Threat actor

Name:

Date:

Class:

Quick Questions

Shade in the A or B circle for each question.

1. Which describes a threat actor?

A A person or group that carries out an attack

B A weakness in software that can be attacked

2. A group breaks into online shops to steal card details and sell them for money. Which type of threat actor is this?

A Hacktivists

B Cybercriminals

3. A group defaces a company website to protest its environmental record. Which type of threat actor is this?

A Hacktivists

B Nation-state groups

4. A threat actor is described by their motive and skill.

A True

B False

5. An employee who is angry about being fired deletes company files. Which type of threat actor is this?

A Cybercriminal

B Insider

Match the Pairs

Draw a line connecting each item on the left to its match on the right.

Left column		Right column
1cybercriminal		AA government-backed threat actor with high skill and resources who spies on or disrupts other countries.
2nation-state group		BAn insider already has legitimate access, such as a staff member or contractor, so their access is not none.
3A threat actor is described by why they attack (motive) and how able they are (skill).		Chacktivist.motive = "cause"
4A hacktivist is a threat actor who attacks to support a political or social cause.		DHacktivists are driven by a political or social cause, not money. Money is the motive of cybercriminals.
5hacktivist.motive = "money"		Ethreat_actor = {motive, skill}
6insider.access = "none"		FA threat actor who attacks to make money, for example by stealing card details or using ransomware.

Definitions

threat actor

Fill in the Blanks

Complete each line of code by filling in the missing parts.

actor = cybercriminal motive = _____

actor = __________ motive = protest or a political cause

actor = _______ access = already inside the organisation

actor = nation-state skill = ____ backing = government

threat actor = motive (why) + _____ (how)

Spot the Error

Shade in the letter of the line that contains an error.

Question 1

A actor = "cybercriminal"

B motive = "protest"

C skill = "medium"

D print(actor, motive)

Question 2

A actor = "hacktivist

B motive = "protest"

C skill = "varies"

D print(actor, motive)

Question 3

A actor = "nation-state"

B skill = "low"

C motive = "spying"

D print(actor, skill)

Question 4

A actor = "insider"

B access = False

C motive = "revenge"

D print(actor, motive)

Question 5

A def describe(actor):

B motive = actor["motive"]

C skill = actor["motive"]

D return motive, skill

Answer Key

Threat actor

Section A: Quick Questions

A — A person or group that carries out an attack

B — Cybercriminals

A — Hacktivists

A — True

B — Insider

Section B: Match the Pairs

cybercriminal → A threat actor who attacks to make money, for example by stealing card details or using ransomware.

nation-state group → A government-backed threat actor with high skill and resources who spies on or disrupts other countries.

A threat actor is described by why they attack (motive) and how able they are (skill). → threat_actor = {motive, skill}

A hacktivist is a threat actor who attacks to support a political or social cause. → hacktivist.motive = "cause"

hacktivist.motive = "money" → Hacktivists are driven by a political or social cause, not money. Money is the motive of cybercriminals.

insider.access = "none" → An insider already has legitimate access, such as a staff member or contractor, so their access is not none.

Section C: Definitions

threat actor — A person or group that carries out an attack on a system, described by their motive (why) and skill (how able). Examples: cybercriminals, hacktivists, insiders and nation-state groups.

Section D: Fill in the Blanks

actor = cybercriminal
motive = money

actor = hacktivist
motive = protest or a political cause

actor = insider
access = already inside the organisation

actor = nation-state
skill = high
backing = government

threat actor = motive (why) + skill (how)

Section E: Spot the Error

B — Cybercriminals are mainly motivated by money, not protest. Line 2 should be motive = "money".

A — The string is missing its closing quote. It should be actor = "hacktivist".

B — Nation-state groups are well funded and highly skilled. Line 2 should be skill = "high".

B — An insider already has legitimate access to the system, so access should be True.

C — The skill variable reads the wrong key, so it would hold the motive. It should use actor["skill"].