Threat Actors & Motivations

Summary

Understanding who attacks systems and why — financially motivated cybercriminals, state-sponsored actors, hacktivists, and insider threats each have different goals, resources, and typical tactics.

• 1Classify 3 real, publicized breaches by likely threat actor type and motivation.
• 2Learn why understanding motivation helps predict what an attacker is likely to target.
• 3Understand insider threats (malicious or accidental) as a distinct category from external attackers.