APT (Advanced Persistent Threat, also “Advanced Persistent Attack” or “Targeted Attack”) is a type of cyber threat that uses advanced techniques to maintain persistent access to target systems during prolonged periods, typically months or years. These attacks are highly sophisticated, targeted, and organized, use multiple attack vectors and advanced evasion techniques, being typically executed by well-funded cybercriminal groups or state actors with specific objectives such as espionage, intellectual property theft, or sabotage, requiring organizations to implement advanced detection and response capabilities.

What is APT?

APT is a sophisticated cyber threat that uses advanced techniques to maintain persistent access to target systems over extended periods.

Characteristics

Advanced

  • Sophisticated techniques: Use of advanced techniques
  • Specialized tools: Custom tools
  • Evasion: Evasion techniques
  • Adaptation: Adaptation to defenses

Persistent

  • Prolonged access: Access maintenance
  • Reinfection: Reinfection capability
  • Resistance: Resistance to cleanup
  • Persistence: Multiple persistence mechanisms

Targeted

  • Specific targets: Targeted attacks
  • Reconnaissance: Extensive reconnaissance
  • Personalization: Customized attacks
  • Context: Context understanding

Attack Phases

Reconnaissance

  • Intelligence: Intelligence gathering
  • Reconnaissance: Target reconnaissance
  • Vulnerabilities: Vulnerability identification
  • Vectors: Vector identification

Infiltration

  • Initial access: Initial access acquisition
  • Establishment: Presence establishment
  • Persistence: Persistence implementation
  • Concealment: Activity concealment

Expansion

  • Lateral movement: Movement within the network
  • Escalation: Privilege escalation
  • Collection: Information collection
  • Communication: C&C communication

Exfiltration

  • Data: Target data collection
  • Transmission: Data transmission
  • Concealment: Transmission concealment
  • Cleanup: Evidence cleanup

Common Techniques

Initial Access

  • Phishing: Phishing attacks
  • Vulnerabilities: Vulnerability exploitation
  • Credentials: Use of compromised credentials
  • Supply chain: Supply chain attacks

Persistence

  • Backdoors: Backdoors
  • Scheduled tasks: Scheduled tasks
  • Services: Malicious services
  • Registry: Registry modifications

Evasion

  • Polymorphism: Polymorphic code
  • Obfuscation: Code obfuscation
  • Encryption: Communication encryption
  • Steganography: Steganography

Detection

Indicators

  • IOC: Indicators of compromise
  • TTP: Tactics, techniques and procedures
  • Anomalies: Anomalous behaviors
  • Patterns: Attack patterns

Tools

  • SIEM: Event management systems
  • EDR: Endpoint detection systems
  • Network: Network monitoring
  • Forensics: Forensic analysis

Analysis

  • Correlation: Event correlation
  • Timeline: Event reconstruction
  • Behavioral: Behavior analysis
  • Threat hunting: Threat hunting

Response

Containment

  • Isolation: System isolation
  • Blocking: Communication blocking
  • Preservation: Evidence preservation
  • Communication: Internal communication

Investigation

  • Forensics: Forensic analysis
  • Timeline: Event reconstruction
  • Scope: Scope determination
  • Impact: Impact assessment

Recovery

  • Cleaning: Threat removal
  • Restoration: System restoration
  • Validation: Security validation
  • Monitoring: Continuous monitoring

Prevention

Controls

  • Defense in depth: Defense in depth
  • Zero trust: Zero trust model
  • Segmentation: Network segmentation
  • Monitoring: Continuous monitoring

Intelligence

  • Threat intelligence: Threat intelligence
  • IOC: Indicators of compromise
  • TTP: Tactics, techniques and procedures
  • Sharing: Information sharing

Training

  • Awareness: Staff awareness
  • Simulations: Attack simulations
  • Training: Security training
  • Testing: Security testing

References