A clear-eyed look at APT

Security is occasionally susceptible to two afflictions: 1. Hype. 2. Semantic arguments.

"Advanced persistent threat," or APT, hits the exacta, to borrow a horse-racing term. Because victims, marketers and journalists alike seized the term APT with gusto (hype), an inevitable backlash has occurred (semantic arguments).

Anyone who has suffered a breach has great incentive to characterize the perp as both advanced and persistent. After all, admitting you've been hacked at random by a casual script kiddie might be looked upon unfavorably by your CEO, or a civil judge, or the Securities and Exchange Commission, or your shareholders.

To continue reading, register here to become an Insider. You'll get free access to premium content from CIO, Computerworld, CSO, InfoWorld, and Network World. See more Insider content or sign in.