- Revenge: The use of “revenge porn” is something that can destroy an individuals name or reputation, and can land the perpetrator behind bars if they’re caught. I don’t think any form of revenge can be translated to motivation that is worth a life behind bars.
- Entertainment: In 2023, there are so many ways for individuals to entertain themselves, so why is there a need to engage in criminal activity as a means of entertainment? This motivation makes little to no sense.
- Boredom: Teens engaging in soliciting inappropriate pictures that qualify as child pornography shouldn’t necessarily fall into the category of boredom as motivation, as some of these teens are ignorant to what they’re doing, or fall victim to predators, but it still does not excuse the behavior, and parents need to be more weary of what their children are doing on the internet.
- Recognition: Committing a cybercrime simply for likes, comments, or validation seems like a decent motivation for some, but is still not worth potential consequences, much like the hacker who was caught in the article
- Political: In some cases, like the hackers in the article who collected January 6 riot videos from Parler, were actually able to help the FBI track down and arrest the perpetrators who stormed the capital.
- Money: While there are certainly other ways for skilled hackers to make money, money is the #1 motivation for a lot of people to commit crime, so it makes the most sense that hackers do what they do for financial gain
- Other reasons: Some people with lower socioeconomic status who never got a college education would not be able to get a job working as a cyber analyst or ethical hacker, so they may resort to criminal hacking since it’s easier and a quicker way to make money at times.