Glossary What is a Cyberattack?

Cyberattacks are malicious assaults on digital assets that seek to steal, destroy, alter or disable data and information systems. Motives for these attacks can vary, but they are commonly associated with criminal, political and personal reasons. Other cyberattack motivations include spying to gain an unfair competitive advantage or stealing intellectual property.

A cyberattack can be classified as an outsider or insider threat. Outsider threats are external and include organized criminals, professional hackers and amateur hackers. Insider threats stem from authorized users with legitimate access to a company’s assets who then abuse that access deliberately or accidentally. These threats include employee carelessness with policy and procedures, dissatisfied current or former employees and business partners, clients, contractors or suppliers with access to a company’s system.

Organizations in any sector and of any size can fall victim to a cyberattack, which has made it important to understand modern cybersecurity trends.

Learn more about cyberattacks