Considerations for Cyber Threat Psychology
Cyber Threat Psychology Considerations
CSA Swiss Chapter Research Topics
October 30, 2025

- A cyber-attack involves multiple actors whose motivations, thinking, behaviors and experiences often are going back into early childhood of hackers, victims, intermediaries.
- Congruency of motivations between the attacker and the target victims often facilitates the attack.
- The congruency may not be apparent at all, rather, there may be subconscious biases influencing.
- Psychological factors such as pride, frustration, effects from mobbing, lack of recognition, neglect, geniality (either not understood or not accepted) can be very strong drivers on either side.
- For a cyber-attack to succeed, the transmission mechanisms between the hackers and their victims and the communication aspects are of equally relevant importance.
- Awareness and communication can significantly help to intercept tendencies to develop hacktivism, and on the other hand, for others to become more alert to signs of people developing patterns which may indicate them derailing into hacktivist approaches.