TBD | The Return of Hacktivism
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Slate
3.9 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 15 October 2021
⏱️ 20 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Over the last month, the domain company Epik and the streaming service Twitch have fallen prey to massive-scale hacks. The hackers revealed not just email addresses, but detailed personal information too. For Twitch, it was the entire source code for their site.
But the attackers aren’t holding this data for ransom. In fact, they don’t seem to want much of anything. What’s motivating this new wave of activist hacks? And who suffers?
Guest: Drew Harwell, tech reporter at the Washington Post
Host: Lizzie O’Leary
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
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| 1:07.2 | Over the last year, when we've talked on this show about hacking and hackers, we've usually |
| 1:11.7 | been talking about ransomware, holding data and services hostage for money. |
| 1:16.0 | A suspected cyber attack has forced a major energy pipeline in the U.S. to shut down operations. |
| 1:22.3 | It was ransomware that shut down the colonial pipeline. |
| 1:24.9 | On critical infrastructure, this time the food supply. |
| 1:27.6 | The world's largest meat supplier. |
| 1:29.3 | Cybercrime is hitting U.S. hospitals. |
| 1:30.9 | And countless schools, hospitals, and small businesses. |
| 1:34.4 | Stealing private data and holding it for ransom. |
| 1:37.7 | So far five hundred. |
| 1:38.3 | Things have gotten so bad that this week, the Biden administration held a two-day summit |
| 1:42.8 | with 30 countries to talk about the problem. |
| 1:46.0 | Ransomware has America's attention. |
| 1:54.2 | But the thing is, not all hacks are made the same. |
| 1:58.5 | One of the simpler ways to break it down is motive. This is Drew Harwell, |
| 2:02.7 | who covers tech for the Washington Post. With something like a ransomware gang or like a cyber |
| 2:08.2 | crime outfit, there's just a crass capitalistic ambition to just make a bunch of money. And then |
... |
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