In March 2020, the UK government initiated an unprecedented lockdown in response to the declaration of a global pandemic by the World Health Organisation. The actions of the UK government turbocharged a trend already long in the making, i.e., the rise of home working and the mass digitalisation of activities associated with gainful employment. In a seemingly effortless manner, millions of workers have taken advantage of information and communication technologies and transitioned from physical office spaces to the use of online digital interfaces.

As would be expected, entry into this new working environment has involved the discovery of novel challenges, hazards and harms, some of which involve serious crimes. The rapid pace of change has placed industry, government, and third sector organisations on the back foot in addressing cyber-harms. This document addresses a novel but highly prevalent cyber-harm: hate hacking. It defines the issue and provides a person-centred protocol for dealing with the occurrence of hate-hacking.

The genesis of the current document lies in a real-life, pernicious attack upon the chief creator of this policy. Lydia Amoah, whilst delivering a public webinar on the Zoom platform, was subject to a hate hack. A group of international hackers, gained access to the meeting and proceeded to share highly disturbing images. They then singled out Lydia and subject her to appalling verbal, racially-motivated abuse. This occurred in front of an online audience of 100+ industry peers.