Hacktivist (person)

Hacktivist - noun

one who hacks for a cause

A hacktivist is someone who hacks or defaces a website for the purposes of activism. This action by the hacker is to bring pressure on the organization being hacked or to inform the public about the practices of the organization or just to bring harm to the organization. They read publications like 2600. People changing Nike's website to inform the public the way the shoes are made would be considered hacktivists.

Hacktivists would generally be considered white hats of the hacker community. They are defacing for the purpose of informing people and trying to right wrongs. Hacktivists are the opposite of script kiddies. They aren't doing what they're doing because they can, they do it because they care. In some cases, hacktivists work for a government to target another government.

According to www.logophilia.com, the first usage of hacktivist was in 1995 in a Village Voice article.

Neo and the others in the Matrix could be considered hacktivists. See hacktivism and www.thehacktivist.com.