If a hacker influences an employee or a disgruntled staff member to gain access to an organization ' s resources or sensitive information, this is classified as an insider attack. Insider attacks are perpetrated by individuals within the organization, such as employees, contractors, or business associates, who have inside information concerning the organization ' s security practices, data, and computer systems. The threat from insiders can be intentional, as in the case of a disgruntled employee seeking to harm the organization, or unintentional, where an employee is manipulated or coerced by external parties without realizing the implications of their actions. Phishing attacks, footprinting, and identity theft represent different types of cybersecurity threats where the attacker ' s method or objective differs from that of insider attacks.