Author. Cybersecurity Expert. Storyteller.

When hacktivism becomes cyber jihad

Jayne Lytel leverages a decade in cybersecurity and three decades in advanced technology to write eco-thrillers grounded in existential reality, or faction. Her work explores the volatile convergence of three global crises defining the 2026 landscape:

• Ideological Hacktivism: Ideological hacktivism has surged over 200% year-over-year in OT incidents, shifting the threat from nuisance to sabotage in ICS attacks alongside dominant ransomware and nation-state threats.
• Universal Surveillance: Corporate surveillance now includes keystroke and screen tracking in 86% of monitoring firms, creating a pervasive architecture of control.
• Climatic Instability: Climatic instability, including extreme heat and water scarcity, currently affects billions worldwide, with 3.6 billion people living in areas highly vulnerable to climate change.

These intertwined forces—cyber, corporate, and climatic—form the foundation of Lytel's work. Her writing charts the collision of human ambition and technological power with unrelenting force.

OT = Operational Technology; ICS = Industrial Control System