An Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) is a sophisticated, well-funded adversary, frequently linked to a nation state, that conducts long-term espionage or sabotage campaigns. Unlike opportunistic criminals, APTs are patient, targeted, and focused on staying undetected.
A growing body of research shows that APTs increasingly source initial access from the same infostealer logs that fuel ordinary cybercrime. Stolen diplomatic and corporate credentials give state actors a cheap, deniable foothold.
Read about this convergence in the infostealer to government-backed hackers pipeline and a Lazarus Group case in the infostealer-to-APT pipeline.