Hackers are not without political and social consciences and often use the hack as a way to express frustration or as a means of protest. Michelle Delio, in an article for Wired News titled "Hacktivism and How It Got Here," related that, "Hacktivism, as defined by the Cult of the Dead Cow, the group of hackers and artists who coined the phrase, was intended to refer to the development and use of technology to foster human rights and the open exchange of information". The hacker zine 2600 has even sponsored a conference for Hackers On Planet Earth, called the Fifth Hope. Much of this hacktivism has to do with politics and freedom of information. In an article for Wired titled "Hackers Take Aim at GOP," Noah Shachtman wrote about hackers planning to sabotage Republican sites during the Republican National Convention. According to Shachtman, "The Black Hat Hackers Bloc is hoping to cause a whole lot more trouble when the Republicans start to gather in New York. The groups will be targeting not only GOP computers, but 'e-mail, faxes and phones, too,' CrimethInc said, as well as unspecified 'financial disruption.'" Hacktivism is arguably a fairly recent phenomenon, although history seems to demonstrate that hackers have always been, to a certain extent, politically minded and socially aware.

According to Taylor, "Hackers' descriptions of their motives emphasize the intellectual stimulation it affords as opposed to its breaking and entering connotations" (151). Despite the underground status hacking affords many people, conferences such as Defcon seem to indicate the formulation of a collective unconscious amongst hackers and the desire to trade secrets and experiences, much in the same way the Homebrew Computer Club functioned in the 1970's. In their online relationships with each other, hackers use pseudonyms, choosing a name that relates to a particular hack or exploit that they've mastered, although as Thomas notes, "One of the ways that law enforcement monitors hackers is by keeping careful watch on the relationships and networks that hackers set up among themselves" (185). The fact that recent legislation and high-profile crackdowns have forced many hackers underground has served only to solidify a kind of cult status and sense of community amongst hackers. This is an image that hackers often reinforce, downplaying their more positive activities or exploits that might actually benefit others. Taylor suggests that, "Under the cover of anonymity hackers project threatening personalities to the outside world and media facilitating the subsequent over-reactions of the police and legal establishment" (5). Hackers seem unable, as yet, to find a balance between wanting to be seen as slightly dangerous subversives who warrant a justifiable amount of trepidation by the general public and the law, and as a large community that could act as a viable force in politics, individual rights, intellectual freedom and access, and as the conscience of such behemoth software companies as Microsoft.