I have been researching and studying APTs (Advanced Persistent Groups) for 2 years. When a new breach happened I was reading the news non-stop. Who could do it?Why?Which techniques have been used by the attackers? What is the mark of one or another hacker group?
These are the questions I have been searching for the answer to and I decided to share the results with you all, in a form of a newsletter. Anytime a breach happens you will see a post with my analysis of which APT group could do it.
But what are APTs anyway?
APT stands for Advanced Persistent Threat, these are well-funded criminal or government organizations. They advanced because governments always want the top talent, but these minds sometimes end up on the dark side of the cyber world. They are persistent because months can pass without detecting their actions and they are a threat because they have the right tools, the possibility and the will the achieve their goals.
What are their goals?
We can say gathering intel, stealing technology, sabotage…You can say anything it will end with money. They are stealing technology to sell it to their clients, or valuable intel from an opposing company.Money moves to the world, if you want to what’s happening in the world just look at where money flows.
What is the mark of one or another hacker group?
This is a hard one…You could think that the tools that they are using, but no. Tools and technology change and they have to evolve to keep up with the new defence mechanisms. So if not tools, then what?
The behaviour. Some organizations go in loud, map the network, got kicked out then attack again fully prepared and achieve their goals in minutes. Some of them do their research very well and sneak in unnoticed. They spend days to achieve their goals as unnoticed as possible. Some of them develop and uses zero-day attacks instead of selling them on the Dark Web.
We are not talking about guys in the basement of their parent’s house. That’s a very old concept. We are talking about top talent and criminals with loads of money and possibilities. They have all the time, money and knowledge to do what they want.
If you want to know more about APTs subscribe to my newsletter and join our growing community. We will analyse one group in-depth every Saturday!
