Keeping Up With The Hacktivists

Through our ATLAS intelligence reporting, Graphika has monitored close to 700 active and inactive hacktivist groups since 2022. The groups include state-sponsored hacktivist personas, pro-Russia and pro-Ukraine groups, and groups based in the Middle East, North Africa, and South and Southeast Asia.

This report identifies and explains some of these dynamics to help organizations targeted by these groups better understand the online hacktivist landscape. Most notably:

• Due to their motivations, hacktivist groups regularly pick high-profile targets to attack or disrupt, such as banks, social media platforms, and government agencies. They also seek multiple means of promoting themselves, including using dedicated hashtags and logos, and celebrating mentions of their activities in the press.
• These groups engage in what we consider to be a form of perception hacking, often claiming without sufficient evidence that they have attacked high-profile targets or caused significant disruptions to bolster their name recognition and present their targets as easily compromised or lacking security.
• The hacktivists we monitor display an acute interest in developing new, more disruptive capabilities, signaling that the threat this community poses will almost certainly grow and that their attacks will become more complex and disruptive.
• Hacktivists attempt to monetize their online activities, using the publicity around their attacks to promote and sell external or self-made tools, services, and hacking courses.
• The hacktivist landscape includes more active and public members who set the tempo for attacks and hacking campaigns by naming specific targets and rallying others to their cause. Aligned groups often partner together to amplify claims or a campaign’s impact. However, they also engage in inter-community feuds, targeting each other and using their fights to generate even more content and garner attention.
• While hacktivist groups are most active on Telegram, some maintain accounts on mainstream social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and X. Even so, these groups have had to contend with increases in platform moderation. Some regularly re-emerge with new usernames and handles, while others stop posting publicly for months at a time.