Unstructured Threats

Unstructured threats are characterized by attacks often based on well-known vulnerabilities and scripted vectors. Generally, such threats emanate from less-competent attackers or hackers known as script kiddies or newbies who may be motivated less by malicious intent and more by curiosity and intellectual challenge. The attacker usually does not understand the actual mechanisms of the exploit attempted, nor the full ramifications of his/her actions.

Oftentimes, good security practices that effectively keep pace with the latest known attack methodologies and vulnerabilities prove capable in defending against unstructured threats; by the time an attack vector is scripted by a knowledgeable miscreant, distributed, and finally deployed by the many script kiddies, it should be preventable by alert security staff and, therefore, relatively ineffectual.

This does not diminish the potential impact such threats pose to organizations, however. For instance, certain Denial-of-Service (DoS) attacks triggered by script kiddies can be difficult to defend against and could cause serious harm to an organization's operation.