Introduction

Data weaponization has emerged as a main threat in the current cyber landscape. Any sector that is the custodian of sensitive data, including those providing critical services such as health care, can be targeted or affected by data breaches, ransom demands, and subsequent disruption of services. Similarly, online applications that collect personal information, and which business model supports intrusive data collection, such as dating websites, femtech, and smart devices, risk having user information accessed and shared by third parties. Data weaponization often does not stop there. Once acquired, information and content can be employed to manipulate, deceive, coerce, or attack victims—entrapping individuals in a cycle of harm. As perpetrators aim to maximize inflicted damage, the pressure on the targets is immense.

Different groups interact with and relate to technology in diverse ways, and not everyone is impacted equally. Identity shapes perceptions, roles, and access and can be a parameter amplifying the risk of abuse and violence. Gender and sexual preference in particular can impact and even determine the nature and severity of harm. For women and LGBTQ people, data weaponization can exacerbate existing vulnerabilities and create new ones, leading to more severe, prolonged, and far-reaching consequences. Several gendered cyber harms have been acknowledged, including, but not limited to, a disproportionate impact of technology-enabled gender-based violence on women, cyberstalking, online harassment, nonconsensual dissemination of information, as well as disinformation and data breaches. However, the interplay between various types of data-exploiting attacks and their unique risks to individuals based on gender remains underexplored.

This paper examines the critical intersection of data weaponization and gender, evidencing the disproportionate and often devastating impacts it inflicts on the victims. The research is organized around four factors: data, control, perception, and access. Each of these factors can lead to gendered harm, while they often intersect and interact in real life. The limitations of this research pertain to the paper exclusively focusing on the experiences of women. Considerations for LGBTQ individuals are included when the nature of the harm or the type of attack is similar or comparable to those experienced by women. Intersectional identities such as gender expression, race, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and health status, while considered, are not explored in further detail. The research acknowledges that both men and women can experience harm due to distinct vulnerabilities, but the analysis does not extend to considerations for male victims. Further qualitative research, victim testimonies, and quantitative data are needed to evidence how data exploitation impacts people differently based on gender, intersectional identities, and other contextual attributes.