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.
- The motive that made the most sense to me was, ‘For Money’. Whenever I am reading articles about cyber crimes in other courses, the motive always seems to involve money. It is not a secret that a lot of people would want to be rich and have nice things, I even agree with this. Therefore, when a cyber criminal is attacking a company that is making millions, it really isn’t a weird motive for wanting to commit a crime. It is just like a burglar breaking into a home for money, which is a common motive.
- The second motive that makes sense is, ‘Revenge’. This motive can come from an ex-employee wanting revenge from being fired. I don’t think it is a crazy or random motive because this is a real thing and someone being fired from their job can seriously anger them. I have talked to people many times where they wanted revenge on someone and I think it is a natural human emotion, however that doesn’t mean that we should act on it. In terms of a cyber criminal who doesn’t care for the outcome, I think this is a motive that is common.
- The next motive is, ‘Multiple Reasons’ and this is common for an individual to have multiple reasons behind a cyber crime. For example, a cyber criminal could want revenge on a company and want to gain some money from it. Having multiple reasons on why a person wants to commit a crime isn’t something that strikes me as uncommon.
- The next motive I chose is, ‘Recognition’. This motive doesn’t seem odd to me because a cyber criminal may be wanting other individuals to basically, “not mess with them”. It could be a reason to prove to another individual that they can actually commit a cyber crime.
- The next motive I chose that doesn’t really make sense to me is, ‘Political’. I have read a lot about cyber crimes in my courses and a political motive is not very common. I don’t know what would drive them to commit the crime based on a political motive, unless it was during a presidential election.
- The next motive that doesn’t make much sense to me is, ‘Entertainment’. This motive is confusing to me because what would cause an individual to commit a crime just for entertainment? They would be risking a lot and have the possibility of going to jail and for what? I can’t imagine someone would want to do that and risk going to jail or getting fined.
- The last motive that really strikes me as weird and uncommon is, ‘Boredom’. Just like the last motive, I really can’t imagine an individual wanting to commit a crime because they are bored. A person willing to throw everything away due to boredom is a thought I can’t wrap my head around!