7 Types of Cybercriminals

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If you’re like most people, the concept of a Cybercriminal is a highly-technical person hacking through your business’s firewall looking to steal your most sensitive documents.

Though, did you know that this is only one type of Cybercriminal?

Cybercrime has evolved significantly over the years to be much more than just stealing documents or crashing computers. Cybercriminals range from those wanting to be a nuisance to those backed by countries with anything at their disposal.

So, what are the different types of Cybercriminals, and what do they do? Let’s go over them now.

Nation-States

These are country state-sponsored cybercriminals. They have highly-technical skills and vast resources available to them and are looking to steal data, especially intellectual property, and their attacks are usually highly targeted.

Hacktivists

Hacktivists are activists who use cybercrime to advance their interests. They will do a wide range of things, from defacing your website to accessing your social media accounts to post messages promoting their interests. They usually target businesses whose activities run counter to their interests.

Phishers and Scammers

You’ve probably heard about these people before. They’re the people who send fake emails to get you to do something. 

Phishers generally want you to click on a link or download an attachment that will either trick you into giving up login details or install malware on your computer. Scammers want you to send them money or gift cards for dubious reasons.

While phishing can be targeted (called spear-phishing), lots of phishing and scams are not. They’ll send thousands of emails to whatever email addresses they can find in the hopes that someone will fall for their scams.

Disgruntled Employees

These can be the most dangerous to your business. That’s because employees often have a high level of access to complete their daily work, and they know precisely where the high-value information is.

A disgruntled employee may be out to harm your business or make a profit from reselling information to your competition.

Professional Cybercriminals

Some have taken cybercrime to a whole new level. There are groups of Cybercriminals that run their operations like a business. They develop malware and sophisticated hacking tools and services and then provide their services to clients for a fee.

They can be in the business of almost anything. From distributing ransomware and collecting ransom payments to sending phishing emails to collect banking login details for resale to sending high volumes of traffic to your business’s website to knock it offline or prevent customers from using it.

The Beginner

These people are either not very technical but motivated or are just starting to learn the ropes. They often purchase off-the-shelf malware or subscribe to basic hacking services (such as a phishing platform) where they can quickly execute an attack without much technical skill required. 

The Thrill Seeker

The thrill-seeker is between the beginner and the professional. Though, as the name states, they’re not in it solely to profit, but for the fun of it or to build notoriety among or impress an online community.

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