Hacktivist Should be Stopped, but are Also Desired for Accountability: Survey

One citizen’s hacktivist is another’s cyber terrorist, or so the new adage goes. Today, an undecided verdict hangs over groups like Anonymous, which harness the power of technology to help ignite revolutions, fight oppression and dismantle dictatorships, while pursuing targeted cyber attacks against individuals and groups, sometimes for purely malicious purposes. A new survey commissioned by the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) and conducted by global research company Ipsos across 24 countries finds that a majority (66%) of global citizens believe hacktivist groups are breaking the law and should be stopped, while a sizeable portion (52%) also believe that hacktivist groups should step in when no one else will hold someone accountable.

If these groups operate outside of the bounds of the law and mercilessly pursue cyber-attacks against individuals and groups, then why is it that global citizens also believe that these groups are credible, last-ditch defenders of accountability? The answer may lie in the enigmatic and unpredictable nature of these actors.

“Internet users around the world are conflicted on the role of hacktivist groups like Anonymous. You could al- 8 www.dqindia.com most say that people tend to disapprove of their tactics, but approve of what they often do with those means,” said Eric Jardine, CIGI Research Fellow and cybersecurity expert. “They seem to be apprehensive of their lack of recognizable organizational structure, and experience trepidation about their operation from the shadows of the Internet. At the same time, Internet users also deem the outcome of hacktivist operations in a more benign light, especially when they are holding institutionally powerful people to account.”