Cyber criminals can be classified as
- Script kiddies – A wannabe hacker. Someone who wants to be a hacker (or thinks they are) but lacks any serious technical expertise. They are usually only able to attack very weakly secured systems.
- Organized hacktivists – Hacktivists are hackers with a particular (mostly political) motive. In other cases this reason can be social activism, religious activism, etc. The attacks on approximately 200 prominent Indian websites by a group of hackers known as Pakistani Cyber Warriors are a good example of political hacktivists at work.
- Disgruntled employees – One can hardly believe how spiteful displeased employees can become. Till now they had the option of going on strike against their bosses. Now, with the increase independence on computers and the automation of processes, it is easier for disgruntled employees to do more harm to their employers by committing computer related crimes, which can bring entire systems down.
- Professional hackers (corporate espionage) – Extensive computerization has resulted in business organizations storing all their information in electronic form. Rival organizations employ hackers to steal industrial secrets and other information that could be beneficial to them. The temptation to use professional hackers for industrial espionage also stems from the fact that physical presence required to gain access to important documents is rendered needless if hacking can retrieve those.
Other than the above, other classification may also include scammers, phishers, malware developers and spammers.