Motives to commit cyber crimes range from the innocent to the obscene. Of the infinite number possible, I have scaled it down to seven motives: entertainment, politics, revenge, boredom, recognition, monetary gain, and a general self dissatisfaction (ego and socioeconomic and psychological factors).Some of these motives subjectively make more sense than others, which I discuss below.
Time is money and money makes the world go ‘round. Society today is ever more driven to have the most stuff, the best stuff, and to get it first. This motive makes the most sense.
Right after money comes politics. Why? Because there is big money in it. When looked at from the perspective of the hierarchy of needs, money and politics help to meet the first two tiers: physiological needs and safety.
The next step on the hierarchy is “belonging”, which is why the motive of recognition comes next. Whether it is a script-kiddie trying to impress their friends, or hacker trying to gain fellowship with a higher echelon of criminals, this motive is all about belonging.
The next motive starts to border on flippant desire rather than falling within the hierarchy of needs, but it could be argued either way. Dissatisfaction with oneself and strong ego can create an unstable cocktail in the brain, leading to committing cyber crimes. Although not an excuse for committing crimes of any sort, mental illness makes more sense than the last three.
Whether mentally stable or unstable, committing a cyber crime for revenge lands low on the list for its pure selfish and egotistical nature. Revenge is an emotional response which serves no purpose, and makes no sense.
The fact that some laws are broken because of our final two motives, entertainment and boredom, is ridiculous. If hacking is the only thing you like, there are many online tools to practice/play hacking scenarios that don’t break any laws. If you like to bully people online for fun, do it in person to make it a fair fight. Any possible crime that would be committed because of boredom or for entertainment could be solved by going outside and riding your bike.