Kaspersky claims India is increasingly coming under threat from cybercriminals originating from nations such as the US, Russia and China. These hackers use advanced persistent threat (APT) attacks in order to steal data from ordinary citizens and organizations.
According to Kaspersky, APT attacks are growing at a rapid rate worldwide. A significant portion of the assaults such as Darkhotel, Cloud Atlas, Turla, Equation and Regin have affected India. The security firm’s deputy director of global research and analysis team Sergey Novikov said the level of complexity of these hits is also rising.
APT attacks involve cybercriminals gaining access to a network or device and residing there long-term without getting discovered. The basic premise is to steal information and inflict long-term damage to the enterprise or consumer. For instance, Stuxnet is a malicious worm which is said to have been developed as an American-Israeli cyber weapon to destroy Iran’s nuclear programme.
As per PTI, Novikov asserts there have were 3 APT announcements in 2012, 7 in 2013, 11 in 2014 and 10 within the 1st half of 2015. He cites the growing number of gadgets which are connected to the internet as 1 reason why the number of attacks are increasing. Novikov went on to say the line separating state-backed and illegal criminal outfits is fading away as both use similar techniques.
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It’s becoming very difficult for organizations like Kaspersky to determine whether the 2 groups are working together. The firm’s head of strategic projects Rainer Bock thinks the vector of hacking will evolve with time. While cybercriminals had focused on devices earlier, they are now turning their attention towards systems like smart cities, 3G, ATMs, connected cars, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.