Cyber threat actor

Definition
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has identified three categories of 'cyber threat actors:

"[1] organized crime groups that are primarily threatening the financial services sector, and they are expanding the scope of their attacks; [2] state sponsors &mdash; foreign governments that are interested in pilfering data, including intellectual property and research and development data from major manufacturers, government agencies, and defense contractors; and [3] increasingly there are terrorist groups who want to impact this country the same way they did on 9/11 by flying planes into buildings. They are seeking to use the network to challenge the United States by looking at critical infrastructure to disrupt or harm the viability of our way of life."

"Of these three categories outlined by the FBI, the first &mdash; organized crime groups &mdash; focuses on cybercrime. However, this category appears limited to those crimes that target the financial services sector. While the second category includes the theft of intellectual property and other activities that may be considered cybercrimes, this category is more roughly aligned with state-sponsored espionage. As such, the FBI's conceptualization of cybercrime surrounds the activities &mdash; primarily financial &mdash; of organized crime groups. This may exclude lone actors including hackers, stalkers, and online child predators. The FBI considers these malicious activities under the umbrella of cybercrime. . . ." }}