Students: Adam Horan, Justin Griffiths and Paul Krzan
Advisor: Marilee Mulvey
Hacktivism, the use of technology to hack into industries that control infrastructure with the intention to promote political change, poses a major threat. Throughout the years, many individuals have used social activism, a type of political movement, to express their desire for change. Although social activism can play an important role in promoting change, some individuals escalate their social activism to hacktivism leading to collateral loss, trust issues, and reputational damage. Furthermore, hacktivism involves using unlawful ways to violate an organization’s privacy to gain political insight on the organization. Despite the negative impacts presented by hacktivism on infrastructure, hacktivism can also raise cybersecurity awareness by motivating industries to protect their infrastructure from cyber-attacks. The purpose of this research is to determine what factors negatively affect an economy’s infrastructure. A literature review was conducted to find the motivations and tactics used by hacktivist groups, the specific targeted industries, the positive and negative impacts on infrastructure, and ways industries can rehabilitate their infrastructure due to the effects of hacktivism.