Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

Expediting the fall of the nation state are the hacktivists or activist hackers.

We have had mercenaries for many centuries. These were soldiers hired by governments to fight battles for them. Sometimes nations hired the armies of other nations to do this. Sometimes nations hired individuals. And we have had Internet mercenaries. These are groups and individuals hired by governments to hack and disrupt other governments.

Now we have the hacktivist. These are individuals and small groups that are not hired by anyone. They simply hack governments for fun. Sometimes they hack their own government and sometimes they hack another government.

Is it illegal to hack a foreign government? I don’t know international law.

Anyways, these small groups decide that some government or other somewhere on the planet is doing wrong. The hacktivist pokes around the Internet to find a weak point and hacks in to disrupt something or just plain give someone a lot of extra headaches.

These are not nations foiling other nations. These are guys and gals still living in their parents’ basements who grew bored playing Grand Theft Auto and stealing BitCoins and are seeking some other thrill. Is that an exaggerated stereotype? Maybe, but maybe not.

The nation state seems to be in its last days or centuries. These hacktivist is speeding that decline.