From the global WannaCry hack to breaches at Yahoo and other companies, cyberattacks have been successful and devastating in effect due to one core variable: persistent and skilled criminals.

“The cybersecurity actor is the most diligent criminal I have seen over my career,” said M. K. Palmore, information security executive at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). “It works against us that they happen to be extremely intelligent. It’s a different kind of robber or bad guy that we are marshaling our resources to bring down.”