Stage 1: Infiltration – In the first phase, advanced persistent threats often gain access through social engineering techniques. One indication of an APT is a phishing email that selectively targets high-level individuals like senior executives or technology leaders, often using information obtained from other team members that have already been compromised. Email attacks that target specific individuals are called “spear-phishing.”
Stage 2: Escalation and Lateral Movement – Once initial access has been gained, attackers insert malware into an organization’s network to move to the second phase, expansion. They move laterally to map the network and gather credentials such as account names and passwords in order to access critical business information.
Stage 3: Exfiltration – To prepare for the third phase, cybercriminals typically store stolen information in a secure location within the network until enough data has been collected. They then extract, or “exfiltrate” it without detection. They may use tactics like a denial-of-service (DoS) attack to distract the security team and tie up network personnel while the data is being exfiltrated. The network can remain compromised, waiting for the thieves to return at any time.