Is Hacktivism ever morally justified or is it just virtual vigilantism?

Is Hacktivism ever morally justified or is it just virtual vigilantism:
What is Hacktivism:
The term hacktivism derives its origin from internet activism. In this system, computerised
software are used to promote certain political agenda or the same is used to point out certain
societal changes. Further, certain cyber criminals who are not that big, use hacktism in illegal
ways. The people are showing their agitation against the political system in various ways and
hacktivism is one of the new forms where certain hackers are trying to promote certain political
plans by hacking the computer system of others. There are several examples where hacktivism
proved detrimental and posed as a threat for the society. After the victory of President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad, the Iranian protestors had aided in the internet anonymously in the year 2009.
There are many more examples on the cyber activism and considering the effectiveness of the
cyber activity, many countries have taken steps and invested billion dollars to secure their
confidential files.
Overview:
It has been observed that the hackers are performing their acts with certain political ideologies.
One of the central examples for translating political thought in the code language is peer-to-peer
platform. The activities like hacking are promoted by the hackers who are spreading their ideas
by intervening the servers of others. There are two aspects of hacktivism; it can be positive that
can bring societal change or it can be detrimental in nature. This character has made the nature of
hacking controversial. One of the most common names of cyber hacking is Wiki leaks.

Nature and controversy:
The nature and character of hacking can be different. It is depending on the user. It has been
observed that the term hacking can be done for the idea of politically motivated technologies, or
it can be done for the sources of anarchic disobedience or the same should be done for anti-
systematic gestures. Considering various nature of the cyber activism, it can be stated that the
base of cyber activism is quite controversial in nature. It has been stated by Rukundo (2017),
hacking is a form of protestation. On the other hand, Oxblood Ruffin (2004) has stated that the
process of hacking has done web defacement. Certain self-described hacktivists have engaged in
certain attacks that resulted in unintended consequences. The business of the blue security had
been destructed by the cyber hacking and they had lost their DNS provider permanently in the
year 2006.
Hacktivists and morality:
Hacktivism is an activity that reflects the concept and statement of certain people by using
computer software. There are certain hacktivist group who use the instrument as a medium to
reveal their concept and statement to the world. The statement can be about political ideology or
social matter or about certain institution specifically. In 2006, WikiLeaks has been founded by
Julian Assange to fight against the social changes. This web portal has released many important
and confidential documents from which the dominating nature of the USA Government has been
observed. This portal has disclosed certain confidential statements regarding the Afghanistan
War Logs. Another hacktivist group is LulzSec that has been formed in 2011. The term Lulz
means laugh and sec means security. This group has been formed for promoting the idea of
freedom of information. It has been observed that the members of the group have decoded
confidential information of Fox television, Tribune Company and Senate.gov website. The

concept of traditional human rights has been reflected in the form of hacktivists, who take active
part in the conventional political mobilization and raise their voice when the fundamental rights
of the citizens are violated. Here the word fundamental right can be termed as human right.
However, it could not be stated that the hacking activities are always promoted for good works.
There are certain anonymous hackers who are using the medium to meet their ill motives.
Therefore, the morality of the hacking activities is a matter of argument. It has been observed
that hackers sometimes used this medium as an instrument to raise their voice against the
indiscipline state. It has been observed that many government authorities have infringed the
fundamental duties and interfere the personal life of the citizens. This is a direct violation
towards the rights of the individual. Further, it has been observed that the activities of cyber
activisms are directly connected to the public protestation. All the documents that are displayed
through the hackers reflect the real condition of the human rights. It has been observed from the
WikiLeaks that certain governmental organisations are interfering in the personal life of the
individuals and all these information are morally superior in nature. On the other hand, in case of
Anonymous, it has been observed that certain hackers have formed this group to hack the
personal information of the officials with some ulterior motive. Therefore, it could not be stated
that the ultimate object of hackers or the cyber activists are to raise voice against the violation of
human rights and promote the theory of human rights.
Arguments on hacktivism:
A close analysis of the term reveal the fact that the hackers are promoting the idea of political
activism by engaging their hacking skill and they raised their voice against the wrongful acts of
the commercial institutions and government. However, it is not obvious that hacking reflects the
democratic tradition only. When a hacker sets his target against conventional political institution,