

Advanced persistent threat (APT) progressionĪ successful APT attack can be broken down into three stages: 1) network infiltration, 2) the expansion of the attacker’s presence and 3) the extraction of amassed data-all without being detected. Next, Trojans and backdoor shells are often used to expand that foothold and create a persistent presence within the targeted perimeter. More common attacks, such as remote file inclusion (RFI), SQL injection and cross-site scripting (XSS), are frequently used by perpetrators to establish a foothold in a targeted network. They often aim to infiltrate an entire network, as opposed to one specific part.They’re manually executed (not automated) against a specific mark and indiscriminately launched against a large pool of targets.They’re not hit and run attacks-once a network is infiltrated, the perpetrator remains in order to attain as much information as possible.Some APT attacks are government-funded and used as cyber warfare weapons.ĪPT attacks differ from traditional web application threats, in that: The perpetrators are usually teams of experienced cybercriminals having substantial financial backing. The sabotaging of critical organizational infrastructures (e.g., database deletion)Įxecuting an APT assault requires more resources than a standard web application attack.Compromised sensitive information (e.g., employee and user private data).Intellectual property theft (e.g., trade secrets or patents).The consequences of such intrusions are vast, and include: The targets of these assaults, which are very carefully chosen and researched, typically include large enterprises or governmental networks. An advanced persistent threat (APT) is a broad term used to describe an attack campaign in which an intruder, or team of intruders, establishes an illicit, long-term presence on a network in order to mine highly sensitive data.
