What Is a Cyber Threat? What Risk Leaders Need to Know

What Is a Cyber Threat?

 A cyber threat is any potential malicious act intended to steal, damage, or disrupt digital assets, systems, networks, or operations. These threats may originate from criminal groups, nation-states, or insiders.

For security leaders, understanding the types, motivations, and mechanisms of cyber threats is essential to building effective defense strategies.

Bad actors are constantly working to adapt their tactics, techniques, and procedures for  breaking into organizations—and looking for the path of least resistance when possible. For security leaders, understanding the types, motivations, and mechanisms of cyber threats is essential to building effective defense strategies.

Categories of Cyber Threats

Comprehending the diverse categories of cyber threats is essential for organizations to anticipate potential risks and tailor their defense mechanisms accordingly.

Malware

Malware refers to malicious software designed to infiltrate and damage systems. It includes:

• Viruses and Worms: Self-replicating programs that spread across networks, often causing widespread disruption.
  
• Trojans: Malicious programs disguised as legitimate software, enabling unauthorized access or surveillance.
  
• Keyloggers: Tools that capture keystrokes to steal credentials and sensitive data.
  
• Fileless Malware: Operates in memory without leaving files on disk, making detection challenging.
  

Example of malware: The Emotet banking Trojan has evolved into a modular platform that spreads through phishing and exploits Microsoft Office macros.

Ransomware

Ransomware encrypts files or systems, demanding payment for decryption. It often infiltrates systems via phishing or exploiting Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) vulnerabilities.

Example of ransomware: In 2024, the ALPHV/BlackCat group targeted healthcare and manufacturing sectors using double-extortion tactics—encrypting data and threatening to leak it.

Phishing and Social Engineering

Phishing involves deceptive communications, typically emails, that trick individuals into revealing sensitive information or downloading malware. Spearphishing is a targeted form of phishing, focusing on specific individuals or organizations.

Example of phishing and social engineering: Business Email Compromise (BEC) scams involve spearphishing emails impersonating executives to initiate unauthorized financial transactions. Other phishing campaigns can include voice phishing (vishing) and SMS phishing (smishing).

Insider Threats

Insider threats arise from individuals within the organization—either malicious actors or negligent employees or—who expose systems to harm.

Example of an insider threat: A former employee intentionally exfiltrates proprietary data to sell to competitors, creating a direct and targeted risk.

Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs)

Advanced Persistent Threats are prolonged, targeted attacks often orchestrated by nation-states or sophisticated criminal groups.

Example of an APT: APT29 (also known as Cozy Bear), which researchers have linked to the Russian government, is known for persistent and aggressive intrusions against government and critical infrastructure targets.

Supply Chain Attacks

Supply chain attacks exploit vulnerabilities in third-party vendors, software libraries, or service providers to infiltrate target environments.

Example of a supply chain attack: The MOVEit file transfer zero-day vulnerability exposed hundreds of companies through a single vendor compromise.

What Are Common Cyber Threat Motivations?

Understanding the motivations behind cyber threats is crucial for anticipating attacker behavior and strengthening defenses.

• Financial Gain: Cybercriminals seek profit through ransomware, credential theft, or resale of stolen data.
  Example of financially-motivated hackers: North Korean government-linked hackers rely on cyber-operations to steal from banks or to steal cryptocurrency to fund regime goals.
  
• Espionage: Nation-state actors pursue intelligence on defense systems, research, or political infrastructure.
  Example of espionage-motivated hackers: Russian government-linked hackers are notorious for cyber-espionage campaigns targeting governmental and critical infrastructure entities.
  
• Hacktivism: Ideologically driven attackers target organizations to protest perceived injustices.
  Example of hacktivism: Anonymous has conducted cyber operations against various entities to promote political agendas for years.
  
• Revenge: Disgruntled insiders may leak information or sabotage systems to retaliate against their employers.
  Example of revenge-motivated hackers: Former employees have been known to exfiltrate sensitive data to harm their previous organizations.
  

Cyberattack Vectors: How Hackers Break In

Cybercriminals are constantly probing for weaknesses and looking for the quickest, quietest way into your systems. From phishing emails to compromised third-party tools, they exploit any available path to gain access and establish persistence. Recognizing these vectors enables organizations to implement effective preventive measures. The following is a non-exhaustive list of common ways cybercriminals and bad actors break in:

• Phishing Emils: Deceptive messages trick users into revealing credentials or downloading malware.
  
• RDP Brute-Force Attacks: Attackers exploit weak credentials to gain unauthorized access.
  
• Unpatched Software: Outdated applications with known vulnerabilities are prime targets.
  
• Weak or Reused Passwords: Easily guessed or cracked by automated tools.
  
• Malicious Insiders: Individuals with legitimate access who intentionally cause harm.
  
• Compromised Third-Party Tools: External vendors’ tools can serve as gateways for attacker

SecurityScorecard’s external risk ratings detect exposed ports and DNS misconfigurations—common indicators of exploitable weaknesses.

Emerging Cyber Threat Trends in 2025

Cybercriminals continually adapt their tactics to bypass security measures. In 2025, several emerging threats worth paying attention to include, but are not limited to:

1. AI-Powered Attacks
   Threat actors leverage artificial intelligence to craft convincing phishing emails and automate reconnaissance. These AI-driven attacks can mimic writing styles and personalize messages, increasing their success rates.
2. QR Code Phishing (Quishing)
   Cybercriminals embed malicious URLs in QR codes, deceiving users into scanning them and unwittingly visiting fraudulent websites or downloading malware.
3. Deepfake Social Engineering
   Technology now enables attackers to create realistic audio and video impersonations, which can help them when trying to trick individuals into divulging sensitive information or authorizing fraudulent transactions.
4. Nth-Party Supply Chain Risks
   Attackers target not only direct vendors but also the suppliers of those vendors, exploiting vulnerabilities deep within the supply chain. Even if your in-house security posture is held to high standards, vendors—and their vendors—are exposing gaps to opportunistic hackers, according to SecurityScorecard research.

Cyber Threat Intelligence and Detection

Staying ahead of the vast number of cyber threats requires continuous monitoring and deep visibility into the threat landscape. Integrating Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) into security programs can enable organizations to identify, contextualize, and respond to threats effectively. Key components of a CTI program include, but are not limited to:

• Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures (TTPs): Understanding attacker methodologies to weave into proactive defense
  
• Indicators of Compromise (IOCs): Knowing IOCs will help identify signs of potential breaches
  
• Threat Actor Profiling: Analyzing the behaviors and motives of adversaries.
  
• Malware Signature Databases: Recognizing known malicious code patterns

Each stage of the Cyber Threat Intelligence lifecycle is crucial to staying ahead of bad actors from planning, collection, processing, and analysis to production, dissemination, and review.

Mitigating Cyber Threats: Proactive Measures

Preventive security is more effective—and more affordable—than responding after an incident. Security leaders should prioritize:

• Zero Trust Architecture: Enforce identity verification across every access point, preventing lateral movement post-breach.
  
• Penetration Testing: Regularly simulate attacker behavior to expose unseen vulnerabilities before real adversaries do.
  
• Risk-Based Patch Management: Focus on critical Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) already exploited in the wild, not just what’s new.
  
• Network Segmentation: Isolate systems to reduce the impact in case of a cybersecurity incident.
  
• Employee Training: Reinforce awareness with regular phishing simulations and trainings.
  

A strong cybersecurity posture is built on proactive defenses, cross-functional collaboration, and continuous improvement.

SecurityScorecard enhances threat detection by:

• Continuously monitoring external attack surfaces.
  
• Identifying high-risk third-party behaviors.
  
• Scoring risk across ten factors, including DNS health and endpoint vulnerabilities.

Transform Third-Party Risk into a Supply Chain Resilience

With SecurityScorecard’s Supply Chain Detection and Response (SCDR), gain actionable insights into your vendors’ security postures. Our platform empowers you to make informed decisions, ensuring compliance and strengthening your supply chain’s cybersecurity.

🔗 Explore SCDR