A practical study on advanced persistent threats

Abstract

Recently, many Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) have emerged. APTs persistently collect information and data on a specific target using diverse attack techniques, examine the vulnerabilities of the target, and then carry out hacking using the data and examination result. An APT is very intelligent, as it selects a clear target and carries out specific attacks, unlike traditional hacking attempts. The APT has a very precise attack type because it employs indirect attacks on the terminals of the employees working for the target, as well as direct attacks. For this reason, it is very difficult to detect and handle an APT. In this paper, the recent attack methods used by APTs are described, and the attack pattern is analyzed to propose efficient countermeasures for preventing and handling APTs. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.