As the name suggests, hackers use advanced continuous hacking techniques to infiltrate an organization’s systems and remain there for a prolonged period. The advanced persistent threat is one of the significant security challenges that keeps corporate security professionals awake.
In this case, the attacker remains unidentified for long, carrying out potentially destructive consequences. The prime targets for these threats include the nation-states and large corporations. That’s why every large corporation should be alert about APT. Here are the main stages of the advanced persistent attack.
Table of Contents
Reconnaissance
This is the first stage of the persistent threat attack. In this stage, the attackers leverage information from various sources to understand their primary target. With the advancing technology, hackers have become very sophisticated when spying on their target.
Most of them gather information through social media, websites, and any other source of information. That’s why it’s vital to have advanced email security for your website. This way, you will protect the company’s data and domain from being interfered with.
Incursion
Incursion is the second stage of the APT. In this stage, the attackers have already found their way into the systems of their specific target. They deliver the malware to the vulnerable systems and any employees’ gadgets that they feel will significantly benefit them. Sometimes employees’ accounts provide the necessary information about the company, and hackers can use this information to learn more about their particular target.
This may include account details or any payment detail from the company. They can use social engineering, spear-phishing, drive-by download, or credential theft. This is why every company should ensure that it has the best practice to keep company finance data safe.
Discovery
The attackers stay low during the discovery stage and operate patiently to avoid being detected while inside the system. In this case, they are trying everything possible to map the organization’s cybersecurity defenses while inside the network. The attack plan is then created.
Most attackers deploy multiple parallel attack channels that are hard to combat with the existing security practices. Some even use the remote channel to access the company’s systems, and this becomes very challenging to stop them. The parallel attack channels are used to create a backdoor into the IT infrastructure for the future exfiltration of the data.
Capture
Before this stage, the hackers had already gained access to most of the company’s permanently restricted resources. They then process accessing unprotected systems and capturing the organization’s data for an extended period. Still, the victim isn’t aware of the attack.
And this gives the hackers more time to install the malware into all systems. Sensitive business information like the content of several emails, designs, and sources is captured. That’s why you should keep on updating your system to ensure it meets the security needed.
Exfiltration
This is the stage where the coordinators of the APT wait until there is enough time and viable opportunity to send all the captured information to their control center. At the control center, analysis is done, and perhaps further fraud and exploitation practices. It’s the analysis that the hackers decide how they will use the captured data for their monetary gains.
The data is usually sent to the control centers through compromised servers or encrypted pathways, making it more challenging to identify that some information has been stolen. Still, the control centers are masked to avoid being detected before working on the data.
Now that you understand the main stages of the advanced persistent attack, let’s dive into the main signs of the APT.
Targeted spear-phishing emails
Most hackers often use emails as their entry points. With the fact that hackers have already entered your system and know your interests, you will get emails with subjects that pique the organization’s interests. Most attachments include an infected attachment or a simple link that downloads malware into your system. These emails are called spear-phishing emails because of their highly targeted nature.
They differ from typical phishing emails that are distributed indiscriminately. Most of the typical phishing emails are not personalized and are targeted to a large number of people. Any email sent from high-level executives with an attachment is a red flag. Avoid all emails with suspicious links and contents that you don’t feel safe reading.
Odd logins
Odd logins are a significant indication that things are not working clearly within your system. That’s why you should track and evaluate logins in your system. If logins are taking too much or having any other unusual pattern, that should be enough cause for concern.
It becomes a significant issue if the login issues are mainly targeted at the executive employees in the company. Maybe, the cybercriminals are far away in another country, which accounts for the wrong timing. On the other hand, most hackers will operate based on the data they are getting.
Information moved
Have you ever opened your computer and found information missing or moved to another folder? You might have thought that you did that deliberately, but there is usually something behind that. So, you should watch for any large batches of information being moved around.
Maybe data is being moved from server to server. So, ensure that you check every day for data moving between computers connected on the same internet. If you notice any unusual activity with the data, you can start investigating immediately how to combat the attack.
Clumped data
In most cases, clumped data is always ready for export. Here, you will notice that most files are not where they are supposed to be. Most hackers usually clamp data into one space before exporting it out of your system. That’s because they target a large amount of data from the organization.
There are those that use various commands and tools to avoid being caught amidst their operations. Ensure that you pay attention to the file extensions. If possible, you can hire security experts to work with great skills.
Conclusion
The advanced persistent attack is a security threat every firm must protect its systems from. That’s by adopting the necessary security practices to detect the hackers in the early stages.
