What is APT (Advanced Persistent Threat)?

The Danger of APT Cyber-Attacks: Resourceful Experts Targeting Valuable Data and Disrupting Operations

The Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) is a type of cyber attack often used by cyber criminals in an organized, professional and sophisticated way to gain unauthorized access to systems. These attacks are meticulously planned and executed with an intent to achieve a specific destructive mission while remaining unnoticed within the victim's network. It is an extended cyber attack, engineered to break into carefully and tactically selected targets with the promise of establishing severely damaging offensive strikes.

APT is no ordinary cyber attack, concerned parties that deploy APTs are not random hackers but are often a cohort of proficient cybercriminals or, worse, state-run cyber warfare units. Their characteristically patient approach, planning defenses to bypass detection, ensuring anonymity, proficiency in the clusters of cyber attack methodologies sets them apart from the standards set in the cybercrime world.

Enabled by its unparalleled agility in malwares and exploits, APTs give cyber attackers unauthorized access, which often remains unrecognized for a distressingly protracted period. This capability provides these criminals with an excellent observation and monitoring option where they can access invaluable, sensitive data and use the compromised systems to delve deeper into the network.

APTs work by infiltrating systematically with the first phase being initial entry point access. This is often done through phishing emails or exploitation of vulnerabilities in the system. Upon successful infiltration, attackers download sophisticated malware and exploit kits - the operations phase that escalates their sabotage power. They can then unfold further by escalating their privileges, moving laterally across networks and effectively exploiting their unrestricted access.

Once the attackers have full control, they then enter the capture and exfiltration stage. In this stage, they siphon off data stealthily, ensuring that their tracks are thoroughly covered and making their detection extremely difficult. Given that APTs use advanced evasion techniques, they can remain undetected for years, during which attackers can continue pillaging the unsuspecting victim's network.

They use layers of encryption and proxy servers, destroying or altering logs to hide their activity. Typically involving different forms and types of malware, they leverage these tools increasing the complexity, scale, and sophistication of these attacks. For instance, operation Aurora, Duqu, stuxnet attack are instances where organized groups have reportedly targeted government entities, yielding colossal damage.

The problem of APT in cybersecurity is persistent and ever evolving advancing its footprint through Extensive spear phishing, Zero-day vulnerabilities, and Privilege escalation. Given its nature, it necessitates persistent, real-time counter threat intel, strong proactive defensive step-ups, consistent retrospection for clues of intrusion, and swift and stringent response to security incidents.

Antivirus software, advanced behavioral analysis utilities, heuristic algorithms, correlation mechanism, intrusion detection systems and intrusion prevention systems, secure information and event management applications and end-point protection systems have been deployed robustly by security teams to retaliate this grave threat. Nonetheless, the sophistication of APTs often makes them resistant to standard antivirus measures, giving rise to the need for advanced threat protection tools and security strategies.

At the same time, user and staff training plays an equally important role as a deterrent to APTs. Practicing secure online behaviors, such as vigilance with emails and websites clicked, and following security hygiene, can help defend against APTs to a considerable extent.

Hence, APTs represent the new magnitude of cyber warfare, proving a menace to individual safety and critical infrastructure, signifying the pressing need for competency in agility, response, and resilience to these threats.

APT (Advanced Persistent Threat) FAQs