Hacking: The Next Generation

Motives

It is important to identify what would motivate an attacker to target an executive. Once you understand an attacker’s motives, you can identify potential attack vectors that an attacker can use against an executive.

Attackers can have different motives or a combination of the motives we’ll discuss in the following subsections. It is important to note that the result of the attack is what motivates an attacker, not the attack itself. An attacker may go after an executive in an attempt to alter the direction of the company through blackmail. Neither blackmail nor company direction, however, is what motivates the attacker. The attacker is using these methods for financial gain.

Financial Gain

The majority of attackers are concerned with only one thing: money. These attackers are not the typical “kid in his mom’s basement” type of attacker. These attackers are very structured and represent the next generation of attackers this book is addressing. These attackers are very calculating and organized. Many publications have tied these attackers to organized crime.

The goal of a financially motivated attacker is to make as much money as possible while exerting the least amount of effort. These attackers are focused on monetizing their attacks, which enables them to continue working and developing exploits for a different set of targets.

Converting information to currency

All information has a quantitative value. When an attacker steals credit card numbers, a value can be placed on that ...