Cyber Awareness: Types of Cybercriminals & Hacking Methods in 2021
Hikvision on Threat Actors, Security Concerns & Vulnerabilities
The SecurityInfoWatch.com article, “7 cyber threat actors to watch for in 2021,” looks at types of cybercriminals, hacking methods taken and security concerns they are generating.
From the article: “Make no mistake: cybercrime is on a seemingly unstoppable rise. Massive data breaches are becoming more and more commonplace, and everyone from independent businesses to government agencies are being increasingly targeted. With over $6 trillion in damages committed by cybercriminals thus far, it has never been more important to glean insight into the types of threat actors out there, and those who will pose a threat in the coming year says Cybersecurity Ventures.”
The article’s author outlines several types of threat actors and their preferred hacking methods. These include:
- Organized criminal gangs whose primary motive is financial gain and primary method of attack is ransomware. Ransomware is a type of malware that quietly encrypts all the files and folders on your computer and then uploads the decryption key to the threat actor who tricked you into installing the ransomware. To get the key to decrypt your files, you must pay a ransom to the threat actor.
- Cyber threat actors will target insider threats and disgruntled employees since the workforce has access to privileged information within an organization.
- Script Kiddies will target vulnerabilities in computer systems. Script Kiddies are described in the article as “threat actors without the skill or knowledge required to design bespoke penetration tools, and yet will happily purchase or borrow the tools of other attackers in order to infiltrate systems.”
Learn more about threat actors and security concerns in this Hikvision blog: “Cyber Vulnerability 3-Part Blog Series: Hikvision’s Senior Director of Cybersecurity On Vulnerabilities, Automatic Software Updates, and Your Home Network.”