Have you ever visited one of your favorite websites to find it defaced by some hacker named “C0mpHugg3r”? Maybe the fact that this hacker kept your from being able to watch the next episode of Gossip Girl, or help kill some time at work by playing flash games, made you extremely mad causing you to throw your freshly brewed cup of moonshine against a wall, accidently clipping your co-worker and causing him to fall off the cliff he was standing by. Then while you were being escorted to jail you might have asked yourself, why would someone do this!? Why can’t they just get a life!? Seriously! What do they possibly get from hacking that innocent website?! Ugh! Well I asked myself these same questions and came up with this list…

 
Revenge – If someone was humiliated, had their pride hurt, insulted, fired, or anything else you could think of may get the desire to get some sweet revenge. They would do almost anything possible to succeed and get their urge for revenge satisfied. Most of the time, it’s an employee who thinks they were fired for an unjust reason.

A HACKER who allegedly caused millions of dollars worth of damage to Northern Territory government computers wanted revenge for his boss making him the “newbie” at work and giving him a bad office seat, a court has been told.

http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,24474552-15306,00.html

Money, Greed – Due to the greed for material things, hackers may empty banks of their money or rent out their giant list of zombie computers to underground criminal organizations. These criminals use the compromised machines to send out millions of spam messages to you and me. Eventually they hope to find someone foolish enough to send them money in hopes of getting the millions of dollars they inherited from King Zimbahalamazaki of Nigeria.

An Oregon woman who is out $400,000 after falling for a well-known Internet scam says she wasn’t a sucker or an easy mark.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,453125,00.html

Curiosity – Many hackers are driven by curiosity. They need to know what the hidden bytes hold within the target’s server. They don’t like the fact that information is being hidden from them.

David Kernell, the 20-year-old Tennessee student who has been under suspicion for allegedly obtaining unauthorized access into Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s private Yahoo e-mail account, has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Tennessee.

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/10/tennessee-stude.html

Boredom – Many people turn to hacking because they are bored with their regular structured life or just bored in general.

It seems that mugging people on the street isn’t good enough for the youth of today. Instead they are increasingly turning to hacking and technology-related crime for both their kicks and to make some money. However, some are so bad at it, or brag about their endeavors so readily that they get caught easily.

http://tech.blorge.com/Structure:%20/2008/10/28/bored-of-mugging-teenagers-turn-to-hacking/

Fame, feeling of significance - Many hackers hack for the fame and to boost their ego. Most of the time, these hacker don’t get this in real life. They end up turning to the computer where people don’t judge them by their looks, physical abilities, or social standing. Defacements are usually made because the hacker wishes to get attention and fame.

Nationalism – due to people’s loyalty and devotion to their country, nationalism is a large reason why many people hack. During war, cyber-warfare between the two countries is very common. Hacking for political or social motivated purposes is also known as hacktivism.

THE FBI has claimed that hackers who penetrated the White House security network and carried out sophisticated attacks on Barack Obama and John McCain’s campaign network came from China.

http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/11/10/apple-smartphone-number-two

As you can see there are many different reasons why people are driven to hack. If you believe I missed some, feel free to add them in the comments.