Threat Actors and Their Motivations

Welcome to Domain 2 — Threats, Vulnerabilities, and Mitigations. We will begin with

Section 2.1 – Compare and Contrast Common Threat Actors and Motivations. Threat Actors

In cybersecurity, a threat actor is anyone or any group that causes harm to systems,

data, or organizations. Think of them as the “bad guys” — but their skills,

resources, and reasons can vary widely. Common threat actors include:

Nation-state attackers — governments or military groups carrying out cyber operations.

Unskilled attackers — also called “script kiddies,” they use pre-made tools without deep knowledge.

A script kiddie is a slang term in cybersecurity for an unskilled attacker who uses