Advanced persistent threat lifecycle

"Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) APT is a set of stealthy and continuous hacking processes often orchestrated by human targeting a specific entity. APT usually targets organizations and or nations for business or political motives. APT processes require high degree of covertness over a long period of time. As the name implies, APT consists of three major components/ processes: advanced, persistent, and threat. The advanced process signifies sophisticated techniques using malware to exploit vulnerabilities in systems. The persistent process suggests that an external command and control is continuously monitoring and extracting data off a specific target. The threat process indicates human involvement in orchestrating the attack.
APT usually refers to a group, such as a government, with both the capability and the intent to persistently and effectively target a specific entity. The term is commonly used to refer to cyber threats, in particular that of Internet-enabled espionage using a variety of intelligence gathering techniques to access sensitive information, but applies equally to other threats such as that of traditional espionage or attack. Other recognized attack vectors include infected media, supply chain compromise, and social engineering. Individuals, such as an individual hacker, are not usually referred to as an APT as they rarely have the resources to be both advanced and persistent even if they are intent on gaining access to, or attacking, a specific target." [Advanced persistent threat. Wikipedia]
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The example "Advanced persistent threat lifecycle" was created using the ConceptDraw PRO diagramming and vector drawing software extended with the Circular Arrows Diagrams solution from the area "What is a Diagram" of ConceptDraw Solution Park.