Threat Actor, Hacker, Attacker – What's the Difference?Let’s look at the common definitions for each of our personas that target our businesses, governments, and even our personal technology. Show
Attacker: According to Wikipedia, “A cyberattack is any offensive maneuver that targets computer information systems, computer networks, infrastructures, or personal computer devices. An attacker is a person or process that attempts to access data, functions, or other restricted areas of the system without authorization, potentially with malicious intent. ” Thus, an attacker is the individual or organization performing these malicious activities, regardless of the method deployed. Why is there a Distinction Between Threat Actor, Hacker, and Attacker?A threat actor – compared to a hacker or attacker – does not necessarily have any technical skill sets. They are a person or organization with malicious intent and a mission to compromise an organization’s security or data. This could be anything from physical destruction to simply copying sensitive information. It is a broad term and is intentionally used because it can apply to external and insider threats, including missions like hacktivism. Hackers and attackers are technical personas or organizations intentionally targeting technology to create an incident and, hopefully (for them, not you), a breach. They can be solo individuals, groups, or even nation-states with goals and missions to destabilize a business, government, to disseminate information, or for financial gain. The difference between an attacker and hacker is subtle, however. Hackers traditionally use vulnerabilities and exploits to conduct their activities and have the technical skills to create or deploy malware used during their nefarious activities. Attackers can use any means to cause havoc. For example, an attacker may be a disgruntled insider who deletes sensitive files or disrupts the business by any means to achieve their goals. They could simply unplug a key system. A hacker might seek to perform the same goal, but they use vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and exploits to compromise a resource outside of their acceptable roles and privileges using technology and malware as their primary tools. Why is there a Distinction?A threat actor – compared to a hacker or attacker – does not necessarily have any technical skill sets. They are a person or organization with malicious intent and a mission to compromise an organization’s security or data. This could be anything from physical destruction to simply copying sensitive information. It is a broad term and is intentionally used because it can apply to external and insider threats, including missions like hacktivism. Hackers and attackers are technical personas or organizations intentionally targeting technology to create incident and hopefully (for them, not you) a breach. They can be solo individuals, groups, or even nation states with goals and missions anywhere in the world looking to destabilize a business, government, to disseminate information, or for financial gains. The difference between an attacker and hacker is subtle however. Hackers traditionally use vulnerabilities and exploits to conduct their activities. Attackers can use any means to cause havoc. For example, an attacker may be a disgruntled insider that deletes sensitive files or disrupts the business by any means to achieve their goals. A hacker might do the same thing but they use vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and exploits to compromise a resource outside of their acceptable roles and privileges. Does the Difference Matter?Yes! Understanding the differences between threat actor, hacker, and attacker is important. BeyondTrust solutions are designed to protect against all three types of malicious users:
The next time you see an article on a breach or incident, think about the offending persona and how they conducted their nefarious activity. This blog was first published on May 17, 2017 and has been refreshed with updated definitions and content on August 16,
2022. What is Unauthorised access to a computer system called?Hacker is commonly used to refer to someone who can gain unauthorized access to other computers. A hacker can "hack" his or her way through the security levels of a computer system or network.
Which refers to someone who uses a computer system to gain unauthorized access to another system for data or who makes another system unavailable?The basic definition of a hacker is someone who uses a computer system to gain unauthorized access to another system for data or who makes another system unavailable.
What we call a person who gets access to others computer without their permission?A hacker is the term used for a person who do illegal thing with tech device and uses coding languages to crack someone's system majorly there are two type of hackers ethical hackers who are legal ones and black hat hackers who are illegal.
What is meant by the term unauthorized access?Definition(s):
A person gains logical or physical access without permission to a network, system, application, data, or other resource.
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