Who Is Behind It? — TechKnowSurge

About this interactive

Four of the lesson's threat agents, by maturity and motive: - **Script kiddie:** a beginner running scripts and tools others wrote, after low-hanging fruit, to gain experience. - **Hacktivist** (the lesson's "activists"): attacks to make a statement, protesting a government or a company or backing a cause. - **Cybercriminal:** a black hat after money or a name for themselves, by illegal means, for themselves alone. - **State-sponsored:** paid or directed by a government; Stuxnet, the worm that set back Iran's nuclear program, is the lesson's example. The lesson also names the vulnerability broker. The word is used two ways (a gray hat who reports flaws, in the lesson; a dealer who resells them, elsewhere), so it has no bin here.

What you'll learn

Identify the kind of threat agent from what they do and why: a script kiddie, a hacktivist, a cybercriminal or a state-sponsored attacker
Relate each kind to its skill and motive: low-hanging fruit for practice, a cause to promote, money for themselves, or a government's aims

Aligned to

CompTIA Network+

4.1 Explain the importance of basic network security concepts.

Cisco CCST Cybersecurity

1.1 Define essential security principles.

1.2 Explain common threats and vulnerabilities.

Key terms

Threat Actor: An individual or group responsible for a security incident or attack.
Script Kiddie: An unskilled threat actor who uses pre-written scripts or tools to attempt unauthorized access without deep technical knowledge.
Hacktivist: A threat actor who conducts hacking activities to promote political, ideological, or social change.
Cybercriminal: A black hat threat actor who conducts illegal cyberattacks for financial gain, notoriety, or other self-serving purposes.
State-Sponsored Actor: A threat actor funded or directed by a government to conduct cyber operations, espionage, or sabotage against other nations or organizations.

Topics

Threat Actors Script Kiddie Hacktivist Cybercriminal State Sponsored Interactive Categorize

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