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Home Trivia Trivia: In Cyber Security, What is an APT?

Trivia: In Cyber Security, What is an APT?

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January 17, 2024

TRIVIA

In Cyber Security, What is an APT?

An Advanced Persistent Threat is a cyberattack in which the threat actors gain unauthorized access to a network for a long time. Confusingly, the perpetrators are also called an APT. More correctly, they are an APT group. Having a backdoor into a network that they can return to again and again allows the APT group to observe and record network and user activity, to exfiltrate documents, and to maintain surveillance for as long as they need to. This isn't a small undertaking. The resources required to maintain the deception, avoid detection by the network owners, and having human resources to explore and monitor the network are significant. It requires a lot of manpower and top-tier cyber-offensive skills. Historically, state-sponsored hacking groups and other collectives supported by nation-states were the only organizations capable of mounting an APT attack. There are many such organizations around the world. In fact, most developed and developing countries have some sort of cyber-offensive capability, using mainstream military groups and other unofficial external groups. Part of the success of an APT attack is being able to mask their identity and to avoid exposure. This avoids repercussions and embarrassment for the sponsoring nation-state. However, one of the phases of dealing with a cyber attack is attribution. By studying the methods employed in the attack, the digital fingerprint of any malware that was deployed, tracing connections, and other intelligence techniques it is often possible to identify a particular APT as the culprit, to within a very small margin of error. And we see the handiwork of the same culprits again and again.

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Dave McKay has over 30 years of experience in the IT industry. He has been a freelance programmer, the manager of an international software development team, an IT services project manager, and a Data Protection Officer. He is now a technology journalist and independent Data Protection and Compliance consultant.

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