Virtual vandalism is any attack on the virtual property of another, with the sole intention of causing disruption or destruction to said virtual property.

Research into vandalism

Criminological research into vandalism has found that it serves many purposes for those who engage in it and stems from a variety of motives.

Sociologist Stanley Cohen

Stanley Cohen (sociologist)

Professor Stanley Cohen is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the London School of Economics.-Life:Cohen was born in Johannesberg, South Africa in 1942. He grew up in South Africa and was an undergraduate at the University of Witwatersrand, studying Sociology and Social Work. He came to London in...

 describes six different types of vandalism: :

1. Acquisitive vandalism (looting and petty theft).
2. Tactical vandalism (to advance some end other than acquiring money or property – such as breaking a

window to be arrested and get a bed for the night in a police cell).

1. Ideological vandalism (carried out to further an explicit ideological cause or deliver a message).
2. Vindictive vandalism (for revenge).
3. Play vandalism (damage resulting from children’s games).
4. Malicious vandalism (damage caused by a violent outpouring of diffuse frustration and rage that often occurs in public settings).

Cohen's original typology was improved upon by Mike Sutton

Mike Sutton (criminologist)

Michael "Mike" Sutton is the originator of the Market Reduction Approach to theft. Described by Marcus Felson as classic research and as a simple idea, Sutton's MRA has had a significant influence upon theory and practice regarding stolen goods markets and markets for other illicit commodities...

  whose research led him to add a seventh sub-type of vandalism – Peer Status Motivated Vandalism. This seventh category was found by criminologist Dr. Mathew Williams to be the best fit for explaining the virtual vandalism he studied. Williams’ seminal paper in the Internet journal of criminology makes a significant contribution to understanding the motivations for vandalism, and the characteristics of the dynamics of the groups that participate in it.

Research into virtual vandalism

Virtual vandalism is a sub-type of virtual crime

Virtual crime

Virtual crime or in-game crime refers to a virtual criminal act that takes place in a massively multiplayer online game , usually an MMORPG. The huge time and effort invested into such games can lead online "crime" to spill over into real world crime, and even blur the distinctions between the two...

. Williams’ Internet journal of criminology paper describes the differences and similarities between online (virtual) and offline vandalism:

Terrestrial forms of vandalism are material crimes because they have a physical
presence. Conversely acts of online vandalism have no tangible element, making
them immaterial. Although the defacement inflicted by a hacker on a website is
visual, there is actually no physical damage – and repairing the damage done usually
involves nothing more than downloading the original file of computer code to replace
the corrupted one. The effects of online vandalism, however, are said to be
disproportionate because the damage to either corporate or political reputation can be
substantial.

In his academic article describing the virtual ethnography of vandalism in a 3D Internet-based community, Williams writes:

Commonly online vandalism has been understood to mean the defacement or
destruction of commercial, government or personal websites. This is a rather
parochial understanding of the phenomenon which marginalises other more esoteric,
but nonetheless prevalent, acts of virtual property destruction. Most notably, unique
forms of online vandalism exist within graphical online communities, where virtual
buildings, homes and memorials are often defaced and even destroyed.

Dr. Matthew Williams' work shows how much things have changed in the last 30 years since Professor Cohen first published his research.