Detecting Advanced Persistent Threats in Oracle Databases: Methods and Techniques

What Are They?

APTs are sophisticated cyber-attacks to get valuable information (Casenove & Kowalczewska, 2015). They use custom malware to gain leverage within a network. They may use a wide variety of tools and techniques to gain access to the target. They can vary their tools and techniques used depending on the target. The attackers are persistent and adjust their tactics to get around any protection mechanism in their way. They perform repetitive and continuous attacks over a long time. APT attacks use long-term campaigns and stealthy techniques (Chen, Desmet, & Huyens, 2014). Attackers use zero-day and and encryption to avoid detection. The attackers also consistently change their tactics as the defensive measures change (Kim, Cho, & Yeo, 2014). This makes them difficult to detect and stop. APTs can last for months to years depending on the attacker. It was believed that the skills needed to integrate an APT attack is too sophisticated for the average hacker. However, the tools available today require only basic skills to use and can be utilized to conduct an APT attack.