ABSTRACT
States have been behind many of the most visible and disruptive incidents involving the use of information and communications technologies (ICT), comprehending the global cyber conflict ecosystem inherently means understanding the actions of non-state actors. This chapter describes the various ways in which non-state actors use information technologies in world affairs. It provides a range of areas where ICT has altered the nature of operations for non-state actors, including social activism, terrorism, and criminal enterprise. For anyone thinking about non-state actors involved in conflict in the digital age, the first thought is likely to be of organized hactivists like the Anonymous hacking collective or criminal hackers aimed at the theft of intellectual property. Understanding the nature of subversive non-state actors and their approach to the use of information technologies is important. Subversion is worthy of understanding as a distinct category of non-state actor beyond the traditional dichotomous view of civil disobedience as either violent or peaceful.
