We have Cyber Monday, cybersecurity month, and even Black Friday – that has become a major marketing and sales tool for cyber deals and cyber shopping.
But there are other cyber aspects that unless you are a cyber professional or a cyber geek, you will most likely not even heard of. Do you know what is an APT ?
And if we mention names such as Lazurus, Carbanak, Malsmoke, Magecart, Cerium, and many others., will you recognise them?
Well, an APT is an Advanced Persistent Threat Group.
Many APT groups receive direction and support from an established nation-state and try to steal data, disrupt operations, or destroy infrastructures. Major ATP groups are associated with China, Iran, Israel, North Korea, Russia, North Korea, and the USA.
Unlike most cyber criminals, APT attackers pursue their objectives over months or years. They adapt to cyber defences and frequently retarget the same victim.
The preferred sectors include government, defence, financial services, legal services, industrial, telecoms, consumer goods…Some groups use traditional espionage vectors, including social engineering, human intelligence, and infiltration to gain access to a physical location to enable network attacks. The purpose of these attacks is to install custom malicious software.
So, this is the organized crime side of cyber, not worried about a quick profit but focused on substantial gains, to finance and gather information to support many types of activities.
Cyber has changed our lives and routines, and organized crime is taking the lead by constantly adapting to fulfill their intents.
We as consumers, clients, businesses, and citizens need to know and become cyber smart!