"Hacktivists often seek out for vulnerabilities, most often by means of exploiting a Web application vulnerability on a website," he says. "These threats are very real and scary as these attacks have no logical and predictable trend."

Hue added that every organisation, ranging from governments to enterprises, were vulnerable to the attacks.

IBM Australia security systems business unit executive, Jason Burns, says hacktivism is becoming a threat--not only to organisations but individuals as well-- because of the methods used by hacktivists.

"Hacktivists are increasingly resorting to automated password guessing programs, attacks on mobile gadgets and phishing attacks that trick people into downloading viruses or revealing sensitive information," he says. "These attacks pose a serious threat to any organisation."

Sourcefire US vice president of security strategy, Jason Brvenik, likened the hacktivism climate to civilians being the target of warfare.