Hacking and Cyber vandalism

A hacker is an individual who intends to gain unauthorized access to a computer system. Within the hacking community, the term cracker is typically used to denote a hacker with criminal intent, although in the public press the terms hacker and cracker tend to be used interchangeably. Hackers and crackers gain unauthorized access by finding weaknesses in the security procedures of websites and computer systems, often taking advantage of various features of the Internet that make it an open system that is easy to use.

In the past, hackers and crackers typically were computer aficionados excited by the challenge of breaking into corporate and government websites. Sometimes they were satisfied merely by breaking into the files of an e-commerce site. Today, hackers have malicious intentions to disrupt, deface, or destroy sites (cybervandalism) or to steal personal or corporate information they can use for financial gain (data breach).

Cybervandalism is the intentional disruption, defacing, or even destruction of a site. It is a deliberate act of digital damage — not necessarily for financial gain, but to harm the targeted organization's online presence, reputation, or operations. Hackers may deface websites by altering content, redirect pages, or post messages that damage the brand.

Hacktivism adds a political twist. Hacktivists typically attack governments, organizations, and even individuals for political purposes, employing the tactics of cybervandalism, distributed denial-of-service attacks, data thefts, and doxing (gathering and exposing personal information of public figures). The most prominent hacktivist organizations include Wikileaks, founded by Julian Assange, and LulzSec and Anonymous. In 2015, the hacktivist group Impact Team allegedly hacked the Ashley Madison website to call attention to its weak security.