IT security vendor Kaspersky Lab has shared emerging security threats in the Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) world for 2015.
Fragmentation of bigger APT groups
A number of smaller threat actors is likely to lead to more companies being hit. Larger organizations are expected to experience a greater number of attacks from a wider range of sources.
APT-style attacks in cybercriminal world
The days when cyber-criminal gangs focused exclusively on stealing money from end users are over. Criminals now attack the banks directly because that’s where the money is. They use APT techniques for these complex attacks.
Targeting executives through hotel networks
Hotels are perfect for targeting high profile individuals around the world. The Darkhotel group is one of the APT actors known to have targeted specific visitors during their stay in hotels.
Enhanced evasion techniques
More APT groups will be concerned about exposure and will take more advanced measures to shield themselves from discovery.
New methods of data exfiltration
In 2015, more groups are expected to use cloud services to make exfiltration (the unauthorized transfer of data from a computer) stealthier and harder to detect.
Use of false flags
APT groups are expected to exploit government intention to ‘naming and shaming’ suspected attackers by carefully adjusting their operations to plant false flags that make it appear as if the attack was carried out by another entity.
“We believe that APT groups will evolve to become stealthier and sneakier, in order to better avoid exposure. This year we’ve already discovered APT players using several zero-days, and we’ve observed new persistence and stealth techniques. We have used this to develop and deploy several new defense mechanisms for our users,” said Costin Raiu, director of GReAT at Kaspersky Lab.
