Hackers may already be inside — and the company doesn't even realize it. According to cybersecurity experts, the hidden presence of attackers is recorded in approximately every fifth Russian company. And this is not about a one-time attack, but about long-term, inconspicuous work within the infrastructure.
Unlike high-profile hacks, everything here happens quietly. Cyber spies do not break the system "head-on" and do not demand ransom — they establish themselves in the network and collect data for weeks, and sometimes months, without disrupting the usual operation of services. The longer they remain undetected, the more access they gain.
The main target is key infrastructure nodes: servers, control systems, and domain controllers. Control over them provides almost complete access to the entire IT environment of the company — from accounts to internal services.
There are different ways to get inside. Sometimes — through vulnerabilities in systems. But more and more often — through people. Phishing emails, weak passwords, employee carelessness — all this opens the door to the corporate network. There are cases when attackers gain access to an employee's email and request additional rights on their behalf, without arousing suspicion.
Another channel is contractors. If infrastructures are connected, an attack on one company can become an entry point into another.
After the attacker is introduced, the most difficult thing begins — you need to detect him. They masquerade as normal activity: they use legitimate tools, work at night, hide traffic behind VPNs and proxies. As a result, the system looks "clean", although work is already underway inside.
Nevertheless, there are still signs. These include atypical logins to the system, bursts of outgoing traffic, especially at night, strange computer behavior, disabling antiviruses, or slowing down without obvious reasons.
The problem is that time is on the side of the attackers. First, they study the infrastructure, then they gain a foothold, expand access, and at any moment can move on to active actions — from stealing data to completely stopping the company.
That is why experts are increasingly talking about a change in approach: it is important not only to protect against attacks, but also to proceed from the fact that an attacker may already be inside — and he needs to be found before he decides to reveal himself.