An advanced persistent threat is a prolonged and targeted cyber attack in which an intruder gains access to a network and remains undetected for an extended period.
APT attacks are initiated to steal highly sensitive data rather than cause damage to the target organization's network.
The goal of most APT attacks is to achieve and maintain ongoing access to the targeted network rather than to get in and out as quickly as possible.
Because a great deal of effort and resources can go into carrying out APT attacks, threat actors typically select high-value targets, such as large organizations, to steal information over a long period.
To gain access, APT groups often use a variety of advanced attack methods, including social engineering techniques.
APT actors use the watering hole attack to breach websites often accessed by their specific targets.
To avoid being discovered by security systems, APT attackers often hide their operations using legitimate tools and processes, code obfuscation and anti-analysis measures.
Although APT attacks can be difficult to identify, data theft is never completely undetectable.
The act of exfiltrating data from an organization might be the only clue defenders have that their networks are under attack.
Cybersecurity professionals often focus on detecting anomalies in outbound data to see if the network has been the target of an APT attack.
APTs are usually assigned names by the organization that discovered them, though many advanced persistent threat attacks have been discovered by more than one researcher, so some are known by more than one name.
The attackers targeted military data and launched APT attacks on the high-end systems of U.S. government agencies, including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The threat group has targeted companies in the Middle East with recent attacks against financial, government, energy, chemical and telecommunications companies.
APT29, the Russian advanced persistent threat group also known as Cozy Bear, has been linked to several attacks, including a 2015 spear phishing attack on the Pentagon, as well as the 2016 attacks on the Democratic National Committee.
Threat actors used the Sykipot malware family as part of a long-running series of cyber attacks, mainly targeting U.S. and UK organizations.
The attackers focused on gaining access to the network devices of government ministries and embassies.
Most APTs are carried out in multiple phases, reflecting the same basic sequence of gaining access, maintaining and expanding access, and attempting to remain undetected in the target network until the goals of the attack have been accomplished.
While conventional cyber attacks, such as ransomware, typically unfold within a relatively brief timeframe, lasting days or weeks at most, APT attacks can span across months or even years.
Large, well-funded companies and groups of cybercriminals frequently choose to use APT attacks, as they're the most financially demanding type of cybercrime.
Detecting anomalies in outbound data is perhaps the best way for cybersecurity professionals to determine if a network has been the target of an APT attack.
This Cyber News was published on www.techtarget.com. Publication date: Thu, 07 Dec 2023 14:43:05 +0000