Webber Insurance Services Webber Insurance Services
Talk to an insurance broker

1300 932 237

Menu
  • Home
  • About
    • About Us

      Read more about our Business and Partners.

      Find out more about the team at Webber Insurance, what our clients say and who we partner with to enable us to provide you with superior insurance products.

      Contact Us
      • About Us
      • Careers
      • Compliance Hub
      • Webber Insurance Group
      • Steadfast Insurance
      • Testimonials
    • Close
  • Blog
    • Blog Posts & Ultimate Guides

      Read our latest blog posts plus get further information on key topics in our ultimate guide pages.

      At Webber Insurance, we work to expand our clients understanding of a wide range of business risk management topics

      Latest Blogs
      • Contractual Liability Essentials
      • Encryption Guide for Your Devices
      • Data Breaches In Australia
      • Risk Management Tips
      • The Ultimate Guide to Cyber Insurance
      • Ultimate Guide – Data Breach Notification
    • Close
  • Products
    • Insurance Products

      We will find you the right insurance product for your business.

      Use a qualified Insurance Broker to ensure that you have an insurance program that is tailored to your specific needs.

      Quick Quote
      • Asbestos Liability
      • Building Indemnity Insurance
      • Business Insurance
      • Commercial Legal Protection Insurance
      • Contract Works Insurance
      • Contractors Insurance
      • Corporate Travel Insurance
      • Cyber Insurance
      • Design & Construct Insurance
      • Excess Liability Insurance
      • IT Liability Insurance
      • Management Liability Insurance
      • Office Insurance
      • Plant & Equipment Insurance
      • Professional Indemnity Insurance
      • Public & Products Liability
    • Close
  • Occupations
    • Occupations

      We can source insurance for all kinds of occupations.

      As a specialist insurance broker, we have access to a range of local and overseas insurers who are capable of assisting with risks; large or small for all occupations

      Quick Quote
        • Accounting Insurance
        • Architect Insurance
        • Building Designer Insurance
        • Building Inspector Insurance
        • Consultants Insurance
        • Energy Raters Insurance
        • Engineers Insurance
        • Environmental Consultant Insurance
        • Hard To Place Insurance
        • IT Contractors
        • Interior Designer Insurance
        • Labour Hire / Recruitment
        • Landscape Architect Insurance
        • Project Management Insurance
        • Real Estate Agent Insurance
        • Tradies Insurance
    • Close
  • Schemes
    • Schemes

      Insurance schemes for various occupations and industries.

      Webber Insurance has a number of insurance schemes that we have developed for specific industries and occupations.

        • ABSA TPA Assessors
        • ATTMA Insurance
        • Building Designer Association Australia (BDAA)
        • Building Design Queensland (Formerly BDAQ)
        • Building Designer Insurance
        • Design Matters National (Formerly BDAV)
        • Energy Raters Insurance
        • Interior Designer Insurance
    • Close
  • FAQ’s
  • Get a Quote
    • Get A Quote

      We work to simplify the insurance process for our clients.

      Complete one of our online proposal forms today to receive a quote for your insurance requirements

      Get A Quote
      • Accountants
      • Asbestos Liability
      • BAS Agent
      • Bookkeeper
      • Building Inspector
      • Business Insurance
      • Commercial Legal Expenses
      • Consultants
      • Contract Works – Annual
      • Contract Works – One Off
      • Contractors Insurance
      • Corporate Travel
      • Cyber Insurance
      • Energy Raters
      • Engineers
      • Environmental Consultant
      • Interior Designers
      • IT Liability
      • Labour Hire
      • Management Liability
      • Office Insurance
      • Plant & Equipment
      • Professional Indemnity
      • Project Manager
      • Public Liability
      • Real Estate Agent
      • Tax Agent
      • Tradies
    • Close
  • Claims
  • Contact
  • Pay Premium
Webber Insurance Services Webber Insurance Services
Call Menu
  • Get a Quote
  • Make a Claim
  • Products
    • Asbestos Liability
    • Building Indemnity Insurance
    • Business Insurance
    • Commercial Legal Protection Insurance
    • Contract Works Insurance
    • Contractors Insurance
    • Corporate Travel Insurance
    • Cyber Insurance
    • Design & Construct Insurance
    • Excess Liability Insurance
    • IT Liability Insurance
    • Management Liability Insurance
    • Plant & Equipment Insurance
    • Professional Indemnity Insurance
    • Public & Products Liability
  • Occupations
    • Accounting Insurance
    • Architect Insurance
    • Building Designer Insurance
    • Building Inspector Insurance
    • Consultants Insurance
    • Engineers Insurance
    • Energy Raters Insurance
    • Environmental Consultant Insurance
    • Interior Designer Insurance
    • Labour Hire & Recruitment Insurance
    • Real Estate Agent Insurance
    • Tradies Insurance
  • Schemes
    • ABSA TPA Assessors
    • ATTMA Insurance
    • BDAA
    • BDAWA
    • Building Design Queensland
    • Design Matters National
    • Energy Raters Insurance
  • Contact
  • FAQ’s
  • About
    • Testimonials
  • Blog
    • Contractual Liability Essentials
    • Data Breaches In Australia
    • Encryption Guide
    • The Ultimate Guide to Cyber Insurance
May 08
Cyber_Security_Password

Understanding Cyber Threats

  • May 8, 2014
  • Chris Webber
  • No Comments
  • Insurance News

In our hyper-connected society, we can only assume our dependence upon technology will grow in the future. Most of us now carry a smart phone as well as owning a computer or tablet, each containing sensitive pieces of our personal information such as credit card details, usernames and passwords. As our dependence upon technology increases, so too does the sophistication and prevalence of cyber attacks.

This requires us to have a greater understanding not only what a cyber threat is, but the types of attacks that can be carried out and by whom. The importance of ensuring your personal information and business data is adequately protected in now paramount, with the non-government cost of cyber crime in Australia as high as $2 billion annually. Furthermore, it was estimated that in 2012, 5.4 million Australians were victims of cyber crime.

What is a Cyber Threat?

As exciting as all of the digital advances we are making are, it has also impacted the ever-changing landscape of cyber security. Cyber attacks are becoming more sophisticated and targeted, creating an ongoing challenge to continually protect and detect cyber threats that may compromise our sensitive data.

In better protecting yourself against potential cyber attacks, education is the key. Firstly, understanding what a cyber threat constitutes is important in appreciating how or why these attacks are carried out.

According to the CSIRO, a cyber threat can be defined as:

  1. Any identified effort directed towards access to, exfiltration of, manipulation of, or impairment to the integrity, confidentiality, security or availability of data, an application or a (federal) system without lawful activity.
  2. The possibility of a malicious attempt to damage or disrupt a computer network or system.

It is important to note however, the above definitions highlight that the threats are intentional and intended to cause damage or disruption, but not all threats are in fact intentional. Accidental or neglectful activities can be considered unintentional cyber threats as the accidental leakage of important information for example, can also cause similar damage to that of a malicious and targeted cyber attack.

What Types of Cyber Threats Are Out There?

It can be quite overwhelming when hearing about the various types of cyber threats out there, and what each of them specifically mean. Cyber threats are made up of a number of factors.  These include:

  • The types of technologies used to carry out an attack (e.g. Trojans and worms)
  • The techniques used to carry out an attack (e.g. spamming)
  • The purpose of carrying out the attack or intent (e.g. data breach or financial gain)
  • The person carrying out the attack (e.g. cyber criminals or insiders);
  • and technology trends (e.g. the cloud)

Who Carries Out A Cyber Attack and Why?

A person or group of people who carry out cyber attacks can be defined as ‘threat actors’. Their characteristics vary in terms of their motivations behind their cyber crime, their technical capabilities and whether they are hostile (intentionally committing cyber crime) or non-hostile (unintentionally posing a cyber threat).

Threat actors can therefore be grouped according to these common characteristics:

Script Kiddies or Cyber Vandals

Script Kiddies or Cyber Vandals are a hostile type of threat actor who have a low to medium capability level in terms of carrying out cyber attacks. They are generally looking for a challenge and carry out attacks to simply play a prank or just to prove they can, while also causing damage in the process.

Trusted Insiders

Can be classified as individuals who are currently or were previously employed by an organisation in any type of capacity, who were able to obtain varying levels of access to sensitive information and therefore abuse their employee privileges. Their motivation may stem from dissatisfaction with the employer or for financial gain.

Hacktivists

Hacktivists can be individuals or form as a group to carry out cyber attacks in support of a central cause. Their technical capability can vary from low to high however it isn’t uncommon for other threat actor profiles to join Hacktivists in their attacks to support a particular ideal. Embarrassing or exposing the target to get public attention are motivators.

Corporations

This type of threat actor operates in the business world often to gain a competitive advantage over rivals. They are seeking to gather intelligence and commonly commit data breaches when competing for revenues and resources.

Organised Crime

This type of threat actor have access to significant resources and have specialist skills, as they tend to undertake cyber crime professionally and purely for financial gain. They commit such online crimes as fraud, ransomware and can be responsible for delivering malicious tools. The organised crime threat actor is often well connected to other criminal networks.

Terrorists

In cyber security terms, a terrorist threat actor is an individual who uses online technology to carry out malicious activity. This may include violence or the threat of violence to evoke fear in others, or to bring about social or political change. They may seek to take over critical infrastructure or communications or infiltrate government systems, with a medium to specialist level of capability.

Nation States

Nation states can be identified as an individual or group who form part of a country’s government. This type of threat actor is particularly malicious in the sense that they are highly strategic and endeavour to access classified information which may be political, economic or military in nature. They are specialists in their activities and often carry out attacks to obtain a position of power.

As mentioned, cyber threats can originate from unintentional sources as well as intentional, such as the threat actors listed above. Unintentional cyber attackers can also be classified into threat actor groups depending on how they compromise data. Employees for example, form a threat actor group as they can unintentionally or accidentally become a threat as a result of poor training in cyber security practices, or through shortcutting safeguards to save time.

Information partners form another unintentional threat actor and can be identified as someone with whom a business has divulged sensitive information. Information partners can unintentionally or accidentally become a threat through not having sufficient cyber security measures in place to adequately protect the information of other businesses.

Finally, Researchers can be classified as individuals or groups who carry out cyber research. This may entail researching cyber security developments and challenges which can often lead to them highlighting existing weaknesses that can then be targeted by hostile threat actors.

When considering all of the known types of cyber threats, and who carries out these cyber attacks and their motivations, it is obvious that we are constantly fighting an online battle against numerous groups. With advancements in technology and the move towards a digital world, these types of threats are only going to increase as threat actors also become more educated and sophisticated in their techniques. It is therefore extremely important that we exercise all cyber security measures available to us to ensure we do not become a target of a cyber attack, or if we do, that we are adequately prepared to deal and recover from a cyber crime event.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • Google+
  • LinkedIn
  • E-Mail

About The Author

Chris Webber is the Director of Webber Insurance Services. Chris has been in the insurance industry for 20 years and is an SME business insurance specialist. The information on this blog and website is of a general nature only. It does not take into account your individual financial situation, objectives or needs. You should consider your own financial position and requirements before making a decision. We recommend you consult a licensed insurance broker in order to assist you.

Leave a reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

  • Insuring Principal Supplied Materials
  • Insurance Cover for Existing Structures: A Guide for Builders
  • Understanding Policy Parameters in Contract Works Insurance
  • Understanding Contract Works Insurance: Turnover (Transfer) vs. Run-Off Policies
  • Single Project vs. Annual Contract Works Insurance Policies: Understanding the Differences
  • Commercial Drone Insurance: Everything You Need to Know
  • Daniel Webber Named Elite Broker for 2024
  • What Australia’s 2023–2030 Cyber Security Strategy Means for You
  • Securing Customer Data for Small to Medium Businesses [Australian Cyber Security Centre]
  • ‘Active’ Cyber Insurance – The Future for Small Businesses

Contact us

  • Make an enquiry
  • Get a Quote
  • 1300 932 237
Webber Insurance Services
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Financial Services Guide
  • Complaints & Disputes Handling
  • Code of Practice
  • Compliance Hub
© Copyright 2025 Webber Insurance Services

328A Magill Road, Kensington Park SA 5068

Webber Insurance Services Pty Ltd | ABN: 88 648 036 929 | CAR No: 413233

Authorised Representative of Webber Insurance Group Pty Ltd | AFSL: 488465 | ABN: 70 612 339 894 All rights reserved

Get a BDAA Insurance Quote

New insurance quotes or renewals for BDAA members who provide building design or energy rating (or similar) services.

"*" indicates required fields

BDAA Insurance Renewal
Energy Rater Insurance Renewal
New Energy Raters Insurance Quote
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Request Insurance Advice

Have a question or need advice from a qualified insurance broker?