It is no secret that, as more young people engage in it, cybercrime is one of the main vices wreaking havoc on the African continent. With around 207 million children under the age of four and about 650 million people in total who are 17 years old or younger, Africa has the biggest youth population in the world. As of 2021, there were only about 48 million people who were 65 years of age or older. Africa is the youngest continent in the world, but rather than its young people creating a strong labor force, it is frequently described as a ticking time bomb. This is a result of both the widespread participation in criminal activity and the high unemployment rate.
Young Africans, notably those in Nigeria, who previously prowled the streets at strange hours turned to their computers with the introduction of the web and devised clever ways to con people out of their money. As a result, the government and the rest of the world perceive the youth living on the continent as volatile members of society, which has damaged their perception of themselves. But it is not sufficient to categorically dismiss these people; instead, we should make an educated guess as to what drives the high occurrence of cybercrime in our community.
It is unambiguous that the need for money is the major motivation of cybercrime when one traces the origins of this issue. But after giving it a much closer look, I came to see that it goes well beyond the presence or absence of money. Every hacker has a unique motivation. It might be a personal vendetta, or it might just be for fun and enjoyment. I was once hacked by a person I know, and I am very certain he did not make a penny from me. So, the question remains: why?
I carried out an interview of young male Nigerians between the ages of 17 and 25, and I found that several of them were leaning toward cybercrime. A certain gentleman could fool anyone with his neat appearance and regular wear of a sharp suit. This is because government officials usually identify young men wearing indecent clothing as cybercriminals. He claimed that periodically, due to financial difficulties and to spy on his girlfriend, he had committed cybercrime. He stated:
"I have done Yahoo before, but not as a full time thing. One day, when I was very hungry, I met up with a friend of mine, and we ran an operation for little cash. But I regularly hack my girlfriend’s Facebook account to make sure she’s not cheating on me. I don’t count that as cybercrime though."
When I told my pal over here that he was a black hat hacker, he did not believe me. White hat hackers are the generally good ones, while gray-hat hackers are on the fence. Black-hat hackers are, in essence, terrible hackers.
Why do hackers hack?
1. Money
Most cybercriminals went into it because they wanted to make money. It can be said that the reason most people learn about cyber security is because they want to safeguard their money. Hackers could hack businesses and demand ransoms or simply hack private accounts to take advantage of activities that involve financial transactions.
2. Personal Grudge
As I said earlier, I was once hacked by someone I knew personally. Apparently I did something he did not like, and instead of talking to me about it, he hacked into my social media accounts and started posting misleading content. He may have put up the content to trick people into clicking on it, but he hacked my account because he had a personal vendetta against me.
3. Steal Information
One of the most common motives for hackers is the intent to steal or leak information. This is usually done by hackers looking to gain a lot of attention and not to make money. These hackers do it because they think it’s fun and enjoyable.
Do you know any more reasons hackers hack? Share them in the comment section below.