Handbook of Information Security: Information Warfare, Social, Legal, and International Issues and Security Foundations, Volume 2

Hacktivism

Paul A. Taylor, University of Leeds, United Kingdom

Jan Ll. Harris, University of Salford, United Kingdom

Introduction

The Culture and Founding Ethics of Hacking

From Hacking to Microserfdom

Hacktivism, Tactical Media, and the Virtual Sit-in

Further Examples of Hacktivist Actions

Electronic Pressure Group Actions: The Etoy Campaign

Culture Jamming

Precision Targeted Satire: RTMark and the Yes Men

Open Source and Free Software: The Rebirth of the Hacking Ethic?

All That Is Solid Melts into Air

Conclusion

Glossary

Cross References

References

INTRODUCTION

Elsewhere (Jordan & Taylor, 2004; Taylor, 1999; Taylor, 2001), we have provided detailed accounts of both hacking and the attendant phenomenon of hacktivism. The purpose of this chapter is to provide a more succinct account of the way in which the key attributes of hacking have been adopted by new social movements that have pressed them into the service of the burgeoning antiglobalization movement. In carrying out this task, we will explore the points of contact and divergence that exist between traditional hacking and the recent emergence of hacktivism, the latter defined as the deployment of hacking tactics within the context of an explicit political agenda. Although hackers tend to be much more politically motivated than their hacker predecessors, their innovative acts are in fact very much in keeping with the original hacker ethic of using technology in the most ingenious manner possible. Hacking has, almost from its ...