Advanced Persistent Threat (APT)

Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) is a long-term targeted attack on a system. At first, it penetrate a network without interruption of the regular services and then collects valuable information over a long period of time. This type of threat is categorized as highly complex because they are persistent, evasive, and targeted in comparison with the traditional attack. As these are advanced threats, the entire process of stealing information may take many years. One of the most common example of an APT is Stuxnet.

Source: FEMA (TEEX)