Data Exfiltration
Unauthorized transfer of data from a computer
Selling it on dark web, Identity Theft, Leveraging data for competitive advantage
Financial Gain
Ransomware Attack, Trojans
Blackmail
Attacker obtains sensitive or compromising information about an individual
Threatens to release the information to the public unless certain demands are met
Service Disruption
DDoS attack to overwhelm a network, service or server with excessive amounts of traffic
Philosophical or Political Beliefs
Use hacking to promote a political agenda, social change or to protest against unethical organizations
Ethical Reasons
Hackers motivated with the desire to improve security
Revenge
An employee who is disgruntled might want to harm their current or former employer by causing a data breach, disrupting services or leaking sensitive information
Disruption or Chaos
These threat actors engage in malicious activities for the thrill of it, to challenge their skills, or simply to cause harm
Espionage
Involves spying on individuals, organizations or nations to gather classified information
Cyber Warfare
Using cyberattacks an tool to attack nations both on and off the battlefield