he distributed it first to the peace movement.{{cite web |url=http://www.philzimmermann.com/EN/news/PGP_10thAnniversary.html |title=PGP Marks 10th Anniversary |publisher=Phil Zimmermann |access-date=2010-08-23 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514200112/http://www.philzimmermann.com/EN/news/PGP_10thAnniversary.html |archive-date=2011-05-14 }} Jim Warren suggests PGP's wide dissemination was in response to Senate Bill 266, authored by Senators Biden and DeConcini, which demanded that "...communications systems permit the government to obtain the plain text contents of voice, data, and other communications...".{{cite web | url = http://www.contra.org/pgp/PhilZimmerman.html | title = The Persecution of Phil Zimmermann, American | publisher = Jim Warren | date = 1996-01-08 | access-date = 2011-02-01 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110513181323/http://www.contra.org/pgp/PhilZimmerman.html | archive-date = 2011-05-13 }} WikiLeaks is an example of a politically motivated website: it seeks to "keep governments open".{{cite web |url=http://www.wikileaks.ch/ |title=WikiLeaks homepage |publisher=WikiLeaks |access-date=2011-02-01 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110131235529/http://wikileaks.ch/ |archive-date=2011-01-31 }}
2. Mirroring: Website mirroring is used as a circumvention tool in order to bypass various censorship blocks on websites. This technique copies the contents of a censored website and disseminates it on other domains and sub-domains that are not censored.{{cite web | url = http://advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org/projects/mirroring-a-censored-wordpress-blog/ | title = Mirroring a Censored Wordpress Blog | first = Sami | last = Ben Gharbia | publisher = Global Voices Advocacy | access-date = 2011-02-09 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110201130429/http://advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org/projects/mirroring-a-censored-wordpress-blog/ | archive-date = 2011-02-01 }} Document mirroring, similar to website mirroring, is a technique that focuses on backing up various documents and other works. RECAP is software that was written with the purpose to 'liberate US case law' and make it openly available online. The software project takes the form of distributed document collection and archival.{{cite web|title=Recap the law|url=https://www.recapthelaw.org/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130430151428/https://www.recapthelaw.org/|archive-date=2013-04-30|access-date=2013-05-20}} Major mirroring projects include initiatives such as the Internet Archive and Wikisource.
3. Anonymity: A method of speaking out to a wide audience about human rights issues, government oppression, etc. that utilizes various web tools such as free and/or disposable email accounts, IP masking, and blogging software to preserve a high level of anonymity.{{cite web | url = http://advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org/projects/guide/ | title = Anonymous Blogging with Wordpress and Tor | first = Ethan | last = Zuckerman | publisher = Global Voices Advocacy | access-date = 2011-02-09 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110209104115/http://advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org/projects/guide/ | archive-date = 2011-02-09 }}
4. Doxing: The practice in which private and/or confidential documents and records are hacked into and made public. Hacktivists see this as a form of assured transparency, experts claim it is harassment.
5. Denial-of-service attacks: These attacks, commonly referred to as DoS attacks, use large arrays of personal and public computers that hackers take control of via malware executable files usually transmitted through email attachments or website links. After taking control, these computers act like a herd of zombies, redirecting their network traffic to one website, with the intention of overloading servers and taking a website offline.
6. Virtual sit-ins: Similar to DoS attacks but executed by individuals rather than software, a large number of protesters visit a targeted website and rapidly load pages to overwhelm the site with network traffic to slow the site or take it offline.
7. Website defacements: Hackers infiltrate a web server to replace a specific web page with one of their own, usually to convey a specific message.{{cite journal|last1=Romagna|first1=M.|last2=van den Hout|first2=N. J.|title=Hacktivism and Website Defacement: Motivations, Capabilities and potential Threats|journal=Proceedings of the 27th Virus Bulletin International Conference|date=October 2017|pages=41–50|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320330579|access-date=12 May 2019}}{{Cite journal|last=Fitri|first=Nofia|date=April 2011|title=Democracy Discourses through the Internet Communication: Understanding the Hacktivism for the Global Changing|journal=Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies|volume=1|issue=2|pages=11|doi=10.29333/ojcmt/2332|doi-access=free}}
8. Website redirects: This method involves changing the address of a website within the server so would-be visitors of the site are redirected to a site created by the perpetrator, typically to denounce the original site.
9. Geo-bombing: A technique in which netizens add a geo-tag while editing YouTube videos so that the location of the video can be seen in Google Earth.{{Cite web|title=Geo-bombing: YouTube + Google Earth · Global Voices Advocacy|url=https://advox.globalvoices.org/past-projects/advocacy-20-guide-tools-for-digital-advocacy/geo-bombing-youtube-google-earth/|access-date=2020-11-24|website=Global Voices Advocacy|language=en}}
10. Protestware: The use of malware to promote a social cause or protest.{{Cite web |title=Open source 'protestware' harms Open Source |url=https://opensource.org/blog/open-source-protestware-harms-open-source |access-date=2022-03-28 |website=opensource.org |date=24 March 2022 |language=en}} Protestware is self-inflicted by a project's maintainer in order to spread a message; most commonly in a disruptive manner. The term was popularized during the Russo-Ukrainian War after the peacenotwar supply chain attack on the npm ecosystem.{{Cite web |title=Pro-Ukraine 'Protestware' Pushes Antiwar Ads, Geo-Targeted Malware – Krebs on Security |date=17 March 2022 |url=https://krebsonsecurity.com/2022/03/pro-ukraine-protestware-pushes-antiwar-ads-geo-targeted-malware/ |access-date=2022-03-28 |language=en-US}}

Depending on who is using the term, hacktivism can be a politically motivated technology hack, a constructive form of anarchic civil disobedience, or an undefined anti-systemic gesture.{{Cite journal|year=2010|title=Hactivism's New Face: Are Your Company's Enemies Embracing New Tactics?|url=http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=bcab9318-79b2-42be-afc2-6e00f7cb80a9%40sessionmgr102&vid=1&hid=127|journal=Security Directors Report|volume=10|pages=2–4|via=EBSCO Host}} It can signal anticapitalist or political protest; it can denote anti-spam activists, security experts, or open source advocates.{{Cite journal|last=Ragan|first=Steve|year=2014|title=Hactivism Struggles With a Slippery Slope as Anonymous Targets Children's Hospital|journal=CSO Magazine|volume=13|via=EBSCO Host}}

Some people{{who|date=September 2014}} describing themselves as hacktivists have taken to defacing websites for political reasons, such as attacking and defacing websites of governments and those who oppose their ideology.{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/j.clsr.2017.03.024 |title=Electronic protests: Hacktivism as a form of protest in Uganda |journal=Computer Law & Security Review |volume=33 |issue=5 |pages=718–28 |year=2017 |last1=Solomon |first1=Rukundo }} Others, such as Oxblood Ruffin (the "foreign affairs minister" of Cult of the Dead Cow and Hacktivismo), have argued forcefully against definitions of hacktivism that include web defacements or denial-of-service attacks.{{cite web | url = http://www.cultdeadcow.com/cDc_files/cDc-0384.php | first = Oxblood | last = Ruffin | title = Hacktivism, From Here to There | date = 3 June 2004 | access-date = 2008-04-19 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080423030217/http://www.cultdeadcow.com/cDc_files/cDc-0384.php | archive-date = 23 April 2008 }}

Hacktivism is often seen as shadowy due to its anonymity, commonly attributed to the work of fringe groups and outlying members of society.{{Cite journal|last=Sorell|first=Tom|date=2015-09-22|title=Human Rights and Hacktivism: The Cases of Wikileaks and Anonymous|url=https://academic.oup.com/jhrp/article/7/3/391/2412155|journal=Journal of Human Rights Practice|language=en|volume=7|issue=3|pages=391–410|doi=10.1093/jhuman/huv012|issn=1757-9619|doi-access=free}} The lack of responsible parties to be held accountable for the social-media attacks performed by hactivists has created implications in corporate and federal security measures both on and offline.{{Cite web|url=http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2017/01/10/hacktivists-increasingly-target-local-and-state-government-computers|title='Hacktivists' Increasingly Target Local and State Government Computers|website=www.pewtrusts.org|date=10 January 2017 |access-date=2018-05-01}}

While some self-described hacktivists{{who|date=September 2014}} have engaged in DoS attacks, critics suggest{{who|date=September 2014}} that DoS attacks are an attack on free speech and that they have unintended consequences. DoS attacks waste resources and they can lead to a "DoS war" that nobody will win{{citation needed|date=September 2014}}. In 2006, Blue Security attempted to automate a DoS attack against spammers; this led to a massive DoS attack against Blue Security which knocked them, their old ISP and their DNS provider off the Internet, destroying their business.{{cite journal | url = http://www.securityfocus.com/news/11392 | title = Blue Security folds under spammer's wrath | first = Robert | last = Lemos | journal = SecurityFocus | date = 17 May 2006 | access-date = 2008-04-19 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080511195952/http://www.securityfocus.com/news/11392 | archive-date = 11 May 2008 }}

Following denial-of-service attacks by Anonymous on multiple sites, in reprisal for the apparent suppression of WikiLeaks, John Perry Barlow, a founding member of the EFF, said "I support freedom of expression, no matter whose, so I oppose DDoS attacks regardless of their target... they're the poison gas of cyberspace...".{{cite news | url = https://www.reuters.com/article/us-wikileaks-cyberwarfare-amateur-idUSTRE6B81K520101209 | title = Analysis: WikiLeaks — a new face of cyber-war? | access-date = 2010-12-09 | work = Reuters | date = 2010-12-09 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120726044154/http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/12/09/us-wikileaks-cyberwarfare-amateur-idUSTRE6B81K520101209 | archive-date = 2012-07-26 }} On the other hand, Jay Leiderman, an attorney for many hacktivists, argues that DDoS can be a legitimate form of protest speech in situations that are reasonably limited in time, place and manner.{{cite news | url = https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jan/22/paypal-wikileaks-protesters-ddos-free-speech | work = The Guardian | title = Why DDoS is Free Speech | date = 22 January 2013 | location = London | first = Jay | last = Leiderman | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161115080459/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jan/22/paypal-wikileaks-protesters-ddos-free-speech | archive-date = 15 November 2016 }}

{{see also|Timeline of events associated with Anonymous}}

• The Cult of the Dead Cow announces the existence of the Hong Kong Blondes, a supposed group of Chinese dissident hackers working to undermine internet censorship in the PRC. Though widely reported and discussed at high levels of the U.S. government, the group was later revealed to be a fabrication intended to draw attention to digital repression and possibly to provide cover for the extraction of Chinese activists.{{cite book |last=Menn |first=Joseph |author-link=Joseph Menn |publisher=PublicAffairs |date=2019 |title=Cult of the Dead Cow: How the Original Hacking Supergroup Might Just Save the World |url=https://archive.org/details/cultofdeadcowhow00jose |url-access=limited |page=[https://archive.org/details/cultofdeadcowhow00jose/page/115 115]}}{{cite web archived |last=Hesseldahl |first=Arik |date=December 1, 1997 |title=Updata: Hacking The Great Firewall |url=http://www.wired.com/wired/5.12/updata.html |archive-date=January 3, 2007 |magazine=Wired |access-date=March 11, 2025}}{{cite web |first1= Oxblood |last1=Ruffin |url=https://medium.com/emerging-networks/blondie-wong-and-the-hong-kong-blondes-9886609dd34b#.azknuu2un |title= Blondie Wong And The Hong Kong Blondes: hacking, human rights, and hype |publisher=Medium |date=March 23, 2015 |access-date=February 1, 2016 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150830163811/https://medium.com/emerging-networks/blondie-wong-and-the-hong-kong-blondes-9886609dd34b |archive-date=August 30, 2015}}
• In 1996, the title of the United States Department of Justice's homepage was changed to "Department of Injustice". Pornographic images were also added to the homepage to protest the Communications Decency Act.{{Cite web|url=http://journal.georgetown.edu/the-rise-of-hacktivism/|title=The Rise of Hacktivism {{!}}|website=journal.georgetown.edu|language=en-US|access-date=2017-02-28|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170227054225/http://journal.georgetown.edu/the-rise-of-hacktivism/|archive-date=2017-02-27}}
• In 1998, members of the Electronic Disturbance Theater created FloodNet, a web tool that allowed users to participate in DDoS attacks (or what they called electronic civil disobedience) in support of Zapatista rebels in Chiapas.{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/1998/12/14/penenberg_1214.html|title=When art meets cyberwar |website=Forbes |language=en-US|access-date=2019-06-03 }}
• In December 1998, a hacktivist group from the US called Legions of the Underground emerged. They declared a cyberwar against Iraq and China and planned on disabling internet access in retaliation for the countries' human rights abuses.{{Cite news|url=https://www.cnet.com/news/old-time-hacktivists-anonymous-youve-crossed-the-line/|title=Old-time hacktivists: Anonymous, you've crossed the line|newspaper=CNET|access-date=2016-11-19|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161119120420/https://www.cnet.com/news/old-time-hacktivists-anonymous-youve-crossed-the-line/|archive-date=2016-11-19}} Opposing hackers criticized this move by Legions of the Underground, saying that by shutting down internet systems, the hacktivist group would have no impact on providing free access to information.{{Cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9901/13/cyberwar.idg/|title=CNN – Hackers spar over cyber war on Iraq, China – January 13, 1999|last=D'Amico|first=Mary Lisbeth|website=www.cnn.com|access-date=2016-11-19|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130831193446/http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9901/13/cyberwar.idg/|archive-date=August 31, 2013}}
• In July 2001, Hacktivismo, a sect of the Cult of the Dead Cow, issued the "Hacktivismo Declaration". This served as a code of conduct for those participating in hacktivism, and declared the hacker community's goals of stopping "state-sponsored censorship of the Internet" as well as affirming the rights of those therein to "freedom of opinion and expression".{{Cite web|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2013/04/29/hacktivism-a-short-history/|title=Hacktivism: A Short History|last=McCormick|first=Ty|date=April 29, 2013|website=Foreign Policy}}
• During the 2009 Iranian election protests, Anonymous played a role in disseminating information to and from Iran by setting up the website Anonymous Iran;{{cite web |url=http://iran.whyweprotest.net/ |title=Anonymous Iran @WhyWeProtest.net |publisher=Iran.whyweprotest.net |access-date=2011-06-03 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110221211746/http://iran.whyweprotest.net/ |archive-date=2011-02-21 }} they also released a video manifesto to the Iranian government.
• Google worked with engineers from SayNow and Twitter to provide communications for the Egyptian people in response to the government sanctioned Internet blackout during the 2011 protests. The result, Speak To Tweet, was a service in which voicemail left by phone was then tweeted via Twitter with a link to the voice message on Google's SayNow.{{cite web | last = Singh | first = Ujjwal | title = Some weekend work that will (hopefully) allow more Egyptians to be heard | url = http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/some-weekend-work-that-will-hopefully.html | access-date = 3 May 2011 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110503002907/http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/some-weekend-work-that-will-hopefully.html | archive-date = 3 May 2011 }}
• On Saturday 29 May 2010 a hacker calling himself 'Kaka Argentine' hacked into the Ugandan State House website and posted a conspicuous picture of Adolf Hitler with the swastika, a Nazi Party symbol.
• During the Egyptian Internet black out, January 28 – February 2, 2011, Telecomix provided dial up services, and technical support for the Egyptian people.{{cite web | url = https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/02/egypts-internet-blackout-highlights-danger-weak | title = Egypt's Internet Blackout Highlights Danger of Weak Links, Usefulness of Quick Links | first = Eva | last = Galperin | date = 8 February 2011 | author1-link = Eva Galperin | publisher = Electric Frontier Foundation | access-date = 2011-02-10 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110212143700/http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/02/egypts-internet-blackout-highlights-danger-weak | archive-date = 2011-02-12 }} Telecomix released a video stating their support of the Egyptian people, describing their efforts to provide dial-up connections, and offering methods to avoid internet filters and government surveillance.{{cite AV media|publisher=czardalan|title=Telecomix Message to North Africa and the Middle east|date=2011-01-30|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tz4ECbj3dkY|access-date=2016-10-21|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140802023924/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tz4ECbj3dkY|archive-date=2014-08-02}} The hacktivist group also announced that they were closely tracking radio frequencies in the event that someone was sending out important messages.{{Cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2011/01/28/amid-digital-blackout-anonymous-mass-faxes-wikileaks-cables-to-egypt/#22c11cc35954|title=Amid Digital Blackout, Anonymous Mass-Faxes WikiLeaks Cables To Egypt|last=Greenberg|first=Andy|newspaper=Forbes|access-date=2016-10-21|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161119120812/http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2011/01/28/amid-digital-blackout-anonymous-mass-faxes-wikileaks-cables-to-egypt/#22c11cc35954|archive-date=2016-11-19}}
• Project Chanology, also known as "Operation Chanology", was a hacktivist protest against the Church of Scientology to punish the church for participating in Internet censorship relating to the removal of material from a 2008 interview with Church of Scientology member Tom Cruise. Hacker group Anonymous attempted to "expel the church from the Internet" via DDoS attacks. In February 2008 the movement shifted toward legal methods of nonviolent protesting. Several protests were held as part of Project Chanology, beginning in 2008 and ending in 2009.
• On June 3, 2011, LulzSec took down a website of the FBI. This was the first time they had targeted a website that was not part of the private sector. That week, the FBI was able to track the leader of LulzSec, Hector Xavier Monsegur.
• On June 20, 2011, LulzSec targeted the Serious Organised Crime Agency of the United Kingdom, causing UK authorities to take down the website.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2012/may/03/soca-website-shut-down-hackers|title=Soca shuts down website after cyber-attack|last1=Laville|first1=Sandra|date=2012-05-03|newspaper=The Guardian|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|access-date=2016-10-20|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161119121028/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2012/may/03/soca-website-shut-down-hackers|archive-date=2016-11-19}}
• In August 2011 a member of Anonymous working under the name "Oliver Tucket" took control of the Syrian Defense Ministry website and added an Israeli government web portal in addition to changing the mail server for the website to one belonging to the Chinese navy.{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2013/08/28/heres-how-one-hacker-is-waging-war-on-the-syrian-government/|title=Here's how one hacker is waging war on the Syrian government|last=Peterson|first=Andrea|date=August 28, 2013|newspaper=The Washington Post}}
• Anonymous and New World Hackers claimed responsibility for the 2016 Dyn cyberattack in retaliation for Ecuador's rescinding Internet access to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at their embassy in London.{{cite web|last1=Romm|first1=Tony|last2=Geller|first2=Eric|title=WikiLeaks supporters claim credit for massive U.S. cyberattack, but researchers skeptical|url=http://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/websites-down-possible-cyber-attack-230145|website=POLITICO|date=21 October 2016 |access-date=22 October 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161021222034/http://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/websites-down-possible-cyber-attack-230145|archive-date=21 October 2016}} WikiLeaks alluded to the attack.{{cite web|last1=Han|first1=Esther|title=WikiLeaks' strange admission around internet attacks against Netflix and Twitter|url=http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/wikileaks-points-to-its-supporters-for-massive-ddos-cyber-attack-20161021-gs881u.html|website=The Sydney Morning Herald|access-date=22 October 2016|date=22 October 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161024002737/http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/wikileaks-points-to-its-supporters-for-massive-ddos-cyber-attack-20161021-gs881u.html|archive-date=24 October 2016}} Subsequently, FlashPoint stated that the attack was most likely done by script kiddies.{{cite news|last1=Lomas|first1=Natasha|title=Dyn DNS DDoS likely the work of script kiddies, says FlashPoint|url=https://techcrunch.com/2016/10/26/dyn-dns-ddos-likely-the-work-of-script-kiddies-says-flashpoint/|access-date=26 October 2016|work=TechCrunch|date=26 October 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161027014002/https://techcrunch.com/2016/10/26/dyn-dns-ddos-likely-the-work-of-script-kiddies-says-flashpoint/|archive-date=27 October 2016}}
• In 2013, as an online component to the Million Mask March, Anonymous in the Philippines crashed 30 government websites and posted a YouTube video to congregate people in front of the parliament house on November 5 to demonstrate their disdain toward the Filipino government.{{Cite journal|last=Potter|first=Garry|year=2015|title=Anonymous: A Political Ontology of Hope|journal=Theory in Action|volume=8|pages=2–3|doi=10.3798/tia.1937-0237.15001|doi-access=free}}
• In 2014, Sony Pictures Entertainment was hacked by a group by the name of Guardians Of Peace (GOP) who obtained over 100 Terabytes of data including unreleased films, employee salary, social security data, passwords, and account information. GOP hacked various social media accounts and hijacked them by changing their passwords to diespe123 (die {{not a typo|sony}} pictures entertainment) and posting threats on the pages.{{Cite web|url=https://www.riskbasedsecurity.com/2014/12/a-breakdown-and-analysis-of-the-december-2014-sony-hack/|title=A Breakdown and Analysis of the December, 2014 Sony Hack|website=www.riskbasedsecurity.com|date=5 December 2014|language=en-US|access-date=2018-05-01|archive-date=2016-03-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304042516/https://www.riskbasedsecurity.com/2014/12/a-breakdown-and-analysis-of-the-december-2014-sony-hack/|url-status=dead}}
• In 2016, Turkish programmer Azer Koçulu removed his software package, left-pad, from npm, causing a cascading failure of other software packages that contained left-pad as a dependency. This was done after Kik, a messaging application, threatened legal action against Koçulu after he refused to rename his kik package. npm ultimately sided with Kik, prompting Koçulu to unpublish all of his packages from npm in protest, including left-pad.{{Cite web |last=Collins |first=Keith |title=How one programmer broke the internet by deleting a tiny piece of code |url=https://qz.com/646467/how-one-programmer-broke-the-internet-by-deleting-a-tiny-piece-of-code/ |access-date=2022-04-22 |website=Quartz |date=27 March 2016 |language=en}}
• British hacker Kane Gamble, who was sentenced to 2 years in youth detention, posed as John Brennan, the then director of the CIA, and Mark F. Giuliano, a former deputy director of the FBI, to access highly sensitive information."[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/01/19/british-15-year-old-gained-access-intelligence-operations-afghanistan/ British 15-year-old gained access to intelligence operations in Afghanistan and Iran by pretending to be head of CIA, court hears] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180423100833/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/01/19/british-15-year-old-gained-access-intelligence-operations-afghanistan/ |date=2018-04-23 }}". The Daily Telegraph. 19 January 2018. The judge said Gamble engaged in "politically motivated cyber-terrorism."[http://www.dw.com/en/uk-teen-kane-gamble-gets-two-years-for-hacking-cia-ex-chief-john-brennan/a-43477403 UK teen Kane Gamble gets two years for hacking CIA ex-chief John Brennan] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180422202920/http://www.dw.com/en/uk-teen-kane-gamble-gets-two-years-for-hacking-cia-ex-chief-john-brennan/a-43477403 |date=2018-04-22 }}". Deutsche Welle. 20 April 2018.
• In 2021, Anonymous hacked and leaked the databases of American web hosting company Epik.
• As a response against 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Anonymous performed multiple cyberattacks against Russian computer systems.{{cite web |title=Anonymous apparently behind doxing of 120K Russian soldiers in Ukraine war |url=https://www.newsweek.com/anonymous-leaks-personal-data-120k-russian-soldiers-fighting-ukraine-1694555 |website=Newsweek |access-date=6 April 2022 |language=en |date=3 April 2022}}
• Following the Gaza war since 2023, multiple cyberattacks attacks were seen from pro-Israel and pro-Palestine hacktivist groups.{{Cite web |date=2023-10-15 |title=How hackers piled onto the Israeli-Hamas conflict |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/israel-hamas-war-hackers-cyberattacks/ |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=POLITICO |language=en-GB}}{{Cite web |title=Hacktivists take sides in Israel-Palestinian war |url=https://therecord.media/hacktivists-take-sides-israel-palestinian |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=therecord.media}}{{Cite web |title=Attacks on Israeli orgs 'more than doubled' since October 7, cyber researcher says |url=https://therecord.media/attacks-israeli-orgs-double |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=therecord.media}} India's pro-Israel hacktivists took down the portals of Palestinian National Bank, the National Telecommunications Company and the website of Hamas.{{Cite web |title=Israel-Palestine conflict: How Indian hackers sunk their cyber fangs into Hamas, Palestinian national bank |url=https://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-israel-palestine-conflict-how-indian-hackers-sunk-their-cyber-fangs-into-hamas-palestinian-national-bank-3063682 |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=DNA India |language=en}}{{Cite news |date=2023-10-10 |title=Pro-Palestine hackers target India, pro-India groups strike back |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/pro-palestine-hackers-target-india-pro-india-groups-strike-back/articleshow/104297059.cms |access-date=2024-07-18 |work=The Times of India |issn=0971-8257}} Multiple Israeli websites were flooded with malicious traffic by pro-Palestine hacktivists. Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post reported that its website was down due to a series of cyberattacks initiated against them.{{Cite web |date=2023-10-08 |title=Israeli daily Jerusalem Post hit by multiple cyberattacks |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/israel-hamas-war-palestine-conflict-jerusalem-post-cyberattack-101696750348298.html |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=Hindustan Times |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Franceschi-Bicchierai |first=Lorenzo |date=2023-10-09 |title=Hacktivism erupts in response to Hamas-Israel war |url=https://techcrunch.com/2023/10/09/hacktivism-erupts-in-response-to-hamas-israel-war/ |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=TechCrunch |language=en-US}}

{{Main|WikiLeaks}}

File:CollateralMurder.ogv employee Namir Noor-Eldeen and a dozen other civilians by a U.S. helicopter. ]]

WikiLeaks is a media organisation and publisher founded in 2006. It operates as a non-profit and is funded by donations{{refn|{{cite book |last1=Cardoso |first1=Gustavo |last2=Jacobetty |author-link1=Gustavo Cardoso|first2=Pedro |title=Aftermath: The Cultures of the Economic Crisis|chapter=Surfing the Crisis: Cultures of Belonging and Networked Social Change|date=2012 |publisher=Oxford University Press |editor-last1=Castells|editor-first1=Manuel|editor-link1=Manuel Castells|editor-last2=Caraça|editor-first2=João|editor-last3=Cardoso|editor-first3=Gustavo|editor-link3=Gustavo Cardoso|location=Oxford |isbn=9780199658411|pages=177–209|quote=WikiLeaks is also based on an openness culture, as it is a crowd-sourced, crowd-funded non-profit organization operating internationally.|url=https://global.oup.com/academic/product/aftermath-9780199658411}}{{cite book |last1=Pogrebna |first1=Ganna|author-link1=Ganna Pogrebna|last2=Skilton |first2=Mark |title=Navigating New Cyber Risks: How Businesses Can Plan, Build and Manage Safe Spaces in the Digital Age |date=2019 |publisher=Palgrave MacMillan |location=Cham, Switzerland |isbn=9783030135270 |page=2 |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-13527-0 |s2cid=197966404 |quote=WikiLeaks is an international non profit organization that receives and subsequently shares on its website confidential documents from large organizations or governments.|url=https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-13527-0}}{{cite book |last1=Braccini |first1=Alessio Maria |last2=Federici |first2=Tommaso|editor-last1=Baskerville|editor-first1=Richard|editor-last2=De Marco|editor-first2=Marco|editor-last3=Spagnoletti|editor-first3=Paolo|chapter=New Internet-Based Relationships Between Citizens |url=https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-642-33371-2|title=Designing Organizational Systems: An Interdisciplinary Discourse |date=2013|quote=Julian Assange had introduced a new term into the lexicon of several generations. This term was 'WikiLeaks' and described an international non-profit organisation, committed to publishing secret information, news leaks, and classified media provided by anonymous sources.|publisher=Springer Nature |location=Berlin |isbn=978-3-642-33370-5 |pages=157–179|doi=10.1007/978-3-642-33371-2 }}{{cite journal |last1=Hindman |first1=Elizabeth Blanks |last2=Thomas |first2=Ryan J |title=When Old and New Media Collide: The Case of WikiLeaks|quote=WikiLeaks was founded in 2006 as an international non-profit organization specializing in the publication of 'classified, censored or otherwise restricted material of political, diplomatic or ethical significance' obtained via anonymous sources|journal=New Media & Society|publisher=SAGE Publishing|date=June 2014 |volume=16 |issue=4 |pages=541–558 |doi=10.1177/1461444813489504|s2cid=30711318 }}{{cite journal |last1=Dodds |first1=Klaus J.|author-link=Klaus Dodds |title=The WikiLeaks Arctic Cables|quote=With a keen sense of timing, given the Greenlandic and Danish governments' hosting of the 7th Arctic Council ministerial meeting, seven 'sensitive' US diplomatic cables were leaked by WikiLeaks, an international non-profit organisation that publishes materials from anonymous sources, news leaks, and whistleblowers|journal=Polar Record|location=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press|date=2012 |volume=48 |issue=2 |pages=199–201 |doi=10.1017/S003224741100043X|bibcode=2012PoRec..48..199D |s2cid=129682201 }}{{cite journal |last=Benkler |first=Yochai|author-link=Yochai Benkler|title=A Free Irresponsible Press: Wikileaks and the Battle over the Soul of the Networked Fourth Estate |journal=Harvard Civil Rights–Civil Liberties Law Review |date=2011 |volume=46 |issue=2|location=Cambridge|publisher=Harvard Law School|pages=311–397|via=Harvard Library|url=https://dash.harvard.edu/handle/1/10900863|quote=Wikileaks is a nonprofit that depends on donations from around the world to fund its operation. A second system that came under attack on a model parallel to the attack on technical infrastructure was the payment system... Like the Sunlight Foundation and similar transparency-focused organizations, Wikileaks is a nonprofit focused on bringing to light direct, documentary evidence about government behavior so that many others, professional and otherwise, can analyze the evidence and search for instances that justify public criticism. }}{{cite book |last1=Fuchs |first1=Christian |title=Social Media: A Critical Introduction |date=2014 |publisher=SAGE Publishing |location=London/Thousand Oaks |chapter=WikiLeaks: Can We Make Power Transparent?|quote=WikiLeaks (www.wikileaks.org) is a non-commercial and non-profit Internet whistleblowing platform that has been online since 2006. Julian Assange founded it. It is funded by online donations.|isbn=978-1-4462-5730-2 |pages=210–233 |url=https://sk.sagepub.com/books/social-media-a-critical-introduction}}{{cite book |last1=Beckett |first1=Charlie |title=Wikileaks: News in the Networked Era |date=2012 |publisher=Wiley |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-745-65975-6 |page=26 |url=https://www.wiley.com/en-ie/WikiLeaks:+News+in+the+Networked+Era-p-9780745659756|quote=WikiLeaks is independent of commercial, corporate, government or lobbygroup control or ownership. It is a non-membership, non-profit organisation funded by donations}}{{cite book |last1=Flesher Fominaya |first1=Cristina |title=Social Movements in a Globalized World|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|date=2020|page=177|location=London |isbn=9781352009347 |edition=Second |url=https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/social-movements-in-a-globalized-world-9781352009347/|quote=As a non-profit organization, Wikileaks is funded by crowdfunding donations, which were subsequently blocked by PayPal, Mastercard, a Swiss Bank and Bank of America in protest over their political activity, a troubling example of 'the ability of private infrastructure companies to restrict speech without being bound by the contraints of legality, and the possibility that government actors will take advantage of this affordance in an extra-legal public-private partnership for censorship'.}}{{cite journal |last1=Daly |first1=Angela |title=The Privatization of the Internet, WikiLeaks and Free Expression |journal=International Journal of Communication |date=2014 |volume=8 |pages=2693–2703|ssrn=2496707|location=Los Angeles|publisher=USC Annenberg Press|url=https://cadmus.eui.eu/handle/1814/35102|via=European University Institute|quote=In late 2010, the online nonprofit media organization WikiLeaks published classified documents detailing correspondence between the U.S. State Department and its diplomatic missions around the world, numbering around 250,000 cables.}}|name=intNP}} and media partnerships. It has published classified documents and other media provided by anonymous sources.{{cite news |title=WikiLeaks |work=The New York Times |url=http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/w/wikileaks/ |access-date=17 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160130094619/http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/w/wikileaks/index.html |archive-date=30 January 2016}} It was founded by Julian Assange, an Australian editor, publisher, and activist, who is currently challenging extradition to the United States over his work with WikiLeaks.{{cite news |last=McGreal |first=Chris |date=5 April 2010 |title=Wikileaks reveals video showing US air crew shooting down Iraqi civilians |work=The Guardian |place=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/apr/05/wikileaks-us-army-iraq-attack |url-status=live |access-date=15 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110626230310/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/05/wikileaks-us-army-iraq-attack |archive-date=26 June 2011}} Since September 2018, Kristinn Hrafnsson has served as its editor-in-chief.{{cite news |title=WikiLeaks names one-time spokesman as editor-in-chief |language=en-US |work=Associated Press |url=https://www.apnews.com/df4b97d353c34ce4baa02f671dd6321b |access-date=26 September 2018}}{{cite news |last=Bridge |first=Mark |date=27 September 2018 |title=Loss of internet forces Assange to step down from Wikileaks editor role |work=The Times |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/loss-of-internet-forces-assange-to-step-down-from-wikileaks-editor-role-q8ndg5jkc |url-access=subscription |access-date=11 April 2019}} Its website states that it has released more than ten million documents and associated analyses.{{cite web |title=What is Wikileaks |url=https://wikileaks.org/What-is-WikiLeaks.html |access-date=14 April 2020 |website=WikiLeaks}} WikiLeaks' most recent publication was in 2021, and its most recent publication of original documents was in 2019.{{Cite web |date=22 November 2022 |title=WikiLeaks' Website Is Falling Apart |url=https://gizmodo.com/wikileaks-julian-assange-1849813101 |access-date=24 December 2022 |website=Gizmodo |language=en}} Beginning in November 2022, many of the documents on the organisation's website could not be accessed.{{Cite web |last=Thalen |first=Mikael |date=22 November 2022 |title=Millions of documents disappear from WikiLeaks as site completely breaks down |url=https://www.dailydot.com/debug/wikileaks-website-assange-hacked-documents/ |access-date=24 December 2022 |website=The Daily Dot |language=en-US}}{{Cite magazine |last=Burgess |first=Matt |title=Apple Tracks You More Than You Think |url=https://www.wired.com/story/apple-iphone-privacy-analytics-security-roundup/ |magazine=Wired |language=en-US |issn=1059-1028 |access-date=24 December 2022}}{{Cite web |author= |date=22 November 2022 |title=WikiLeaks è in grave difficoltà: sito a malapena online, leak ormai assenti |url=https://www.hdblog.it/internet/articoli/n563620/wikileaks-problemi-funzionamento-sito-offline/ |access-date=24 December 2022 |website=HDblog.it |language=it-it}}

WikiLeaks has released document caches and media that exposed serious violations of human rights and civil liberties by various governments. It released footage, which it titled Collateral Murder, of the 12{{nbsp}}July 2007 Baghdad airstrike, in which Iraqi Reuters journalists and several civilians were killed by a U.S. helicopter crew.{{Cite web |title=Reporters Sans Frontières - Open letter to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange: A bad precedent for the Internet's future |url=http://en.rsf.org/united-states-open-letter-to-wikileaks-founder-12-08-2010,38130.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100815072941/http://en.rsf.org/united-states-open-letter-to-wikileaks-founder-12-08-2010,38130.html |archive-date=15 August 2010 |access-date=1 May 2022}} WikiLeaks has also published leaks such as diplomatic cables from the United States and Saudi Arabia,{{cite news |last=Hubbard |first=Ben |date=20 June 2015 |title=Cables Released by WikiLeaks Reveal Saudis' Checkbook Diplomacy |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/21/world/middleeast/cables-released-by-wikileaks-reveal-saudis-checkbook-diplomacy.html |access-date=20 April 2019}}{{cite magazine |last=Zorthian |first=Julia |date=19 June 2015 |title=WikiLeaks Begins Releasing Leaked Saudi Arabia Cables |url=https://time.com/3928584/wikileaks-saudi-arabia-cables/ |magazine=Time |access-date=20 April 2019}} emails from the governments of Syria{{cite news |date=5 July 2012 |title=Syria files: Wikileaks releases 2m 'embarrassing' emails |publisher=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-18724328 |access-date=20 April 2019}}{{cite magazine |last=Greenberg |first=Andy |date=5 July 2012 |title=WikiLeaks Announces Massive Release With The 'Syria Files': 2.4 Million Emails From Syrian Officials And Companies |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2012/07/05/wikileaks-announces-its-largest-release-yet-in-the-syria-files-2-4-million-emails-from-syrian-officials-and-companies/#752b7eae5081 |magazine=Forbes |access-date=20 April 2019}} and Turkey,{{cite news |last=Yeung |first=Peter |date=20 July 2016 |title=President Erdogan emails: What is in the Wikileaks release about Turkey's government? |work=The Independent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/wikileaks-turkey-erdogan-emails-government-coup-a7145891.html |access-date=20 April 2019}}{{cite news |last=Doctorow |first=Cory |date=29 July 2016 |title=Wikileaks' dump of "Erdogan emails" turn out to be public mailing list archives |publisher=BoingBoing |url=https://boingboing.net/2016/07/29/wikileaks-dump-of-erdogan.html |access-date=20 April 2019}}{{cite magazine |last=Gramer |first=Robbie |date=7 December 2016 |title=Latest Wikileaks Dump Sheds New Light on Erdogan's Power In Turkey |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2016/12/07/latest-wikileaks-dump-sheds-light-erdogan-turkey-berat-albayrak-redhack-hackers-oil/ |magazine=Foreign Policy |access-date=20 April 2019}} corruption in Kenya{{cite web |last=Dahir |first=Abdi Latif |date=13 April 2019 |title=It all started in Nairobi: How Kenya gave Julian Assange's WikiLeaks its first major global scoop |url=https://qz.com/africa/1594656/the-kenyan-roots-of-julian-assanges-wikileaks/ |access-date=20 April 2019 |publisher=Quartz Africa}}{{cite news |last=Rice |first=Xan |date=31 August 2007 |title=The looting of Kenya |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/aug/31/kenya.topstories3 |access-date=20 April 2019}} and at Samherji.{{Cite web |author= |date=7 March 2022 |title=The Fishrot scandal |url=https://pplaaf.org/cases/fishrot.html |access-date=13 March 2022 |website=pplaaf.org |language=en}} WikiLeaks has also published documents exposing cyber warfare and surveillance tools created by the CIA,{{cite news |last=Menn |first=Joseph |date=29 March 2017 |title=A scramble at Cisco exposes uncomfortable truths about U.S. cyber defense |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-cyber-defense-idUSKBN17013U |access-date=20 April 2019}}{{cite news |last1=Shane |first1=Scott |last2=Rosenberg |first2=Matthew |last3=Lehren |first3=Andrew W. |date=7 March 2017 |title=WikiLeaks Releases Trove of Alleged C.I.A. Hacking Documents |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/07/world/europe/wikileaks-cia-hacking.html |access-date=20 April 2019}} and surveillance of the French president by the National Security Agency.{{cite news |last1=Regan |first1=James |last2=John |first2=Mark |date=23 June 2015 |title=NSA spied on French presidents: WikiLeaks |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-wikileaks/nsa-spied-on-french-presidents-wikileaks-idUSKBN0P32EM20150623 |access-date=20 April 2019}}{{cite news |last1=Rubin |first1=Alyssa J. |last2=Shane |first2=Scott |date=24 June 2015 |title=Hollande Condemns Spying by U.S., but Not Too Harshly |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/25/world/europe/wikileaks-us-spying-france.html |access-date=20 April 2019}} During the 2016 U.S. presidential election campaign, WikiLeaks released emails from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and from Hillary Clinton's campaign manager, showing that the party's national committee had effectively acted as an arm of the Clinton campaign during the primaries, seeking to undercut the campaign of Bernie Sanders. These releases resulted in the resignation of the chairwoman of the DNC and caused significant harm to the Clinton campaign.{{cite news |title=Why it's entirely predictable that Hillary Clinton's emails are back in the news |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/11/01/why-its-entirely-predictable-that-hillary-clintons-emails-are-back-in-the-news/ |access-date=12 November 2016}} During the campaign, WikiLeaks promoted false conspiracy theories about Hillary Clinton, the Democratic Party and the murder of Seth Rich.{{Cite news |last=Ohlheiser |first=Abby |date=4 November 2016 |title=No, John Podesta didn't drink bodily fluids at a secret Satanist dinner |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2016/11/04/no-john-podesta-didnt-drink-bodily-fluids-at-a-secret-satanist-dinner/ |access-date=8 November 2016 |issn=0190-8286}}{{Cite news |title=WikiLeaks Fuels Conspiracy Theories About DNC Staffer's Death |publisher=NBC News |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/wikileaks-fuels-conspiracy-theories-about-dnc-staffer-s-death-n627401 |access-date=8 November 2016 |quote=WikiLeaks ... is fueling Internet conspiracy theories by offering a $20,000 reward for information on a Democratic National Committee staffer who was killed last month ... in what police say was robbery gone wrong ... Assange implied this week in an interview that Rich was the source of the leak and even offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of his murderer. Meanwhile, the Russian government funded propaganda outlet RT had already been covering Rich's murder two weeks prior. RT and other Russian government propaganda outlets have also been working hard to deny the Russian government was the source of the leak, including by interviewing Assange about the Rich murder. ... The original conspiracy theory can be traced back to a notoriously unreliable conspiracy website}}{{cite web |last1=Chafkin |first1=Max |last2=Silver |first2=Vernon |date=10 October 2016 |title=How Julian Assange turned WikiLeaks into Trump's best friend |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-10-11/how-julian-assange-turned-wikileaks-into-trump-s-best-friend |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161109132018/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-10-11/how-julian-assange-turned-wikileaks-into-trump-s-best-friend |archive-date=9 November 2016 |access-date=17 April 2022 |website=Bloomberg}}

WikiLeaks has won a number of awards and has been commended for exposing state and corporate secrets, increasing transparency, assisting freedom of the press, and enhancing democratic discourse while challenging powerful institutions. WikiLeaks and some of its supporters say the organisation's publications have a perfect record of publishing authentic documents. The organisation has been the target of campaigns to discredit it, including aborted ones by Palantir and HBGary. WikiLeaks has also had its donation systems disrupted by problems with its payment processors. As a result, the Wau Holland Foundation helps process WikiLeaks' donations.

The organisation has been criticised for inadequately curating some of its content and violating the personal privacy of individuals. WikiLeaks has, for instance, revealed Social Security numbers, medical information, credit card numbers and details of suicide attempts.{{Cite news |last=Brustein |first=Joshua |date=29 July 2016 |title=Why Wikileaks Is Losing Its Friends |publisher=Bloomberg |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-29/why-wikileaks-is-losing-its-friends}}{{Cite news |last1=Satter |first1=Raphael |last2=Michael |first2=Maggie |date=23 August 2016 |title=Private lives are exposed as WikiLeaks spills its secrets |language=en-US |agency=Associated Press |url=http://bigstory.ap.org/article/b70da83fd111496dbdf015acbb7987fb/private-lives-are-exposed-wikileaks-spills-its-secrets |url-status=dead |access-date=6 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170107170443/http://bigstory.ap.org/article/b70da83fd111496dbdf015acbb7987fb/private-lives-are-exposed-wikileaks-spills-its-secrets |archive-date=7 January 2017}}{{Cite news |last=Peterson |first=Andrea |title=Snowden and WikiLeaks clash over leaked Democratic Party emails |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2016/07/28/a-twitter-spat-breaks-out-between-snowden-and-wikileaks/ |access-date=28 July 2016}} News organisations, activists, journalists and former members have also criticised the organisation over allegations of anti-Clinton and pro-Trump bias, various associations with the Russian government, buying and selling of leaks, and a lack of internal transparency. Journalists have also criticised the organisation for promotion of false flag conspiracy theories, and what they describe as exaggerated and misleading descriptions of the contents of leaks. The CIA defined the organisation as a "non-state hostile intelligence service" after the release of Vault 7.{{Cite web |date=6 October 2021 |title=U.S. prosecution of alleged WikiLeaks 'Vault 7' source hits multiple roadblocks |url=https://news.yahoo.com/us-prosecution-of-alleged-wiki-leaks-vault-7-source-hits-multiple-roadblocks-235450811.html |access-date=16 October 2022 |website=news.yahoo.com |language=en-US}}

{{Main|Anonymous (group)}}

File:Anonymous cat mural.jpg is commonly used by Anonymous.]]

Perhaps the most prolific and well known hacktivist group, Anonymous has been prominent and prevalent in many major online hacks over the past decade. Anonymous is a decentralized group that originated on the forums of 4chan during 2003, but didn't rise to prominence until 2008 when they directly attacked the Church of Scientology in a massive DoS attack.{{Cite web|title=Feature by Chris Landers: Serious Business {{!}} 4/2/2008 |url=http://www.citypaper.com/columns/story.asp?id=15543 |date=2008-06-08 |access-date=2015-12-02 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080608050312/http://www.citypaper.com/columns/story.asp?id=15543 |archive-date=June 8, 2008 }} Since then, Anonymous has participated in a great number of online projects such as Operation: Payback and Operation: Safe Winter.{{Cite web|title = #OpSafeWinter: Anonymous fights homelessness worldwide|url = http://www.dailydot.com/news/op-safe-winter-anonymous/|website = The Daily Dot|date = 4 January 2014|access-date = 2015-12-02|url-status = live|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151121054415/http://www.dailydot.com/news/op-safe-winter-anonymous/|archive-date = 2015-11-21}}{{Cite web|title = 4chan Users Organize Surgical Strike Against MPAA – MediaCenter Panda Security|url = http://www.pandasecurity.com/mediacenter/news/4chan-users-organize-ddos-against-mpaa/|website = MediaCenter Panda Security|date = 17 September 2010|access-date = 2015-12-02|language = en-US|url-status = live|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160102111822/http://www.pandasecurity.com/mediacenter/news/4chan-users-organize-ddos-against-mpaa/|archive-date = 2016-01-02}} However, while a great number of their projects have been for a charitable cause, they have still gained notoriety from the media due to the nature of their work mostly consisting of illegal hacking.{{Cite news|title = Hacker group Anonymous is a nuisance, not a threat|url = https://money.cnn.com/2012/01/20/technology/anonymous_hack/index.htm|website = CNNMoney|access-date = 2015-12-02|first = David|last = Goldman|url-status = live|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130327004354/http://money.cnn.com/2012/01/20/technology/anonymous_hack/index.htm|archive-date = 2013-03-27}}

Following the Paris terror attacks in 2015, Anonymous posted a video declaring war on ISIS,{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/paris-attacks-anonymous-launches-its-biggest-operation-ever-against-isis-promises-to-hunt-down-a6735811.html|title=Anonymous has declared war on Isis after the Paris attacks|date=2015-11-16|newspaper=The Independent|language=en-GB|access-date=2016-10-23|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161201052117/http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/paris-attacks-anonymous-launches-its-biggest-operation-ever-against-isis-promises-to-hunt-down-a6735811.html|archive-date=2016-12-01}} the terror group that claimed responsibility for the attacks. Since declaring war on ISIS, Anonymous since identified several Twitter accounts associated with the movement in order to stop the distribution of ISIS propaganda. However, Anonymous fell under heavy criticism when Twitter issued a statement calling the lists Anonymous had compiled "wildly inaccurate," as it contained accounts of journalists and academics rather than members of ISIS.{{Cite news|url=http://www.ibtimes.com/anonymous-hacking-isis-warns-collaborating-us-government-deeply-stupid-2226066|title=Anonymous Hacks ISIS, But Warns Against Collaborating With US|date=2015-12-15|newspaper=International Business Times|access-date=2016-10-23|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161119182320/http://www.ibtimes.com/anonymous-hacking-isis-warns-collaborating-us-government-deeply-stupid-2226066|archive-date=2016-11-19}}

Anonymous has also been involved with the Black Lives Matter movement. Early in July 2015, there was a rumor circulating that Anonymous was calling for a Day of Rage protests in retaliation for the shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, which would entail violent protests and riots. This rumor was based on a video that was not posted with the official Anonymous YouTube account.{{Citation needed|reason=No such thing as an offical account|date=November 2023}} None of the Twitter accounts associated with Anonymous had tweeted anything in relation to a Day of Rage, and the rumors were identical to past rumors that had circulated in 2014 following the death of Mike Brown.{{Cite web|url=http://www.snopes.com/2016/07/11/anonymous-day-of-rage-protests-2016/|title=Anonymous 'Day of Rage' Protests|last=LaCapria|first=Kim|website=snopes|date=11 July 2016 |access-date=2016-10-23}} Instead, on July 15, a Twitter account associated with Anonymous posted a series of tweets calling for a day of solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. The Twitter account used the hashtag "#FridayofSolidarity" to coordinate protests across the nation, and emphasized the fact that the Friday of Solidarity was intended for peaceful protests. The account also stated that the group was unaware of any Day of Rage plans.{{Cite news|url=http://sfist.com/2016/07/15/black_lives_matter_protests_happeni.php|title=Black Lives Matter Protests Happening Today At SF's Civic Center And Downtown Oakland|newspaper=SFist|language=en-US|access-date=2016-10-23|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160718014246/http://sfist.com/2016/07/15/black_lives_matter_protests_happeni.php|archive-date=2016-07-18}}

In February 2017 the group took down more than 10,000 sites on the Dark web related to child porn.

DkD[||, a French cyberhacktivist, was arrested by the OCLCTIC (office central de lutte contre la criminalité liée aux technologies de l’information et de la communication), in March 2003. DkD[|| defaced more than 2000 pages, many were governments and US military sites. Eric Voulleminot of the Regional Service of Judicial Police in Lille classified the young hacker as "the most wanted hacktivist in France"{{cite web | last=Antson | first=Franck | title=Arrestation du " hacker " le plus recherché de France | website=leparisien.fr | date=2003-07-09 | url=https://www.leparisien.fr/faits-divers/arrestation-du-hacker-le-plus-recherche-de-france-10-07-2003-2004239529.php | language=fr | access-date=2021-05-05}}

DkD[|| was a very known defacer in the underground for his political view, doing his defacements for various political reasons. In response to his arrest, The Ghost Boys defaced many {{mono|navy.mil}} sites using the “Free DkD[||!!” slogan.{{Cite web|url=http://www.zone-h.org/news/id/2807|title=DKD[{{!}}{{!}} Officially stopped|website=www.zone-h.org|access-date=2019-03-10}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.leparisien.fr/faits-divers/arrestation-du-hacker-le-plus-recherche-de-france-10-07-2003-2004239529.php|title=Arrestation du " hacker " le plus recherché de France}}

{{Main|LulzSec}}

In May 2011, five members of Anonymous formed the hacktivist group Lulz Security, otherwise known as LulzSec. LulzSec's name originated from the conjunction of the internet slang term "lulz", meaning laughs, and "sec", meaning security.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/may/16/lulzsec-hacking-fbi-jail|title=LulzSec: what they did, who they were and how they were caught|last=Arthur|first=Charles|date=2013-05-16|newspaper=The Guardian|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|access-date=2016-10-20|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161014142622/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/may/16/lulzsec-hacking-fbi-jail|archive-date=2016-10-14}} The group members used specific handles to identify themselves on Internet Relay Channels, the most notable being: "Sabu," "Kayla," "T-Flow," "Topiary," "AVUnit," and "Pwnsauce." Though the members of LulzSec would spend up to 20 hours a day in communication, they did not know one another personally, nor did they share personal information. For example, once the members' identities were revealed, "T-Flow" was revealed to be 15 years old. Other members, on the basis of his advanced coding ability, thought he was around 30 years old.{{Cite news|url=http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/lulzsec-reunited-anonymous-hackers-meet-first-time-real-life-1467870|title=LulzSec Reunited: Anonymous Hackers Meet for the First Time in Real Life|last=Gilbert|first=David|date=2014-09-30|newspaper=International Business Times UK|access-date=2016-10-21|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160924184722/http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/lulzsec-reunited-anonymous-hackers-meet-first-time-real-life-1467870|archive-date=2016-09-24}}

One of the first notable targets that LulzSec pursued was HBGary, which was performed in response to a claim made by the technology security company that it had identified members of Anonymous. Following this, the members of LulzSec targeted an array of companies and entities, including but not limited to: Fox Television, Tribune Company, PBS, Sony, Nintendo, and the Senate.gov website. The targeting of these entities typically involved gaining access to and downloading confidential user information, or defacing the website at hand.United States of America v. Hector Monsegur. Southern District Court of New York. 23 May 2014. Cryptome.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2016. LulzSec while not as strongly political as those typical of WikiLeaks or Anonymous, they shared similar sentiments for the freedom of information. One of their distinctly politically driven attacks involved targeting the Arizona State Police in response to new immigration laws.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-22526021|title=Former Lulzsec hacker Jake Davis on his motivations|last=Watts|first=Susan|date=2013-05-16|newspaper=BBC News|language=en-GB|access-date=2016-10-21|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161119182301/http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-22526021|archive-date=2016-11-19}}

The group's first attack that garnered significant government attention was in 2011, when they collectively took down a website of the FBI. Following the incident, the leader of LulzSec, "Sabu," was identified as Hector Xavier Monsegur by the FBI, and he was the first of the group to be arrested. Immediately following his arrest, Monsegur admitted to criminal activity. He then began his cooperation with the US government, helping FBI authorities to arrest 8 of his co-conspirators, prevent 300 potential cyber attacks, and helped to identify vulnerabilities in existing computer systems. In August 2011, Monsegur pleaded guilty to "computer hacking conspiracy, computer hacking, computer hacking in furtherance of fraud, conspiracy to commit access device fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and aggravated identity theft pursuant to a cooperation agreement with the government." He served a total of one year and seven months and was charged a $1,200 fine.{{Cite web|url=https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/newyork/news/press-releases/leading-member-of-the-international-cyber-criminal-group-lulzsec-sentenced-in-manhattan-federal-court|title=Leading Member of the International Cyber Criminal Group LulzSec Sentenced in Manhattan Federal Court|website=Federal Bureau of Investigation|language=en-us|access-date=2016-10-21|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161119182337/https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/newyork/news/press-releases/leading-member-of-the-international-cyber-criminal-group-lulzsec-sentenced-in-manhattan-federal-court|archive-date=2016-11-19}}

{{Main|SiegedSec}}

SiegedSec, short for Sieged Security and commonly self-referred to as the "Gay Furry Hackers",{{Cite news |author1=Rich Stanton |date=2023-11-23 |title=Self-described gay furry hackers breach one of the biggest nuclear labs in the US, and demand it begin researching 'IRL catgirls' |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/self-described-gay-furry-hackers-breach-one-of-the-biggest-nuclear-labs-in-the-us-and-demand-it-begin-researching-irl-catgirls/ |access-date=2024-05-01 |work=PC Gamer |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2023-11-22 |title=Self-proclaimed 'gay furry hackers' breach nuclear lab |url=https://www.engadget.com/self-proclaimed-gay-furry-hackers-breach-nuclear-lab-152034192.html |access-date=2024-05-01 |website=Engadget |language=en-US}} is a black-hat criminal hacktivist group that was formed in early 2022, that has committed a number of high-profile cyber attacks, including attacks on NATO,{{Cite web |last=Lyons |first=Jessica |title=NATO investigates hacktivist group's stolen data claims |url=https://www.theregister.com/2023/07/27/nato_investigates_hack/ |access-date=2024-05-01 |website=www.theregister.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=NATO investigates alleged data theft by SiegedSec hackers |url=https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/nato-investigates-alleged-data-theft-by-siegedsec-hackers/ |access-date=2024-05-01 |website=BleepingComputer |language=en-us}}{{Cite web |last=Vicens |first=A. J. |date=2023-07-26 |title=NATO investigating apparent breach of unclassified information sharing platform |url=https://cyberscoop.com/nato-breach-of-unclassified-information-siegedsec/ |access-date=2024-05-01 |website=CyberScoop |language=en-US}} The Idaho National Laboratory, and Real America's Voice.{{Cite web |last=Thalen |first=Mikael |date=2024-04-16 |title=Furry hackers far-right campaign sets sights on Charlie Kirk, Steve Bannon |url=https://www.dailydot.com/debug/furry-hackers-siegedsec-real-americas-voice/ |access-date=2024-05-01 |website=The Daily Dot |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Gay Furry Hacker Group SiegedSec Breached a Far-Right Media Outlet and Wreaked Havoc |url=https://www.msn.com/ |access-date=2024-05-01 |website=www.msn.com}} On July 10, 2024, the group announced that they would be disbanding after attacking The Heritage Foundation.{{cite news |last1=Thalen |first1=Mikael |date=July 10, 2024 |title=Read the furious texts the Heritage Foundation sent furry hacking collective SiegedSec after breach |url=https://www.dailydot.com/debug/heritage-foundation-hack-sieged-sec-chat-log-retirement/ |access-date=July 10, 2024 |work=The Daily Dot}}

SiegedSec is led by an individual under the alias "vio".{{cite news |last1=Cross |first1=Alison |date=July 5, 2023 |title=UConn targeted in cyberattack allegedly by hacker in group known for targeting government agencies |url=https://www.courant.com/2023/07/05/uconn-targeted-in-cyberattack-allegedly-by-hacker-in-group-known-for-targeting-government-agencies/ |access-date=July 10, 2024 |work=Hartford Courant}} Short for "Sieged Security",{{cite news |last1=Anthony |first1=Abigail |date=July 11, 2024 |title=Claws Out: 'Gay Furry Hackers' Target Heritage Foundation |url=https://www.nationalreview.com/news/claws-out-gay-furry-hackers-target-heritage-foundation/ |access-date=July 11, 2024 |work=National Review}}{{cite news |last1=Yeo |first1=Amanda |date=November 24, 2023 |title='Gay furry hackers' breach nuclear lab, demand it create catgirls |url=https://mashable.com/article/catgirl-real-nuclear-hack |access-date=July 11, 2024 |work=Mashable |language=en}}{{cite news |last1=Spindler |first1=Emily |date=November 24, 2023 |title=Gay Furry Hackers Break Into Nuclear Lab Data, Want Catgirls |url=https://www.kotaku.com.au/2023/11/gay-furry-hackers-break-into-nuclear-lab-data-want-catgirls/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231124020024/https://www.kotaku.com.au/2023/11/gay-furry-hackers-break-into-nuclear-lab-data-want-catgirls/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 24, 2023 |access-date=July 11, 2024 |work=Kotaku Australia |language=en-AU}} SiegedSec's Telegram channel was first created in April 2022,{{cite news |last1=Vicens |first1=A. J. |date=July 9, 2024 |title=Hacktivists release two gigabytes of Heritage Foundation data |url=https://cyberscoop.com/hackvists-release-two-gigabytes-of-heritage-foundation-data/ |access-date=July 10, 2024 |work=CyberScoop}} and they commonly refer to themselves as "gay furry hackers".{{cite news |last1=Cahill |first1=Sebastian |date=July 14, 2023 |title=Gay furry hackers are targeting US states for passing anti-trans legislation |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/gay-furry-hackers-transphobic-hacking-spree-siegedsec-state-governments-texas-2023-7 |access-date=July 10, 2024 |work=Business Insider}}{{cite news |last1=Musgrave |first1=Shawn |date=July 9, 2024 |title="Gay Furry Hackers" Claim Credit for Hacking Heritage Foundation Over Project 2025 |url=https://theintercept.com/2024/07/09/gay-furry-hackers-claim-credit-for-hacking-heritage-foundation-over-project-2025/ |access-date=July 10, 2024 |work=The Intercept}} On multiple occasions, the group has targeted right-wing movements through breaching data, including The Heritage Foundation,{{cite news |last1=Hansford |first1=Amelia |date=July 10, 2024 |title='Gay furry hackers' steal 200GB of data in huge anti-Project 2025 cyber attack |url=https://www.thepinknews.com/2024/07/10/gay-furry-hackers-project-2025/ |access-date=July 10, 2024 |work=PinkNews}}{{cite news |last1=Liu |first1=Nicholas |date=July 10, 2024 |title="Gay furry hackers" claim credit for Heritage Foundation cyberattack |url=https://www.salon.com/2024/07/10/gay-furry-hackers-claim-credit-for-heritage-foundation-cyberattack/ |access-date=July 10, 2024 |work=Salon.com |language=en}} Real America's Voice,{{cite news |last1=Factora |first1=James |date=April 19, 2024 |title=Gay Furry Hacker Group SiegedSec Breached a Far-Right Media Outlet and Wreaked Havoc |url=https://www.them.us/story/gay-furry-hacker-group-siegedsec-breach-far-right-media-outlet |access-date=July 10, 2024 |work=Them}} as well as various U.S. states that have pursued legislative decisions against gender-affirming care.{{cite news |last1=Wilson |first1=Jason |date=June 29, 2023 |title='Gay furries' group hacks agencies in US states attacking gender-affirming care |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/29/siegedsec-gay-furries-group-hacked-information-six-us-states |access-date=July 10, 2024 |work=The Guardian}}

{{see also|Civic hacking|Electronic civil disobedience}}

Hacking has been sometime described as a form of culture jamming.{{cite book|author1=Dariusz Jemielniak|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yLDMDwAAQBAJ|title=Collaborative Society|author2=Aleksandra Przegalinska|date=18 February 2020|publisher=MIT Press|isbn=978-0-262-35645-9}}{{Rp|88}} This term refers to the practice of subverting and criticizing political messages as well as media culture with the aim of challenging the status quo. It is often targeted toward subliminal thought processes taking place in the viewers with the goal of raising awareness as well as causing a paradigm shift. Culture jamming takes many forms including billboard hacking, broadcast signal intrusion, ad hoc art performances, simulated legal transgressions,{{Cite journal|last=Steinberg|first=Monica|date=2021-07-03|title=Coercive Disobedience: Art and Simulated Transgression|url=https://doi.org/10.1080/00043249.2021.1920288|journal=Art Journal|volume=80|issue=3|pages=78–99|doi=10.1080/00043249.2021.1920288|s2cid=237576098 |issn=0004-3249|url-access=subscription}} memes, and artivism.{{Citation needed|date=November 2020}}{{Cite journal|last=Leng|first=Kirsten|date=2020|title=Art, Humor, and Activism: The Sardonic, Sustaining Feminism of the Guerrilla Girls, 1985–2000|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/2474480405|journal=Journal of Women's History|volume=32|issue=4|pages=110–134|doi=10.1353/jowh.2020.0042|s2cid=234960403|id={{ProQuest|2474480405}}|via=ProQuest|doi-access=free|url-access=subscription}}

The term "culture jamming" was first coined in 1984 by American musician Donald Joyce of the band Negativland.{{Cite journal|last=Carducci|first=Vince|title=Culture Jamming|journal=Journal of Consumer Culture|year=2006|volume=6|issue=1|pages=116–138|doi=10.1177/1469540506062722|s2cid=145164048}} However, some speculation remains as to when the practice of culture jamming first began. Social researcher Vince Carducci believes culture jamming can be traced back to the 1950s with European social activist group Situationist International. Author and cultural critic Mark Dery believes medieval carnival is the earliest form of culture jamming as a way to subvert the social hierarchy at the time.{{Citation needed|date=November 2020}}

Culture jamming is sometimes confused with acts of vandalism. However, unlike culture jamming, the main goal of vandalism is to cause destruction with any political themes being of lesser importance. Artivism usually has the most questionable nature as a form of culture jamming because defacement of property is usually involved.{{Citation needed|date=November 2020}}

Media hacking refers to the usage of various electronic media in an innovative or otherwise abnormal fashion for the purpose of conveying a message to as large a number of people as possible, primarily achieved via the World Wide Web.{{cite web | year = 2005 | url = http://www.seanbohan.com/?p=6 | title = Media Hacking | publisher = SeanBohan.com | author = Bohan, S. | access-date = February 9, 2007 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070929114342/http://www.seanbohan.com/?p=6 | archive-date = September 29, 2007 }}{{cite web | year = 2005 | url = http://www.meskelsquare.com/archives/2005/11/hacking_baby_cheetahs_and_hung.html | title = Hacking Baby Cheetahs and Hunger Strikes | publisher = Meskel Square | author = Heavens, A. | access-date = February 9, 2007 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061108145039/http://www.meskelsquare.com/archives/2005/11/hacking_baby_cheetahs_and_hung.html | archive-date = November 8, 2006 }} A popular and effective means of media hacking is posting on a blog, as one is usually controlled by one or more independent individuals, uninfluenced by outside parties. The concept of social bookmarking, as well as Web-based Internet forums, may cause such a message to be seen by users of other sites as well, increasing its total reach.

Media hacking is commonly employed for political purposes, by both political parties and political dissidents. A good example of this is the 2008 US Election, in which both the Democratic and Republican parties used a wide variety of different media in order to convey relevant messages to an increasingly Internet-oriented audience.{{cite web |author=Peter Kafka |url=http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/6/presidential_debates_come_to_twitter_how_to_follow_along |title=Obama, McCain Debate Via Twitter: How To Follow Along* |publisher=Alleyinsider.com |date=2008-06-20 |access-date=2011-07-01 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090207082105/http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/6/presidential_debates_come_to_twitter_how_to_follow_along |archive-date=2009-02-07 }} At the same time, political dissidents used blogs and other social media like Twitter in order to reply on an individual basis to the presidential candidates. In particular, sites like Twitter are proving important means in gauging popular support for the candidates, though the site is often used for dissident purposes rather than a show of positive support.{{cite web |url=http://goodgearguide.com.au/index.php/id;1823349553 |title=Twitter backlash over McCain campaign 'suspension' |publisher=Good Gear Guide |date=2008-09-25 |access-date=2011-07-01 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201043312/http://goodgearguide.com.au/index.php/id |archive-date=2008-12-01 }}

Mobile technology has also become subject to media hacking for political purposes. SMS has been widely used by political dissidents as a means of quickly and effectively organising smart mobs for political action. This has been most effective in the Philippines, where SMS media hacking has twice had a significant impact on whether or not the country's Presidents are elected or removed from office.{{cite web |author=Howard Rheingold |url=http://www.smartmobs.com/2006/08/22/wikipedia-on-sms-political-impacts/ |title=Blog Archive » Wikipedia on SMS, political impacts |publisher=Smart Mobs |date=2006-08-22 |access-date=2011-07-01 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613113554/http://www.smartmobs.com/2006/08/22/wikipedia-on-sms-political-impacts/ |archive-date=2011-06-13 }}

Reality hacking is any phenomenon that emerges from the nonviolent use of illegal or legally ambiguous digital tools in pursuit of politically, socially, or culturally subversive ends. These tools include website defacements, URL redirections, denial-of-service attacks, information theft, web-site parodies, virtual sit-ins, and virtual sabotage.{{Citation needed|date=January 2010}}

Art movements such as Fluxus and Happenings in the 1970s created a climate of receptibility in regard to loose-knit organizations and group activities where spontaneity, a return to primitivist behavior, and an ethics where activities and socially engaged art practices became tantamount to aesthetic concerns.{{Clarify | date = January 2010}}

The conflation of these two histories in the mid-to-late 1990s {{Citation needed|date=January 2010}} resulted in cross-overs between virtual sit-ins, electronic civil disobedience, denial-of-service attacks, as well as mass protests in relation to groups like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The rise of collectives, net.art groups, and those concerned with the fluid interchange of technology and real life (often from an environmental concern) gave birth to the practice of "reality hacking".

Reality hacking relies on tweaking the everyday communications most easily available to individuals with the purpose of awakening the political and community conscience of the larger population. The term first came into use among New York and San Francisco artists, but has since been adopted by a school of political activists centered around culture jamming.

The 1999 science fiction-action film The Matrix, among others, popularized the simulation hypothesis — the suggestion that reality is in fact a simulation of which those affected by the simulants are generally unaware. In this context, "reality hacking" is reading and understanding the code which represents the activity of the simulated reality environment (such as Matrix digital rain) and also modifying it in order to bend the laws of physics or otherwise modify the simulated reality.

Reality hacking as a mystical practice is explored in the Gothic-Punk aesthetics-inspired White Wolf urban fantasy role-playing game Mage: The Ascension. In this game, the Reality Coders (also known as Reality Hackers or Reality Crackers) are a faction within the Virtual Adepts, a secret society of mages whose magick revolves around digital technology. They are dedicated to bringing the benefits of cyberspace to real space. To do this, they had to identify, for lack of a better term, the "source code" that allows our Universe to function. And that is what they have been doing ever since. Coders infiltrated a number of levels of society in order to gather the greatest compilation of knowledge ever seen. One of the Coders' more overt agendas is to acclimate the masses to the world that is to come. They spread Virtual Adept ideas through video games and a whole spate of "reality shows" that mimic virtual reality far more than "real" reality. The Reality Coders consider themselves the future of the Virtual Adepts, creating a world in the image of visionaries like Grant Morrison or Terence McKenna.{{Citation needed|date=July 2011}}

In a location-based game (also known as a pervasive game), reality hacking refers to tapping into phenomena that exist in the real world, and tying them into the game story universe.{{cite book |doi=10.1145/1501750.1501803 |chapter=The art of game-mastering pervasive games |title=Proceedings of the 2008 International Conference in Advances on Computer Entertainment Technology - ACE '08 |pages=224–31 |year=2008 |last1=Jonsson |first1=Staffan |last2=Waern |first2=Annika |isbn=978-1-60558-393-8 |s2cid=14311559 }}

There have been various academic approaches to deal with hacktivism and urban hacking. In 2010, Günther Friesinger, Johannes Grenzfurthner and Thomas Ballhausen published an entire reader dedicated to the subject. They state: {{blockquote|Urban spaces became battlefields, signifiers have been invaded, new structures have been established: Netculture replaced counterculture in most parts and also focused on the everchanging environments of the modern city. Important questions have been brought up to date and reasked, taking current positions and discourses into account. The major question still remains, namely how to create culturally based resistance under the influence of capitalistic pressure and conservative politics.{{cite web|title=Urban Hacking: Cultural Jamming Strategies in the Risky Spaces of Modernity|url=https://www.transcript-verlag.de/978-3-8376-1536-4/urban-hacking/|publisher=Transcript|access-date=15 May 2018}}}}

{{Div col}}

• Crypto-anarchism
• Cyberterrorism
• E-democracy
• Open-source governance
• Patriotic hacking
• Tactical media
• 1984 Network Liberty Alliance
• Chaos Computer Club
• Cicada 3301
• Decocidio
• Jester
• Internet vigilantism
• The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz – a documentary film
• milw0rm
• 2600: The Hacker Quarterly
• Citizen Lab
• HackThisSite
• Cypherpunk
• Jeremy Hammond
• Mr. Robot – a television series
• {{Div col end}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{cite news |first=Joseph |last=Menn |url=http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/3645ac3c-e32b-11e0-bb55-00144feabdc0.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/3645ac3c-e32b-11e0-bb55-00144feabdc0.html |archive-date=2022-12-10 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=They're watching. And they can bring you down |newspaper= Financial Times |date=September 23, 2011 |access-date=2012-09-01 }}
• Olson, Parmy. (05–14–2013). We Are Anonymous: Inside the Hacker World of LulzSec, Anonymous, and the Global Cyber Insurgency. {{ISBN|0316213527}}.
• Coleman, Gabriella. (2014–11–4). Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy: The Many Faces of Anonymous. Verso Books. {{ISBN|1781685835}}.
• Shantz, Jeff; Tomblin, Jordon (2014-11-28). Cyber Disobedience: Re://Presenting Online Anarchy. John Hunt Publishing. {{ISBN|9781782795551}}.
• {{cite book|last=Firer-Blaess|first=Sylvain|title=The Collective Identity of Anonymous: Web of Meanings in a Digitally Enabled Movement|publisher=Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis|location=Uppsala|date=2016|pages=220|isbn=978-91-554-9602-9|url=http://www.diva-portal.se/smash/get/diva2:926671/FULLTEXT01.pdf|access-date=October 5, 2016}}
• Deseriis, Marco (2017). [https://www.academia.edu/32088227/Hacktivism_On_the_Use_of_Botnets_in_Cyberattacks Hacktivism: On the Use of Botnets in Cyberattacks]. Theory, Culture & Society 34(4): 131–152.

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080227132540/http://www.aracnet.com/~kea/Papers/Politically%20Motivated%20Computer%20Crime.pdf Hacktivism and Politically Motivated Computer Crime] History, types of activity and cases studies
• {{Open access}} {{YouTube|KyYsVeYzbik|The Hacktivist, Award Winning Short Film Documentary}}

{{Culture jamming}}

{{Media manipulation}}

{{Information security}}

Category:Activism by type

Category:Hacking (computer security)

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Category:Politics and technology

Category:Internet terminology

Category:2000s neologisms

Category:Culture jamming techniques

Category:Hacker culture

Category:Articles containing video clips