Abstract

The existence of state sponsored, economically and politically motivated targeted attacks against the IT systems of organisations across the globe is undeniable. Against this Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) organisations need to take action to manage risk and minimise harm. This presentation will look at the threats, the actors, and the motivations of the attacks and explain why any organisation or individual could find itself victim of an APT attack. The presentation will examine how these attacks work and discuss the best ways of spotting and defending against the attacks. This presentation will give nightmares to chief information security officers and system administrators who believe that the APT attacks are not something with which they should be concerned.

Paul Beechey is a Senior IT Security Specialist in QinetiQ’s Advanced Cyber Threat division. Beech’s day job is to practically expose the IT security weakness of organisations within the financial, government, commerce, retail and defence arenas. With well over a decade of experience to provide anecdotes and war-stories, Beech’s enthusiastic and evangelical presentation style will stay in the mind of the attendee for the rest of their lives.