First political hacktivism

Hacktivism is the term used to describe protests using computer networks in line with a political goal. The first recorded instance of this occurred in October 1989, when computers worldwide owned by NASA and the US Department of Energy were penetrated by the Worms Against Nuclear Killers worm. This attack is believed to have originated in Australia and occurred just days before the Galileo spacecraft carrying nuclear powered radioisotope thermoelectric generators was due to be launched by the space shuttle Atlantis.