This month (December 2010) has seen the mainstream media alive with stories of hacktivists attacking payment websites, including Visa, MasterCard and PayPal, in response to those organisations' refusal to take payments in support of the WikiLeaks website. Every day we hear stories of cybercriminals stealing money and cyberterrorists causing mayhem, alongside state sponsored cyberwarfare as nations battle it out on line.

The reality is more complicated. Whilst these stories make good headlines the truth is often more disturbing; but what exactly is the truth behind cybercrime, cyberwarfare, cyberterrorism and hacktivism? What do you need to know and what do you need to do to deal with the problem?

In support of a recent paper I have written, I have serialised some insight into these issues here.