Journal 5

Journal 5

Gary Hensley

06/28/2026

In the world of cybercrimes everyone has different motives for committing their actions. Some main reasons include money, revenge, politics, or entertainment. After looking at some articles looking into the reasons why people commit crimes, I'm going to rank seven of the motives that make the most sense. The motives I'll be looking at are entertainment, politics, revenge, boredom, recognition, money, and multiple reasons.

At number one, I would place multiple reasons. This one seems to explain many attacks. The attacker committing the crime may be looking for money and to gain notoriety in the hacker community. Also, finding self achievement when successfully completing a hack. I would rank political motives second. The reasoning for this being second is due to hacktivist groups. In politics and major world events in society, you see a lot of people leaking information and videos that might not be meant to be shared. Hackers look for information that has been withheld from the public and leak the information to expose the victim. Third would be for money. This gives hackers the ability to fund more hacking ventures. They could use the money to better or expand their own system. This motive could be how they fund their everyday life to keep them afloat. Fourth would be a motive of revenge. Out of anger or a sense of betrayal, someone might resort to a revenge cybercrime by doxing or posting privately shared information. This crime seems to be on the rise with the amount of social media and the information and media we easily share, thinking it is private. The next motive is entertainment, and I rank this fifth. Some cybercrimes are committed because the attacker finds entertainment in their actions. I like this because people looking for a challenge might find this as a way to satisfy the itch.  I rank recognition for sixth spot. I think this explains some cybercrimes due to major attacks that get around the community. Hackers will sign their work. This can tie multiple hacks to one hacker or group, making them famous in the hacker world. Last, I would but boredom.  I think boredom could be the reason someone learns and starts committing cybercrimes. Also, out of boredom, they continue to commit cybercrimes. This motive could be the start of their hacking.

There are many motives or reasons why some people commit these crimes. It can depend on the crimes that they are committing, like revenge porn or selling people's information for money. This is how I ranked some of the motives based on what makes the most sense.

References

Bradley Niblock election DDoS. (2021, June 30). The Register. https://www.theregister.com/2021/06/30/bradley_niblock_election_ddos/

Cyberbullying and online sexual grooming of children on the increase. (2021, May 31). HeraldLIVE. https://www.heraldlive.co.za/news/2021-05-31-cyberbullying-and-online-sexual-grooming-of-children-on-the-increase/

How cybercriminals spend their money [Infographic]. (n.d.). HP Threat Research. https://threatresearch.ext.hp.com/sex-drugs-and-toilet-rolls-how-cybercriminals-spend-their-money-infographic/

Lovejoy, B. (2021, July 19). LinkedIn scraping of 700M records was “for fun,” says hacker. 9to5Mac. https://9to5mac.com/2021/07/19/man-behind-linkedin-scraping/

New generation of angry youthful hackers join the hacktivism wave, adding to cyber security woes. (2021, March 27). The Economic Times. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/new-generation-of-angry-youthful-hackers-join-the-hacktivism-wave-adding-to-cyber-security-woes/articleshow/81707844.cms

Revenge porn victims in Wales often feel let down by the law as cybercrime slips through the net. (n.d.). News from Wales. https://newsfromwales.co.uk/news/revenge-porn-victims-in-wales-often-feel-let-down-by-the-law-as-cybercrime-slips-through-the-net/

What drives hackers to a life of cybercrime? (n.d.). Infosecurity Magazine. https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/what-drives-hackers-to-a-life-of/