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Security Operations · Foundational

Threat Actor Motivation

The underlying reason a threat actor attacks, such as financial gain, espionage, ideology, revenge, disruption or war.

Definition

Security frameworks and exams classify motivations including data exfiltration, espionage, service disruption, blackmail, financial gain, philosophical or political beliefs, ethical hacking, revenge, chaos and warfare. Motivation strongly predicts targeting and behavior, for example financially motivated actors favor ransomware and fraud while espionage actors favor stealth and long dwell time.

Example

A disgruntled former employee deleting files after termination is motivated by revenge.

Exam tip

Security+ SY0-701 lists specific motivations; match the scenario wording (e.g. "political cause") to the motivation rather than the actor.

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