In general, it can be said that hackers usually intend to crack the protection of an individual computer or computer network, being driven by one of four motives.

Criminal activity brings financial benefits: credit card numbers or even entire banking systems become the target of the hunt.
The right to call yourself a hacker is inextricably linked to public recognition, which motivates hackers to leave special tags on hacked websites. Often they just engage in digital vandalism to show everyone what work they managed to do.
Corporate espionage is also the engine of progress in hacking: sometimes companies hire hackers to steal important information about competitors’ products and services and thereby gain an advantage in the market competition.

Finally, hacking also exists at the state level:

in this case, hackers target corporate and/or state secrets, destabilize the enemy’s infrastructure, or even sow hostility and confusion in the society of a particular country. There is an opinion that the Chinese and Russian authorities are behind some high-profile attacks, for example, an attack on a resource Forbes.com . In addition, the recent attacks on the National Committee of the Democratic Party of the USA were actively discussed in the media – especially after Microsoft said that the hackers accused of this attack used unknown vulnerabilities in the Windows operating system, as well as in Adobe Systems programs using Flash technology. In addition, there are cases when hacker attacks were carried out on behalf of the United States Government.
Another category of cybercriminals is noteworthy: Another category of cybercriminals is noteworthy: it includes hackers who are guided by political or social motives. Such hacker activists (or “hacktivists”) strike to draw public attention to a particular problem – usually this is expressed in the publication of confidential documents. For more information about the most famous hacktivist groups, as well as about some of the high-profile revelations organized by them, you can find on the following web pages: Anonymous, WikiLeaks and LulzSec.