2. Add network monitoring to the task list.
Advanced persistent threats by definition are designed to get around firewalls, antivirus software, intrusion detection systems and other controls a company might have in place for blocking illegal access to data. So companies need to have tools for monitoring anomalous behavior on their network, and for detecting unusual long-term persistent network connections and other "outlier behavior" Skoudis said.
Companies might also want to consider using more "white-listing" approaches to block all but a very narrow and specific set of "known good" activities on their systems and networks , Kurtz said speaking with Computerworld on Friday.
"A lot of infections and zero-day threats can be eliminated using white listing because only trusted code can run on the system," he said.
Also vital is the need for companies to monitor their logs closely, Skoudis said. Looking at firewall logs, network based IDS alerts and Web proxy server logs can help companies identify suspicious activity on their networks, he said.
Companies need to establish a baseline for normal behavior on their networks and then regularly compare log data against this baseline to detect malicious activity, he said.
"The APT tries to be the needle in the haystack. You need to go through the information you already are gathering to find it," he said. "You've got to be looking for those outliers," he said.
3. Most Web attacks still require human intervention to succeed.
Targeted attacks depend on humans clicking on something or browsing over to a malicious Web site, Kurtz said. McAfee's analysis of the attacks against Google and other companies showed that intruders gained access to an organization by sending a tailored attack to one or a few targeted individuals.
The attacks were probably designed to look like they came from a trusted source, leading the target to click on a link or file.
"There's much more upfront reconnaissance taking place these days," with intruders lurking in social networking sites and elsewhere to gather information on targets, he said. Strong user authentication and access control measures can help mitigate this issue, Kurtz said.
Tools are also available that can help companies verify the authenticity of links that users might click on, to help prevent them from browsing to a malicious Web site or downloading malware, he said.
Lastly, companies need to continue emphasizing user education and training, he said. "A lot of these attacks involve a human element. There is no patch" against that.
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