N2K - Flash Cards - Threats, Vulnerabilities, and Mitigations - Compare and Contrast Common Threat Actors and Motivations

Question 1

Which category of threat actor is most likely to have high funding and a high level of sophistication?

Answer 1

Nation-State Actors
or
Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs)

Question 2

What is an insider threat?

Answer 2

An employee who uses their access to the network and facility to obtain confidential information or grant access to a malicious actor

Question 3

Which two types of threat actor would have the largest amount of resources and/or funding for attacks?

Answer 3

Nation/State (or APTs) and organized crime

Question 4

What are the six categories of threat actors according to the CompTIA Security + blueprint?

Answer 4

Nation-State
Unskilled Attacker
Hacktivist
Insider Threat
Organized Crime
Shadow IT

Question 5

Which categories of threat actor are internal to the organization?

Answer 5

Insider threats and shadow IT

Question 6

Which threat actor motivation is demonstrated by retaliating against perceived wrongs or grievances, seeking to inflict harm or damage as retribution?

Answer 6

Revenge

Question 7

Which threat actor motivation consists of actively targeting individuals and groups based on ideological differences, aiming to advanced or enforce beliefs?

Answer 7

Philosophical/political beliefs

Question 8

What is meant by the term data exfiltration?

Answer 8

The unauthorized transfer of data from a computer or network

Question 9

Which type of threat actor is MOST likely to be motivated by monetary gain?

Answer 9

Organized Crime

Question 10

Which type of threat actors typically have an unsophisticated skill level and rely on tools that are widely available on the internet?

Answer 10

Script Kiddies

Question 11

Which category of threat actor is most likely to be trying to make a political statement?

Answer 11

Hacktivist

Question 12

Which threat actor motivation is exemplified by creating disorder, destabilizing systems, or causing harm to create confusion and disorder?

Answer 12

Disruption/Chaos

Question 13

Which category of threat actor is most likely to be acting out of a grievance against the organization?

Answer 13

Insider

Question 14

Which type of threat describes when an employee steals another employee’s password?

Answer 14

Internal or Insider

Question 15

Which threat actor motivation can be described as coercing action from a victim through threat of revealing compromising information for personal gain or leverage?

Answer 15

Blackmail

Question 16

Which type of threat actor’s goal is typically political, involving disruption of the economy or theft of military secrets?

Answer 16

Nation-State Actors

Question 17

Engaging in actions perceived as morally justified, often targeting entities perceived as immoral or evil, exemplifies what type of threat actor motivation?

Answer 17

Ethical

Question 18

Which type of threat actor is MOST likely to use Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) attacks?

Answer 18

Nation-State Actors

Question 19

Which type of threat actor motivation employs cyberattacks to support military objectives, disrupt adversaries, or gain strategic advantages in conflicts?

Answer 19

War / Military

Question 20

What are three primary attributes by which threat actors are categorized?

Answer 20

Whether they are internal or external to the organization, how well-resourced they are, and how sophisticated their attacks are

Question 21

What is it called when data leaves the network in an unauthorized fashion?

Answer 21

Data Exfiltration

Question 22

Which type of threat actor is an employee or insider using unauthorized applications or services, posing security risks to organizations?

Answer 22

Shadow IT

Question 23

Which type of threat actor is motivated by monetary gain and possesses significant resources with which to recruit hackers to carry out their agenda?

Answer 23

Organized Crime

Question 24

Why are internal threats more serious than external threats?

Answer 24

They have already penetrated the network

Question 25

Which threat actor is an individual who lacks technical expertise, and uses basic tools and methods to execute cyberattacks?

Answer 25

Unskilled Attacker

Question 26

Which type of threat actors often believe they are engaging in a righteous and morally correct cause, even though their activities are illegal?

Answer 26

Hacktivists

Question 27

Which type of threat actor motivation can be exemplified by hacking to promote an ideology, such as targeting government websites to protest political decisions?

Answer 27

Philisophical/Political Beliefs

Question 28

Which threat actor motivation is characterized by organizations looking to steal secret or sensitive information from other organizations?

Answer 28

Espionage