Which of the following threats is categorized as a deliberate external threat?

The correct answer is categorized as a deliberate external threat because nation state actors typically operate with specific strategic objectives in mind, often targeting critical infrastructure, sensitive data, or political systems. These actors are usually well-resourced and possess advanced skills and capabilities, making their threats particularly severe and calculated. Their motivations can range from espionage and sabotage to disrupting national security or economic stability, which reflects a high level of intent to cause harm or gain an advantage.

In contrast, script kiddies represent less sophisticated attackers who utilize existing scripts or tools without necessarily understanding the underlying technology. Accidental insider threats arise from unintentional actions taken by employees, such as misconfiguring systems or inadvertently exposing data, rather than from malicious intent. Malfunctioning hardware, on the other hand, is a technical issue that can lead to outages or failures but does not involve any external malicious intent or deliberate action.