Any individual, group, or entity that conducts malicious cyber activities against organisations or individuals.
A threat actor is any entity that poses a cyber threat—individuals, organised criminal groups, nation-states, hacktivists, or insiders. Threat actors are categorised by motivation (financial, political, espionage), capability (script kiddie to APT), and targeting (opportunistic to highly targeted). Understanding threat actors relevant to your organisation helps prioritise defences. Threat intelligence tracks known threat actors, their techniques, and targeting preferences.
Why It Matters
The DSC Perspective:
Understanding your likely threat actors helps focus security investments. A small business faces different actors than a defence contractor. Threat modelling considers which actors might target you and what they'd want.