Protests or profiteering? Whether it’s Anonymous, the Cyber Caliphate or Cyber Berkut, the hack remains the same
"Hacktivism" has been around since the Cult of the Dead Cow in the 1980s; only the names have changed. Where we once heard about Chaos Computer Club and the Legion of Doom, we now have high-profile examples like Anonymous, Anti-Sec and Lulzsec. This is not a comparison – 35 years ago it was mostly demonstrations and denials of service. Now, attacks have become exponentially more intrusive and destructive. With this escalation in damages comes a new name. Cyber terrorism is a term that the media has been using quite frequently. There have also been countless articles on the so-called Cyber Caliphate, Cyber Berkut, and even various disparate groups of "cyber freedom fighters" around the world. Is changing "hacktivism" to "terrorism" the government and media's way of upping the ante on hacking? Indeed, what is the difference between hacktivism and cyber terrorism, if there is one? After all, they both seek out pretty much the same...