Advanced Persistent Threat
An Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) is a stealthy and continuous computer hack in which an unauthorized user gains access to a network and stays undetected for an extended period. The term "advanced" refers to the attacker's use of sophisticated techniques to exploit vulnerabilities. "Persistent" means the attacker is determined to maintain access to the network, even if discovered and repelled. APT attackers often have specific targets and are motivated by financial gain, espionage, or sabotage.
The typical APT attack has three phases:
Infiltration: The attacker gains access to the network, often through phishing or social engineering.
Expansion: The attacker moves laterally across the network, escalating privileges and gathering sensitive data.
Exfiltration: The attacker extracts the stolen data, often without being detected.
APTs are a significant threat to organizations of all sizes. They can cause significant financial losses, damage reputations, and disrupt operations. Organizations need to be aware of the threat of APTs and take steps to protect themselves.
ThreatNG can help with Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) by providing a comprehensive solution for external attack surface management, digital risk protection, and security ratings. It offers continuous monitoring, reporting, and investigation modules to detect and respond to APT attacks.
External Discovery and Assessment
ThreatNG's external discovery and assessment capabilities help organizations identify and assess their external attack surface, including internet-facing assets, vulnerabilities, and potential entry points for attackers. This is critical in the first phase of an APT attack, infiltration, as it helps organizations to identify and mitigate vulnerabilities that attackers may try to exploit.
Reporting
ThreatNG offers various reporting options, including executive, technical, prioritized, security ratings, inventory, ransomware susceptibility, and U.S. SEC filings. These reports provide insights into an organization's security posture and can help identify potential APT activity.
Continuous Monitoring
ThreatNG provides continuous monitoring of an organization's external attack surface, alerting on new vulnerabilities, suspicious activity, and changes to the organization's digital risk profile. This helps detect APT activity in the expansion phase, where attackers try to move laterally across the network.
Investigation Modules
ThreatNG's investigation modules offer detailed insights into specific threats and vulnerabilities. The modules include domain intelligence, social media, sensitive code exposure, search engine exploitation, cloud and SaaS exposure, online sharing exposure, sentiment and financials, archived web pages, dark web presence, and technology stack. These modules can help investigate and remediate APT activity.
Intelligence Repositories
ThreatNG maintains intelligence repositories that include information on dark web activity, compromised credentials, ransomware events and groups, known vulnerabilities, ESG violations, bug bounty programs, SEC Form 8-Ks, and Bank Identification Numbers. This intelligence helps organizations stay ahead of APT attackers and their evolving tactics.
Working with Complementary Solutions
ThreatNG can work with complementary security solutions, such as Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems, Threat Intelligence Platforms (TIPs), and Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) solutions. By integrating with these solutions, ThreatNG can provide a more comprehensive view of an organization's security posture and improve its ability to detect and respond to APT attacks.
Examples of ThreatNG Helping
ThreatNG can help identify a phishing campaign targeting an organization's employees by monitoring the dark web for mentions of the organization's name and identifying any suspicious emails or websites that are being used in the campaign.
ThreatNG can help detect a subdomain takeover attack by continuously monitoring the organization's DNS records and alerting on any unauthorized changes.
ThreatNG can help identify sensitive data that has been leaked on the dark web by scanning the dark web for mentions of the organization's name and identifying any leaked data that is associated with the organization.
Examples of ThreatNG Working with Complementary Solutions
ThreatNG can integrate with a SIEM system to provide the SIEM with real-time threat intelligence, which can help the SIEM to identify and block APT attacks.
ThreatNG can integrate with a TIP to provide the TIP with information on the organization's external attack surface, which can help the TIP to prioritize and respond to threats.
ThreatNG can integrate with an EDR solution to provide the EDR with information on the organization's dark web presence, which can help the EDR to identify and quarantine infected devices.
ThreatNG is a valuable solution for organizations looking to protect themselves from APTs. By providing a comprehensive solution for external attack surface management, digital risk protection, and security ratings, ThreatNG can help organizations detect and respond to APT attacks effectively.
