[MattPalmer1086]

It can either be a human directing it once a foothold is established, or an automated attack. Initial compromise may be automated but lateral movement is harder to automate.

If you work on highly sensitive systems then you should expect a human in the loop at some point.

[denton-scratch]

> If you work on highly sensitive systems

I don't; I'm retired. I have only my home network to fret about. I don't have data to lose, but I don't want some rotter using my network to attack other networks. That rotter isn't going to set up automation to grab my family photos; but he'll use automation to attack other networks.

I've never worked with "highly sensitive systems", as far as I'm aware. I've only ever worked with systems that had the potential to wreck the company. I don't know if that counts, in your book.

[MattPalmer1086]

Potential to wreck the company counts pretty high in my book!

My own home security is merely adequate. I turn off things like upnp on the router. Disks and backups are encrypted. I don't worry overly much about it. If someone actually targets me it's probably game over, but it's ok against random script kiddies or someone stealing my computers.