Hailey Caram

Review the articles linked with each individual motive.  Rank the motives from 1 to 7 as the motives that you think make the most sense (being 1) to the least sense (being 7).  Explain why you rank each motive the way you rank it.

Cyber offenses are driven by many unique motives and understanding those motives can help to prevent cybercrime and develop better response strategies. The most logical motive is financial gain. A lot of crimes are motivated by money and cybercrime is no different. Phishing, ransomware, and data breaches are all attacks that are motivated by money and have little risks associated. These reasons make money the most logical motive for cyber offending. 

With the rise of hacktivism, political motives rank second for making the most sense to commit a cyber offense. Youthful hackers are angry about tech companies and their role in spreading propaganda (Reuters, 2021). This frustration and activism drives hackers to commit cyber offenses as a form of protest, making political motives a powerful reason to engage in cybercrime. 

Following political motives, revenge makes the next most sense. Revenge is a personal and emotionally driven motive and humans tend to act quickly on these feelings without considering the consequences. Even people without experience in the cyber realm can easily leak data or harmful information, making revenge an easy and logical motive for cybercrime.

At number four is recognition, recognition is a strong motivator for those seeking validation or fame online. In the case of Bradley Niblock, he was posing to gain likes on twitter and show off his abilities. There may not be money or malice involved, but people want to be seen as talented or skilled at what they do even at the cost of committing cyber offenses.

Many cybercriminals are motivated by a combination of factors such as financial gain, boredom, curiosity, and ideological beliefs. Some hackers may start for fun but as they gain skill, may shift their motivations for money or power. These layered motives make sense as to why cyber offenses may occur.

Some people may hack just because they enjoy the challenge or find it fun. In one case, a man scraped 700 million LinkedIn profiles and admitted doing it for fun before attempting to sell it (Lovejoy, 2021). To him it was just a puzzle using publicly accessible information. Not having a clear goal makes this motive less logical than factors like revenge or money.

Finally, boredom makes the least sense because it rarely accounts for complex, methodical cybercrimes. Acting out of boredom lacks purpose and intent, which is why it ranks the lowest in making the most sense to commit cyber offenses.

References

Lovejoy, B. (2021, July 19). Man behind LinkedIn scraping said he grabbed 700M profiles ‘for fun’. 9TO5Mac. https://9to5mac.com/2021/07/19/man-behind-linkedin-scraping/

Reuters. (2021, March 26). New generation of angry & youthful hackers join the ‘hacktivism’ wave, adding to cyber-security woes. The Economic Times. Retrieved June 20, 2025, from https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/new-generation-of-angry-youthful-hackers-join-the-hacktivism-wave-adding-to-cyber-security-woes/articleshow/81707844.cms