Today’s digitalized environment is posing several threats to businesses. Among these dangers, one of the biggest threats comes from unethical hackers. These digital criminals have caused businesses unimaginable losses in recent years.
Therefore, organizations need to have in-depth knowledge about these entities. This way, they can equip themselves better to combat the malicious attacks launched by them. Not knowing how malicious actors work can be detrimental to their immunity against cyberattacks.
Hence, if you are a business owner, keep reading the article to know more. It will shed light on the different types of hackers businesses must be aware of. As a result, you will be able to avoid severely damaging incidents.
4 Types of Hackers Who Can Damage Your Organization
Today, hackers exist in hundreds of forms. They are always looking forward to loopholes in your systems to launch their sinister attacks. The most dangerous ones include black hat hackers, hacktivists, state-sponsored actors, and vigilantes. Let’s discuss each of the above types one by one:
1. Black Hat Hackers
Black hat hackers are the most skillful cybercriminals. They launch their attack with great sophistication, costing businesses unbearable losses. That is why the prime and most dangerous threat to your business comes from these individuals.
These individuals usually exploit malware, ransomware, and other approaches to launch a threat incident against their victims. Their higher level of expertise enables them to break into any unprotected system and steal valuable resources, including sensitive data and money.
They use their matchless knowledge to fulfill sinister agendas, for example:
- Stealing private and personal information
- Robbing businesses of their sensitive data
- Damaging the integrity of an organization
- Blackmailing their victims
- Taking revenge on a person or company
- Stealing funds
Corporations must be aware of this type of hacker. If they succeed in executing their attack, it can result in a lot of damage. Therefore, businesses contact cybersecurity companies Dubai to protect their systems from black hat hackers.
2. Hacktivists
Hacktivists are the least known type of hackers. Most businesses are unaware of their presence. They can use this obliviousness for their benefit. This is because organizations that are uninformed about them do not take enough steps to safeguard their systems.
The word hacktivist is taken from two English words, “hackers” and “activists.” As the name suggests, hacktivists are not driven by the desire for social gains. Rather, these individuals considered themselves activists and use their knowledge to proliferate their social or political agendas.
They usually target government sectors, big corporations, and industries. Their motives include:
- Destroying a business that is “bad” according to them
- Having vengeance on an organization
- Initiating a movement against their victims
- Protesting against certain policies
So, if their attacks are successful, they can wreak havoc on their target in terms of dignity, integrity, and financial or data losses. Companies should be cognizant of hacktivists to avoid potential damage on their hands.
Read our recent article : Famous Ethical Hacking Case Studies and What We Can Learn
3. State-Sponsored Hackers
The most detrimental type of hackers is the state-sponsored hackers. They can either be white hat hackers or black hat hackers. In the past few years, these threat actors have created a lot of chaos for many multinational companies.
Nations, states, or countries sponsor these entities to infiltrate the public sectors of the opponent country. Therefore, they are also known as homeland-approved hackers. Typically, they target critical state agencies or multinational corporations.
They can be more dangerous than other types of hackers because the sentiments of nationalism drive them. Various states employ these hackers to:
- Breach into an agency’s system and steal sensitive data
- Gather intelligence about a government agency
- Steal financial data of a country or corporation
- Getting sensitive information regarding particular decisions
Due to the above reasons, big-scale corporations, government-run businesses, and public sectors can fall prey to state-sponsored hackers. Therefore, there is a need to spread awareness about these types of hackers among businesses.
4. Personal Vendetta Vigilantes
Personal vendetta vigilantes are another type of hacker that businesses must be aware of. These individuals are motivated by a strong desire to get revenge on an organization or company.
In their perception, the respective business has done something wrong to them, and they want them to pay the consequences. That is why they start finding potential loopholes in the company’s system to launch their sinister attacks. Most of the time, these kinds of people do not have hardcore hacking skills.
Therefore, it is possible that their plan might not be successful. However, it does not mean that you are fully immune to them. Sometimes, these people can have an IT background or even learn hacking to do you damage.
Keeping this in mind, you should be vigilant about protecting your organization against personal vendetta vigilantes. You can contact cybersecurity companies Dubai to secure your system against this type of hackers.
Conclusion
Hackers are cybercriminals who pose a greater threat to businesses. Therefore, you should be aware of various types of hackers, including black hat hackers, hacktivists, state-sponsored hackers, and vigilantes. If you want to prevent cyberattacks from these threat actors, contacting a reliable cybersecurity provider is the best option.
