Hacker Personas: The Opportunist

Opportunists capitalize on unpreparedness, often exploiting common human traits such as trust and familiarity. They rely on targeted or focused attacks, and carry out their crimes against specific businesses or individuals. They are usually well planned, with hackers thoroughly researching their victims and running tests before performing an actual attack. What’s more, opportunists look for existing weaknesses or vulnerabilities they can exploit en masse to pull as many victims as possible into their nets. In fact, by August 2020, the FBI saw a 300% increase in cybercrime related to attacks of opportunity.

Opportunists Are a Threat to Everyone

Hackers use any opportunity to abuse victims by leveraging humanitarian crises and current events. For example, the global pandemic has led to a monumental rise in digital connectivity, creating a hotbed for cybercrime. These are just a few of their tricks of the trade: