a stock market experts saythey may want to make money damage the ability of the target to conduct business steal sensitive information or ruin their reputation said sean cordero a security advisor at netenrich a california cybersecurity companyor it could be all of the above and morethe groups motivation also will determine the nature of the attackif they are driven by espionage or are purely interested in gathering information they would likely lay quiet and move discretely so that they may maintain access for as long as possible said alec alvarado a cyberintelligence specialist at digital shadows a san francisco companybut groups seeking a large ransom payment may opt to inflict maximum immediate harm to elicit a quick responsethe range of motivations means firms should aim to make themselves the hardest target possible to thwart attacks alvarado saidunfortunately with everexpanding attack surfaces if a threat actor is willing to take the time to find a way in chances are they probably willcordero said frequent updates of security systems are needed to counter cyberrisks requiring systems to be temporarily taken offlinethis is ultimately a riskbased decision that can have major implications if not treated as such cordero said unfortunately these decisions tend to be relegated to the todo list and may go for months or years without action