Advanced persistent threat (APT)

A skilled, well-resourced attacker, often state-sponsored or organized crime, that quietly gains access to a network and stays hidden for a long time to steal information.

An advanced persistent threat, or APT, is less about a single piece of malware and more about the people behind it. These groups plan carefully, use custom tools, and focus on staying undetected for weeks or months while they gather data, credentials or intellectual property.

It is easy to assume APTs only target governments and large corporations, but small businesses can be caught up too. Alberta firms that work in energy, agriculture, engineering or government supply chains may hold data or network connections that are valuable to a larger target. Attackers sometimes compromise a smaller supplier first because its defences are lighter. The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security regularly publishes advisories about state-sponsored activity aimed at Canadian organizations.

Practical tip: you do not need to defend against nation-states on your own. Focus on strong basics, such as patching, multi-factor authentication and endpoint detection, and make sure someone is actually reviewing alerts so long-running intrusions are spotted.