Assessing Animal and Earth Motivated Cyberattacks Using the ECCD

• In Event: Navigating Violent Extremism: Family Impact, Belief Systems, and Reintegration Strategies

Abstract

Scholarship on ideologically-motivated extremist activities traditionally focuses on either acts of violence performed in physical spaces, or the role of technology in the radicalization process. Less research has considered the ways that the Internet and online infrastructure are targeted by extremist groups to cause harm through the use of hacking and other forms of cyberattack. This presentation will attempt to fill this gap through an analysis of cyberattacks performed by animal and earth-motivated actors as identified through open source reporting in the Extremist CyberCrime Database (ECCD). Trends in attack methods and targets will be explored over time. The implications of this analysis for our understanding of extremist behaviors on and offline will be discussed in detail.

Author

• Thomas J. Holt, Michigan State University