Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs)backed by nation-statesfocus their intelligencegatheringon COVID-19 research: NTT Ltd.

NTT Ltd.,a world-leading global technology services provider, today released itsGTIC Monthly Threat Report for the month of July 2020. TheGlobalThreat IntelligenceCenter (GTIC) protects, informs, andeducates NTT Group clients throughthreat research, vulnerability research, intelligence fusion and analytics. Attacks from AdvancedPersistent Threat (APT) actors continued to be on the rise, despiteCOVID-19; in fact, the virus has added fuel to the fire and has provided a cover for their operations.Organizations and industries that are considered as essential were increasingly targeted: power grids,oil and gas, postal and delivery services,first responders and law enforcement– assets which are even more valuableduring a global crisis.

Key findings:

• APTs, particularly those suspected to be backed by nation-states, are focusing on intelligence-gatheringefforts on COVID-19 research
• APT groups with links to Iran have attempted to breach the World Health Organization (WHO) via phishing campaigns, likely seeking information on testing, treatments, or vaccines
• Extortion, espionage, financial gain, and disinformation were the key objectives behind APTs conducting various operations, especially now, during a global crisis
• Companies researching the diseaseshould expect to be targeted, whetherfor purposes of medical advantage to better treat or prevent COVID-19,for monetary gain or purely to inhibitthe target from making progress
• In addition, APT32attackers linkedto the government of Vietnam havebeen targeting China, reportedly over itsperceived lack of accurate information dissemination during, and the overallhandling ofthe initial outbreak
• NormalAPT operations have also continued during this same timeframe; and operations related to – or leveraging– COVID-19 have served as a smokescreen as countries continue to focus their efforts in response to the pandemic, from both healthcare and cybersecurity perspectives

Considerations:

As businesses continue to digitallytransform and rapidly expand theirfootprint, they’ve been looking fora network that balances cost, userexperience, agility and efficiency. Theanswer, and solutionis a software-defined widearea network (SD-WAN), a virtualized network overlay and a lightweight replacement fortraditional physical WAN infrastructure.

• While WAN technologies have some native security features, unless reviewed holistically, it’s likely not enough to ensure your SD-WAN is inherently secure. It is a fundamental requirement to do a risk analysis and assessment that considers your organization’s risk profile at the outset of designing your SD-WAN and selecting appropriate security controls

As the threat landscape evolves,even the organizationsthat may not be considered an essential service cannot let their guard down. Enterprises must continue to adopt best practices and build awareness in both their network environment and their global state of things.

Leveraging intelligence capabilitiesand resources from around the world,NTT Ltd.’s threat research is focused ongaining understanding and providing insights intothe various threat actors, exploit tools andmalware.