A **threat actor** is any person or group who presents a security risk. ## Threat Actor Types ### Advanced persistent threats [[Advanced Persistent Threats ]](APTs) have significant expertise accessing an organisation's network without authorisation. APTs tend to research their targets (e.g., large corporations or government entities) in advance and can remain undetected for an extended period of time. Their intentions and motivations can include: - Damaging critical infrastructure, such as the power grid and natural resources - Gaining access to intellectual property, such as trade secrets or patents ### Insider threats [[Insider Threats]] abuse their authorised access to obtain data that may harm an organization. Their intentions and motivations can include: - Sabotage - Corruption - Espionage - Unauthorised data access or leaks ### Hacktivists [[Hacker|Hacktivists]] are threat actors that are driven by a political agenda. They abuse digital technology to accomplish their goals, which may include: ^hacktivist - Demonstrations - Propaganda - Social change campaigns - Fame New and unskilled threat actors have various goals, including: - To learn and enhance their hacking skills - To seek revenge - To exploit security weaknesses by using existing malware, programming scripts, and other tactics Other types of hackers are *not motivated by any particular agenda* other than completing the job they were contracted to do. These types of hackers can be considered unethical or ethical hackers. They have been known to work on both illegal and legal tasks for pay. There are also hackers who consider themselves *vigilantes*. Their main goal is to protect the world from unethical hackers.