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Hacktivism is no longer driven by well-meaning amateurs or bored teenagers, if it ever was. The nature of hacktivism is changing and cause-based activism typified by the Anonymous collective is being replaced by heavy-duty, politicised attacks by the likes of the Syrian Electronic Army and ISIS – or even attacks carried out by nation states. Hacktivism intended for social and political protest can have unintended (or intended!) impacts on organisations of all sizes caught in the cyber crossfire.
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Tracey Caldwell (2015) studied this question.
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