Attackers and their motives

The attacker performing an information security breach may be whoever from a curious experimenter to an industrial spy. The attackers may be classified for instance according to the following list:

• Adventurers
• Hackers / crackers
• Spies / intelligence
• Competitors
• Former employees / consultants
• Hacktivists
• Saboteurs

The attacker’s motives may be for instance:

• Love of an adventure
• Fame reputation
• Mischief
• Vandalism
• Unauthorised use of resources (hard drive capacity, processor power or network connections) for an attack against a third party
• Resale of the attacked resources for distribution of spam, blackmailing or some other criminal activity
• Covering the tracks of former attacks
• Industrial spying
• Electronic warfare