Script Kiddie or APT? — TechKnowSurge

About this interactive

What you are doing: placing an attacker at one end of the lesson's capability scale or the other. A script kiddie, or unskilled attacker, has little knowledge or skill but plenty of ready-made scripts and programs, so they can still attack. They copy, follow guides, give up when the tool fails, and get caught by defenses that spot well-known tools. An advanced persistent threat is advanced: skilled enough to create its own exploits and to evade detection. And it is persistent: once inside a network, it stays there for a long time without being found, which makes it one of the worst threats a network can have. How to use it: ask two questions. Did the attacker build or adapt the method, or copy it? And did they stay hidden for a long time, or come and go? A wrong answer resets your streak and shows the right bin; land five in a row to finish.

What you'll learn

Tell an unskilled attacker (script kiddie), who relies on ready-made scripts and programs, from an advanced persistent threat, which is skilled, evades detection and stays inside a network for a long time

Aligned to

CompTIA Security+

2.1 Compare and contrast common threat actors and motivations.

Key terms

Script Kiddie: An unskilled threat actor who uses pre-written scripts or tools to attempt unauthorized access without deep technical knowledge.
Advanced Persistent Threat: Advanced Persistent Threat describes a sophisticated, long-term intrusion campaign in which a threat actor maintains unauthorized access to a target network over an extended period to steal data, conduct espionage, or pre-position for future attacks.
Exploit: A piece of software or technique that takes advantage of a vulnerability to gain unauthorized access or cause harm.
Zero-Day: A vulnerability that is unknown to the vendor and has no available patch at the time of exploitation.
Threat Actor: An individual or group responsible for a security incident or attack.

Topics

Script Kiddie Advanced Persistent Threat Interactive Streak Sort

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