The most sensible reason to commit cyber crime is to have multiple reasons to do so (1). We humans are complex creatures and have complex emotions and motives for everything we do, so a combination of factors is the most sensible reason to do anything. Given that the possibilities can include two or more of any other factor on this list, it is an unfair metric as the sensibility gets compounded onto each other when taking a look at multiple reasons playing part in one motive.

The second most sensible reason is for political reasons (2). Politics shape many aspects of our modern lives and so any type of leak involving politicians, political movements, wars, etc. sways the opinions of many people who keep their interests in mind when voting. Politics are a powerful tool and many would seek to manipulate that tool for their own gain if given the power to do so.

The only reason money (3) comes in as the third most sensible reason is because only 15% of people actually use money as a motive to pay off their needs in life. Money is a thing which rules over modern life and yet is also a thing that many people are extremely desperate for. As the rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and many find it harder and harder to sustain their basic needs. However, by percentage most cyber criminals spend their money on luxuries or things they don’t need for anything but their own pleasure making it a less sensible motive as a whole.

Getting into the purely bad reasons to do so, the fourth least sensible is revenge (4). While revenge is a thing which most people want after being wronged by someone, it is often the case that revenge ends up hurting all parties involved more than the initial offense itself. There is a reason Hollywood is obsessed with making revenge out to be a bad thing through movies. Ending up in jail for spreading someone else’s sexual media, while damaging to the target, often leads to heavy trouble for the spreader. Cybercriminals will pay for their crimes and being emotionally wronged is never worth going to jail over.

However, instead of being emotionally wronged some people seek only to emotionally gain such as those who seek recognition (5). Fame is a power that corrupts both those who have it and those who seek it. However, the difference between beloved celebrities and cyber criminals is that celebrities used more than just crimes to get where they are. While there are a significant amount of criminal celebrities, gaining your fame through crime only leads to bad attention, It is not sensible to think that all attention is good attention, especially not when you need to commit crimes to get your fictional internet likes.

The second least sensible form of cyber crime motive is out of boredom (6). Boredom is a borderline psychopathic excuse to commit any crime, never mind the crime suggested in the article of child abuse. No excuse is good enough to harm children, and boredom is simply one of the most disgusting and cruel reasons anyone can cite to harm a child.

However, the most psychopathic and deviant motive for any crime is for the fun of it (7). Those who derive entertainment from committing crimes and harming people are genuine psychopaths and should seek help. Causing harm to potentially hundreds of millions of people such as in the LinkedIn data scrubbing just to get your kicks is unjustifiably cruel and insensible.