Philip Jong

Vandalism was first coined by the Bishop of Bios, Henri Grégoire, to describe the deliberate act of destroying paintings, books, and other properties of cultural values during the French Revolution. It was named after the Vandals who looted the city they invaded during the Sack of Rome in 455 AD. In modern times, vandalism refers to the willful destruction of either private or public physical property without permission. The advent of the information age, however, has spawned a new type of vandalism—cyber vandalism. Most frequently, these cyber vandals exploit the openness of the internet to perpetuate acts of online sabotage, spreading messages of propaganda or stealing private data or personal information for nefarious use. In recent years, these acts of cyber vandalism have extended beyond attacks against governments or nation states for political gains to corporations with an intent to embarrass, defame, or humiliate these companies for their business practices. Regardless of the motives of these cyber vandals, there is simply no justification for their crimes and the damages they are causing—economic or otherwise. Importantly, when these crimes directly threaten the online security and safety of a nation’s citizens, this new form of vandalism may become the next frontier of warfare that will need to be fought in the digital world.