Hackers, hacktavists and other digital trouble-makers

Suelette Dreyfus 2004

This talk will examine the spectrum of digital trouble-makers. Information Technology has changed the very nature of truth in human rights work. Reports of abuse are more difficult to deny in the wake of powerful off-the-shelf cheap databases and easy to use cryptography that is designed to protect data integrity. Hacktavism - illegal hacking and web site defacement - soared before and during the war in Iraq. And illegal hacking, a dark and sometimes seedy side of the digital underground, is thriving. In all of this, there is a significant amplification effect. A handful of programmers can create a technology that thousands of people can use instantly, whether to promote social change or to create a climate of terror.

About Suelette Dreyfus

Dr Suelette Dreyfus is technology researcher and journalist. She wrote "Underground", the first mainstream book about computer hacking in Australia. The book was published by Mandarin (Random House Australia) but she retained the electronic rights and has given away a text version for free on the Intenet, where more than 300,000 people have downloaded the entire work. As Associate Producer of the Film Australia documentary "In the Realm of the Hackers" that aired on ABC TV in mid-2003, she continued her research into the elusive world of the computer underground. The documentary was chosen for the Sydney and Perth Film Festivals and received an award from the Australian Cinematographers Society. Her features and news stories appear in The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Independent (London). She worked as a staff reporter for The Herald-Sun and also appeared regularly on Radio National's Late Night Live with Phillip Adams to discuss technology issues. In addition to researching the world of computer crime and underground culture, she is also interested in how human rights groups use information technology and particularly encryption in their field work. She has conducted research in this area in Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Cambodia and Guatemala.