Cyber Security:

Bad Actor or Threat Actor

In cyber-security an 'entity' that is partially or completely accountable for an occurrence that has an impact on or the potential to have an impact on the security of an organization is referred to as a threat actor, also known as a malicious actor or bad actor.

The 'entity' may be either a person or a group of people that take part in an action that is intended to cause harm to occupants of the cyber realm including: computers, devices, systems, or networks.

The term is typically used to describe individuals or groups that perform malicious acts against a person or an organization of any type or size.

Threat actors:

engage in cyber related offenses to exploit open vulnerabilities and disrupt operations.

have a wide range of different educational backgrounds, skills, and resources.

Bad/Threat Actor Cyber Attacks:

vary widely in frequency and classification.

are dictated by the background of threat actors as to:

who they target,

how they attack, and

what information they seek.

Examples of types of threat actors:

cyber criminals,

nation-state actors,

ideologues,

thrill seekers/trolls,

insiders, and

competitors.

These threat actors all have distinct motivations, techniques, targets, and uses of stolen data.