Title: Identify types of threat agents.
Course: Cybersecurity in Family and Consumer Sciences (19299-I-36) > Section: Understanding Cyber Threats and Vulnerabilities in Family and Consumer Sciences

Identification should include, but not be limited to

- script kiddies – unskilled attackers dependent on research and tools from others
- hacktivists – attackers with primary goals of bringing attention to a social or political cause or seeking vengeance for what they consider to be a political or societal wrongdoing
- insiders – employee, vendor, or other individual whose enhanced access facilitates theft, compromise, or damage
- criminal enterprises – organized attackers who target systems for monetary gain (e.g., catphishing)
- competitors or rogue corporations – organizations that engage in hacking against competitors with the intention of stealing intellectual property or gaining competitive advantages
- nation-state centric – nation-state actors (i.e., an opposing cyber force) or ideological militants whose goal is to weaken, disrupt, or destroy the government.

Process/Skill Questions:

- What are some of the social causes highlighted by hacktivists?
- What threat does an ideological militant pose?
- What tactics are used by threat agents to commit identity theft and online fraud?
- How does one define espionage within an organization?
- What are potential consequences from a disruption to infrastructure (e.g., water supply, electric grid, supply chain)?
- What is catphishing?
- What are internal cyber threats?
- What are the implications of a breach of business and consumer data?

Teacher Resource:

Industrial Control System Cyber Emergency Response Team (ICS-CERT)