Editing Hacktivism (section)

==Notable hacktivist events==
{{see also|Timeline of events associated with Anonymous}}

*In late 1990s, the [[Hong kong blondes|Hong Kong Blondes]] helped Chinese citizens get access to blocked websites by targeting the Chinese computer networks.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thenation.com/article/wikileaks-and-hacktivist-culture/|title=WikiLeaks and Hacktivist Culture|newspaper=The Nation|issn=0027-8378|access-date=2016-10-21|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161119121852/https://www.thenation.com/article/wikileaks-and-hacktivist-culture/|archive-date=2016-11-19}}</ref> The group identified holes in the Chinese internet system, particularly in the area of satellite communications. The leader of the group, Blondie Wong, also described plans to attack American businesses that were partnering with China.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.wired.com/1998/07/hacking-for-human-rights/|title=Hacking for Human Rights?|last=Hesseldahl|first=Arik|newspaper=WIRED|language=en-US|access-date=2016-11-19|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161119182255/https://www.wired.com/1998/07/hacking-for-human-rights/|archive-date=2016-11-19}}</ref>
*In 1996, the title of the United States Department of Justice's homepage was changed to "Department of Injustice". Pornographic images were also added to the homepage to protest the [[Communications Decency Act]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://journal.georgetown.edu/the-rise-of-hacktivism/|title=The Rise of Hacktivism {{!}}|website=journal.georgetown.edu|language=en-US|access-date=2017-02-28|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170227054225/http://journal.georgetown.edu/the-rise-of-hacktivism/|archive-date=2017-02-27}}</ref>
*In 1998, members of the [[Electronic Disturbance Theater]] created FloodNet, a web tool that allowed users to participate in [[DDoS attacks]] (or what they called [[electronic civil disobedience]]) in support of [[Zapatista Army of National Liberation|Zapatista]] rebels in [[Chiapas]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/1998/12/14/penenberg_1214.html|title=When art meets cyberwar |website=Forbes |language=en-US|access-date=2019-06-03 }}</ref>
*In December 1998, a hacktivist group from the US called Legions of the Underground emerged. They declared a cyberwar against Iraq and China and planned on disabling internet access in retaliation for the countries' human rights abuses.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.cnet.com/news/old-time-hacktivists-anonymous-youve-crossed-the-line/|title=Old-time hacktivists: Anonymous, you've crossed the line|newspaper=CNET|access-date=2016-11-19|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161119120420/https://www.cnet.com/news/old-time-hacktivists-anonymous-youve-crossed-the-line/|archive-date=2016-11-19}}</ref> Opposing hackers criticized this move by Legions of the Underground, saying that by shutting down internet systems, the hacktivist group would have no impact on providing free access to information.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9901/13/cyberwar.idg/|title=CNN – Hackers spar over cyber war on Iraq, China – January 13, 1999|last=D'Amico|first=Mary Lisbeth|website=www.cnn.com|access-date=2016-11-19|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130831193446/http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9901/13/cyberwar.idg/|archive-date=August 31, 2013}}</ref>
*In July 2001, [[Hacktivismo]], a sect of the [[Cult of the Dead Cow]], issued the "Hacktivismo Declaration". This served as a code of conduct for those participating in hacktivism, and declared the hacker community's goals of stopping "state-sponsored censorship of the Internet" as well as affirming the rights of those therein to "freedom of opinion and expression".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2013/04/29/hacktivism-a-short-history/|title=Hacktivism: A Short History|last=McCormick|first=Ty|date=April 29, 2013|website=Foreign Policy}}</ref>
* During the [[2009 Iranian election protests]], [[Anonymous (group)|Anonymous]] played a role in disseminating information to and from Iran by setting up the website Anonymous Iran;<ref>{{cite web |url=http://iran.whyweprotest.net/ |title=Anonymous Iran @WhyWeProtest.net |publisher=Iran.whyweprotest.net |access-date=2011-06-03 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110221211746/http://iran.whyweprotest.net/ |archive-date=2011-02-21 }}</ref> they also released a video [[manifesto]] to the Iranian government.
* Google worked with engineers from SayNow and Twitter to provide communications for the Egyptian people in response to the government sanctioned Internet blackout during the 2011 protests. The result, [[Speak To Tweet]], was a service in which voicemail left by phone was then tweeted via Twitter with a link to the voice message on Google's SayNow.<ref name="Google Blog">{{cite web | last = Singh | first = Ujjwal | title = Some weekend work that will (hopefully) allow more Egyptians to be heard | url = http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/some-weekend-work-that-will-hopefully.html | access-date = 3 May 2011 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110503002907/http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/some-weekend-work-that-will-hopefully.html | archive-date = 3 May 2011 }}</ref>
*On Saturday 29 May 2010 a hacker calling himself 'Kaka Argentine' hacked into the Ugandan State House website and posted a conspicuous picture of Adolf Hitler with the swastika, a Nazi Party symbol.<ref name=Solomon2017/>
* During the Egyptian Internet black out, January 28 – February 2, 2011, [[Telecomix]] provided dial up services, and technical support for the Egyptian people.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/02/egypts-internet-blackout-highlights-danger-weak | title = Egypt's Internet Blackout Highlights Danger of Weak Links, Usefulness of Quick Links | first = Eva | last = Galperin | date = 8 February 2011 | author1-link = Eva Galperin | publisher = Electric Frontier Foundation | access-date = 2011-02-10 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110212143700/http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/02/egypts-internet-blackout-highlights-danger-weak | archive-date = 2011-02-12 }}</ref> Telecomix released a video stating their support of the Egyptian people, describing their efforts to provide dial-up connections, and offering methods to avoid internet filters and government surveillance.<ref>{{cite AV media|publisher=czardalan|title=Telecomix Message to North Africa and the Middle east|date=2011-01-30|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tz4ECbj3dkY|access-date=2016-10-21|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140802023924/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tz4ECbj3dkY|archive-date=2014-08-02}}</ref> The hacktivist group also announced that they were closely tracking radio frequencies in the event that someone was sending out important messages.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2011/01/28/amid-digital-blackout-anonymous-mass-faxes-wikileaks-cables-to-egypt/#22c11cc35954|title=Amid Digital Blackout, Anonymous Mass-Faxes WikiLeaks Cables To Egypt|last=Greenberg|first=Andy|newspaper=Forbes|access-date=2016-10-21|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161119120812/http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2011/01/28/amid-digital-blackout-anonymous-mass-faxes-wikileaks-cables-to-egypt/#22c11cc35954|archive-date=2016-11-19}}</ref>
* [[Project Chanology]], also known as "Operation Chanology", was a hacktivist protest against the [[Church of Scientology]] to punish the church for participating in [[Internet censorship]] relating to the removal of material from a 2008 interview with Church of Scientology member [[Tom Cruise]]. Hacker group [[Anonymous (group)|Anonymous]] attempted to "expel the church from the Internet" via DDoS attacks. In February 2008 the movement shifted toward legal methods of [[Nonviolent resistance|nonviolent protesting]]. Several protests were held as part of Project Chanology, beginning in 2008 and ending in 2009.
*On June 3, 2011, LulzSec took down a website of the FBI. This was the first time they had targeted a website that was not part of the private sector. That week, the FBI was able to track the leader of LulzSec, Hector Xavier Monsegur.<ref name=":0" />
*On June 20, 2011, LulzSec targeted the Serious Organised Crime Agency of the United Kingdom, causing UK authorities to take down the website.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2012/may/03/soca-website-shut-down-hackers|title=Soca shuts down website after cyber-attack|last1=Laville|first1=Sandra|date=2012-05-03|newspaper=The Guardian|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|access-date=2016-10-20|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161119121028/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2012/may/03/soca-website-shut-down-hackers|archive-date=2016-11-19}}</ref>
*In August 2011 a member of Anonymous working under the name "Oliver Tucket" took control of the Syrian Defense Ministry website and added an Israeli government web portal in addition to changing the mail server for the website to one belonging to the Chinese navy.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2013/08/28/heres-how-one-hacker-is-waging-war-on-the-syrian-government/|title=Here's how one hacker is waging war on the Syrian government|last=Peterson|first=Andrea|date=August 28, 2013|newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref>
* Anonymous and [[New World Hackers]] claimed responsibility for the [[2016 Dyn cyberattack]] in retaliation for [[Ecuador]]'s rescinding Internet access to [[WikiLeaks]] founder [[Julian Assange]] at their [[Embassy of Ecuador, London|embassy in London]].<ref name="politico1">{{cite web|last1=Romm|first1=Tony|last2=Geller|first2=Eric|title=WikiLeaks supporters claim credit for massive U.S. cyberattack, but researchers skeptical|url=http://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/websites-down-possible-cyber-attack-230145|website=POLITICO|date=21 October 2016 |access-date=22 October 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161021222034/http://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/websites-down-possible-cyber-attack-230145|archive-date=21 October 2016}}</ref> WikiLeaks alluded to the attack.<ref name="smh">{{cite web|last1=Han|first1=Esther|title=WikiLeaks' strange admission around internet attacks against Netflix and Twitter|url=http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/wikileaks-points-to-its-supporters-for-massive-ddos-cyber-attack-20161021-gs881u.html|website=The Sydney Morning Herald|access-date=22 October 2016|date=22 October 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161024002737/http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/wikileaks-points-to-its-supporters-for-massive-ddos-cyber-attack-20161021-gs881u.html|archive-date=24 October 2016}}</ref> Subsequently, FlashPoint stated that the attack was most likely done by [[script kiddie]]s.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Lomas|first1=Natasha|title=Dyn DNS DDoS likely the work of script kiddies, says FlashPoint|url=https://techcrunch.com/2016/10/26/dyn-dns-ddos-likely-the-work-of-script-kiddies-says-flashpoint/|access-date=26 October 2016|work=TechCrunch|date=26 October 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161027014002/https://techcrunch.com/2016/10/26/dyn-dns-ddos-likely-the-work-of-script-kiddies-says-flashpoint/|archive-date=27 October 2016}}</ref>
* In 2013, as an online component to the [[Million Mask March]], [[Anonymous (group)|Anonymous]] in the Philippines crashed 30 government websites and posted a YouTube video to congregate people in front of the parliament house on November 5 to demonstrate their disdain toward the Filipino government.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Potter|first=Garry|year=2015|title=Anonymous: A Political Ontology of Hope|journal=Theory in Action|volume=8|pages=2–3|doi=10.3798/tia.1937-0237.15001|doi-access=free}}</ref>  
* In 2014, [[Sony Pictures|Sony Pictures Entertainment]] was [[Sony Pictures hack|hacked]] by a group by the name of [[Guardians of Peace|Guardians Of Peace]] (GOP) who obtained over 100 Terabytes of data including unreleased films, employee salary, social security data, passwords, and account information. GOP hacked various social media accounts and hijacked them by changing their passwords to diespe123 (die {{not a typo|sony}} pictures entertainment) and posting threats on the pages.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.riskbasedsecurity.com/2014/12/a-breakdown-and-analysis-of-the-december-2014-sony-hack/|title=A Breakdown and Analysis of the December, 2014 Sony Hack|website=www.riskbasedsecurity.com|date=5 December 2014|language=en-US|access-date=2018-05-01|archive-date=2016-03-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304042516/https://www.riskbasedsecurity.com/2014/12/a-breakdown-and-analysis-of-the-december-2014-sony-hack/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* In 2016, Turkish programmer Azer Koçulu [[npm left-pad incident|removed his software package, left-pad, from npm]], causing a cascading failure of other software packages that contained left-pad as a dependency. This was done after [[Kik Messenger|Kik]], a messaging application, threatened legal action against Koçulu after he refused to rename his <code>kik</code> package. npm ultimately sided with Kik, prompting Koçulu to unpublish all of his packages from npm in protest, including left-pad.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Collins |first=Keith |title=How one programmer broke the internet by deleting a tiny piece of code |url=https://qz.com/646467/how-one-programmer-broke-the-internet-by-deleting-a-tiny-piece-of-code/ |access-date=2022-04-22 |website=Quartz |date=27 March 2016 |language=en}}</ref>
* British hacker Kane Gamble, who was sentenced to 2 years in youth detention, posed as [[John O. Brennan|John Brennan]], the then director of the CIA, and [[Mark F. Giuliano]], a former deputy director of the FBI, to access highly sensitive information.<ref>"[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/01/19/british-15-year-old-gained-access-intelligence-operations-afghanistan/ British 15-year-old gained access to intelligence operations in Afghanistan and Iran by pretending to be head of CIA, court hears] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180423100833/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/01/19/british-15-year-old-gained-access-intelligence-operations-afghanistan/ |date=2018-04-23 }}". ''The Daily Telegraph.'' 19 January 2018.</ref> The judge said Gamble engaged in "politically motivated cyber-terrorism."<ref>[http://www.dw.com/en/uk-teen-kane-gamble-gets-two-years-for-hacking-cia-ex-chief-john-brennan/a-43477403 UK teen Kane Gamble gets two years for hacking CIA ex-chief John Brennan] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180422202920/http://www.dw.com/en/uk-teen-kane-gamble-gets-two-years-for-hacking-cia-ex-chief-john-brennan/a-43477403 |date=2018-04-22 }}". ''Deutsche Welle.'' 20 April 2018.</ref>
* In 2021, [[Anonymous (hacker group)|Anonymous]] [[2021 Epik data breach|hacked and leaked]] the databases of American web hosting company [[Epik]].
* As a response against [[2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine]], [[Anonymous (hacker group)|Anonymous]] [[Anonymous and the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine|performed multiple cyberattacks]] against Russian computer systems.<ref>{{cite web |title=Anonymous apparently behind doxing of 120K Russian soldiers in Ukraine war |url=https://www.newsweek.com/anonymous-leaks-personal-data-120k-russian-soldiers-fighting-ukraine-1694555 |website=Newsweek |access-date=6 April 2022 |language=en |date=3 April 2022}}</ref>
* Following the [[Gaza war]] since 2023, multiple [[cyberattack]]s attacks were seen from pro-Israel and pro-Palestine hacktivist groups.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-10-15 |title=How hackers piled onto the Israeli-Hamas conflict |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/israel-hamas-war-hackers-cyberattacks/ |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=POLITICO |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Hacktivists take sides in Israel-Palestinian war |url=https://therecord.media/hacktivists-take-sides-israel-palestinian |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=therecord.media}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Attacks on Israeli orgs 'more than doubled' since October 7, cyber researcher says |url=https://therecord.media/attacks-israeli-orgs-double |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=therecord.media}}</ref> India's pro-Israel hacktivists took [[Downtime|down]] the portals of Palestinian National Bank, the National Telecommunications Company and the website of [[Hamas]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Israel-Palestine conflict: How Indian hackers sunk their cyber fangs into Hamas, Palestinian national bank |url=https://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-israel-palestine-conflict-how-indian-hackers-sunk-their-cyber-fangs-into-hamas-palestinian-national-bank-3063682 |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=DNA India |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-10-10 |title=Pro-Palestine hackers target India, pro-India groups strike back |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/pro-palestine-hackers-target-india-pro-india-groups-strike-back/articleshow/104297059.cms |access-date=2024-07-18 |work=The Times of India |issn=0971-8257}}</ref> Multiple Israeli websites were flooded with malicious traffic by pro-Palestine hacktivists. Israeli newspaper [[The Jerusalem Post]] reported that its website was down due to a series of cyberattacks initiated against them.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-10-08 |title=Israeli daily Jerusalem Post hit by multiple cyberattacks |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/israel-hamas-war-palestine-conflict-jerusalem-post-cyberattack-101696750348298.html |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=Hindustan Times |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Franceschi-Bicchierai |first=Lorenzo |date=2023-10-09 |title=Hacktivism erupts in response to Hamas-Israel war |url=https://techcrunch.com/2023/10/09/hacktivism-erupts-in-response-to-hamas-israel-war/ |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=TechCrunch |language=en-US}}</ref>