Threat Actors And Attributes

Question 1

Script Kiddies
Hacktivist
Organized Crime

Answer 1

Script Kiddies - Someone that uses hacker tools without necessarily understanding how they work or having ability to craft new attacks.

Hacktivist - uses cyber weapons to promote a political agenda

Organized Crime - operate across the Internet among jurisdictions to their victims. Criminal profit is their motive.

Question 2

Nation States/Advanced Persistent Threat (APT)
Malicious Insider Threats (Insiders)
Competitors

Answer 2

Nation States/APT - developed cybersecurity expertise and will use cyber weapons to achieve both military and commercial goals.
Insiders - attack perpetrated by organization’s own staff, partners or contractors.

Competitors -Competitor-driven espionage- rogue business might use cyber espionage against its competitors.

Question 3

Attributes of Actors
Internal/External
Level of sophistication
Intent/Motivation
Use of Open Source Intelligence

Answer 3

Structured - criminal gang stealing customer’s financial data
Unstructured - Script Kiddie launching a variant of “I Love You” virus
Targeted Threat - Same as structured
Intent/Motivation - Greed, curiosity, grievance.
Open Source Intelligence - passive reconnaissance; attacker hides his account; anonymity guaranteed services.