Threat actor groups

In each environment, the most important issue to consider is the threat actor groups (or threat vectors) - in other words, the conceivable routes whereby a virus could be introduced to the domain. This will require consideration of personnel access controls, and physical and management controls of connections to the network and Internet. It will also require security checks on personnel who are involved or have access to secure areas. 

Threat actor groups are identified groups of people that could conceivably, either deliberately or accidentally, reduce the security of a domain or environment. In particular ... 

The types of threat actor groups that need consideration include the groups listed in Table 3.3. 

Table 3.3 Some important threat actor groups...

Criminals and mentally disturbed or immature persons are both likely to be limited by the availability of materials and knowledge. In addition, criminals are quite likely to be more susceptible than the other groups to deterrence by visible and effective security measures. Thus, the first two groups — state-sponsored actors and non-state-sponsored terrorists — are the main threats on which explosives detection needs to focus. Unfortunately, this conclusion implies the need for detection of military, commercial, and improvised explosives and does not greatly help in narrowing down the issues. 

In sum, the massive Soviet NBC weapons program is currently fragmented among numerous countries and employs only a fraction of its former workforce. Despite these major dislocations and workforce reductions, its residual personnel possess substantial weapons-critical expertise and are potentially attractive to potential proliferant states and non-state actors seeking to acquire NBC weapons. Whether the scope of the personnel of concern is large or small has important policy implications. While even a small number of people who illicitly transfer their expertise can create a serious security problem, it is much easier to contain the threat of a smaller, easily identified group of people than the threat of a larger, more diverse one. 

The ready access to TICs in the chemicals industry makes them attractive to nonstate actors also. The threat of insiders who work with toxic chemicals and whose integrity may be compromised by terrorist groups is one of the main concerns of intelligence services today. Insiders who decided to participate in chemical terrorism could have a variety of motivations, from ideological to financial. Advances in science and technology have also increased the number of people working with toxic "dual-use" chemicals and with the explicit and tacit knowledge that could be used for terrorist purposes. 

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