Activists turn 'Hacktivists' on the Web - Book Report/Review Example

Activists turn ‘Hacktivists’ on the web Your al affiliation Activists turn ‘Hacktivists’ on the web Activist who use hacking for a cause and stay in legal limits are distinguishable from those who push the idea of civil disobedience beyond legitimate grounds(Vallance, 2010).People like Rieger from Chaos Computer Club, believe that hacking needs to be redefined without negative connotations. The major objective of CCC is to train youngsters for employing hacking for a greater cause, the political change (as cited in Vallance, 2010).

Vallance (2010) refers to the similar believes of the German hackers’ community. They obtained fingerprints of the then German interior minister and publish them in order to draw attention to the vulnerability of the proposals for biometric identity mechanism. While CCC rules out the cyber-attacks, others associate politically motivated attacks as legal form of civil disobedience which is online, for instance, Anonymous denial of service attacks (DDoS) on Australian government’s websites. Not only Australian government condemned it, but DDoS is also considered illegitimate in several jurisdictions.

Anonymous considers it a legal form of protest and resemble it with the truck drivers’ strike by blocking roads. Despite being undefined, Anonymous is associated with 4chan message boards. However, the 4chan’s founder, Pool, despite his opposition to the Australian government’s action, does not approve Anonymous activity and attributes it with their vent to frustration and an effort to gather media attention (as cited in Vallance, 2010). CCC also opposes DDoS as they regard it to a limit to free speech online.

He points out a consensus among politically motivated hackers against cyber-attacks since 1990s (as cited in Vallance, 2010).However, Vallance (2010) he questions the difference between cybercriminals and cyber-activist. Dr Karatzogianni entitle activist with open identities and explained objectives of the happening (as cited in Vallance, 2010). I completely agree with the idea that activists with a particular cause, be it political or social, can be separated from those who have malicious intent behind hacking activities.

The idea of ‘hacktivism’ seems very interesting and quite predictable in this age of technology and cyberspace. Our medium of expressions and representations have changed, therefore, it is not surprising that our methods to register the protests have also changed. However, protests need to be non-violent and within legal limits. Hacktivism is a very sensitive issue. We can neither curb the right to free speech nor support those who have dark objectives in mind to breach the security and access sensitive information.

No doubt, the idea of hacktivism and civil disobedience online is not objectionable; it follows the same path as Martin Luther King’s. However, we need to remember that there were the instances of violent civil disobedience as well. Hackers with actual political or social cause and positive intention can be very productive as they can effectively highlight a sensitive issue without much nuisance as it happened in case of German hackers’ efforts for highlighting the vulnerability of biometric identity system.

If they wouldn’t have done it, there are fair chances that the sensitive information may be breached by the hackers with malicious intent. In addition to having openly declared identities and clearly explained objectives, as Dr Karatzogianni explained, Activist hacker with a certain cause in mind will never use the hacked information or data for illegal purposes. The way hacktivists select may not be right or even clearly legal, but their objectives are ethical. However, the examples of CCC and Anonymous show a clear contrast of the objectives and way of achieving them.

It is important for hacktivists to register themselves as an established body with pre-established goals and make them public.CCC seems to be a leading the cause by engaging in the mainstream politics. Governments and sensitive organizations should keep their systems and applications more intact and secure in order to avoid ‘dark’ hacking. I would rather suggest that they should collaborate with hacktivists for better security online in this age of information sensitivity. References Vallance, C.

(2010, March 16). Activists turn ‘hacktivists’ on the web.BBC News. Retrieved May 29, 2011, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8567934.stm