What is cyber espionage?
Cyber espionage is the unauthorized access to computer systems and networks to steal classified information, trade secrets, or sensitive data for economic, political, or military advantage. This means attackers break into your digital systems not to cause immediate damage, but to quietly steal valuable information over time. Unlike traditional espionage that requires physical presence, cyber espionage operates entirely through digital channels without ever setting foot in your building.
The targets of these attacks include intellectual property, government secrets, and strategic intelligence that can provide a competitive edge or military superiority. Attackers use advanced persistent threats (APTs), which are sophisticated, long-term campaigns designed to maintain covert access to your network. They establish command and control (C2) infrastructure to communicate with compromised systems and use covert channels to hide their data theft within normal network traffic.
Cloud Threat Report
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How cyber espionage works: Common tactics and attack vectors
Cyber espionage campaigns follow a methodical, multi-stage process that begins with reconnaissance. Attackers research their targets extensively, identifying key personnel, network architecture, and potential vulnerabilities before launching their attack. This preparation phase can take weeks or months as they map out the most effective entry points.
The initial compromise typically happens through social engineering or technical exploitation. Spear phishing campaigns target specific individuals with carefully crafted emails designed to steal credentials or deploy malware. Attackers might also exploit zero-day vulnerabilities in public-facing applications or use watering hole attacks, where they compromise websites your employees regularly visit.
Once inside your network, attackers focus on establishing persistence. Attackers establish persistence through backdoors, kernel or user-mode implants, fileless PowerShell-based malware, scheduled tasks, Windows services, or by creating cloud IAM roles and API keys that survive even if the initial compromised system is rebuilt. Attack-path analysis helps defenders understand how attackers chain together vulnerabilities: visualizing how a misconfigured S3 bucket plus an over-privileged IAM role and an internet-exposed EC2 instance creates a path to sensitive data helps teams prioritize the one fix that breaks the entire chain.
Lateral movement comes next as attackers navigate through your network to escalate privileges and locate high-value data. They use living-off-the-land techniques, leveraging legitimate system tools and processes to blend in with normal activity. This makes their actions harder to detect since they're not introducing obviously malicious software.
The final stage involves data staging and exfiltration. Attackers collect sensitive information and move it to a central location within your network before transferring it out through encrypted channels. Common exfiltration methods include HTTPS/TLS connections to external command-and-control servers, abuse of legitimate cloud storage services (Dropbox, OneDrive), DNS tunneling, and compressed or encrypted archives that evade data loss prevention inspection.
Primary targets and motivations behind cyber espionage
Government agencies face constant targeting from nation-state actors seeking military plans, diplomatic communications, and classified intelligence. Defense contractors and critical infrastructure operators are equally attractive targets since they hold blueprints for weapons systems, power grids, and communication networks. These campaigns aim to gain geopolitical or military advantage over rival nations.
Corporations in technology, pharmaceuticals, and energy sectors experience frequent attacks targeting their trade secrets and R&D data. Contextual risk prioritization helps focus defenses: rank risks by data sensitivity and blast radius, not just vulnerability severity scores (CVSS). A critical vulnerability on an isolated development server matters less than a medium-severity flaw on an internet-exposed system with direct access to customer databases. Stealing years of research allows competitors to leapfrog innovation without investing in their own development. Financial services firms are targeted for market-moving intelligence (merger plans, earnings data), payment card information, customer personally identifiable information (PII), and network access that enables wire fraud or supply chain compromise of their clients.
Academic institutions and research facilities hold cutting-edge research with both commercial and military applications. Attackers target universities working on advanced materials, artificial intelligence, and biotechnology. The relatively open nature of academic networks often makes them easier targets than corporate or government systems.
The motivations behind these attacks vary but generally fall into three categories. Economic espionage seeks competitive advantage through stolen intellectual property. Political espionage aims to influence foreign policy or gain negotiating leverage. Military espionage focuses on acquiring defense capabilities and strategic intelligence.
Types of cyber espionage operations
Cyber espionage operations take different forms depending on who's behind them and what they're trying to achieve.
Nation-state-sponsored campaigns: The most sophisticated and well-funded operations, typically tied to military intelligence units (such as China's PLA Unit 61398) or civilian intelligence agencies (Russia's SVR, FSB). These organizations pursue long-term strategic objectives aligned with national interests, deploying custom malware frameworks and exploiting zero-day vulnerabilities with teams of skilled hackers and nearly unlimited resources
Corporate espionage: Competitors or hired hackers stealing business intelligence to gain market advantage. While less resourced than state-sponsored attacks, these campaigns can devastate a company's financial health and competitive position by targeting customer lists, pricing strategies, and proprietary manufacturing processes
Hacktivist operations: Driven by ideological or political motives rather than strategic gain. These groups steal and leak sensitive information to expose perceived wrongdoing or protest government and corporate policies, aiming for public embarrassment and disruption rather than quiet intelligence gathering
Insider threats: Current or former employees, contractors, or partners who already have legitimate access to your systems and abuse it to steal sensitive data. They might be motivated by financial gain, revenge, or coercion by external groups
Supply chain espionage: Targets less-secure vendors or partners in your supply chain rather than attacking you directly. By compromising trusted software updates or hardware components, attackers gain access to your network through the back door. Unified scanning and policy enforcement helps prevent you from becoming the weak link: scanning infrastructure-as-code templates, container images, and CI/CD pipelines with one policy engine keeps risky configurations and vulnerable dependencies from reaching production, reducing your supply chain attack surface
What is the threat intelligence lifecycle?
The threat intelligence lifecycle is a continuous, six-phase process that transforms raw data about potential cyber threats into refined, actionable intelligence
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Detection and prevention strategies for cyber espionage
Detection methods
You need multiple detection methods working together to identify espionage activities in your environment.
Code-to-cloud context correlation: Correlating cloud control-plane logs, identity permissions, workload runtime telemetry, and data sensitivity helps distinguish benign anomalies from real espionage activity. For example, a developer accessing a database at 2 AM might be normal if they're on-call and the access aligns with an incident ticket—but the same access without context looks like data theft.
Network traffic analysis: Monitor for unusual data flows, connections to suspicious IP addresses, or data exfiltration through non-standard ports. In cloud environments, prioritize control-plane logging:
Enable AWS CloudTrail for all regions and accounts
Configure Azure Activity Log with diagnostic settings
Activate GCP Cloud Audit Logs
Retain logs for at least 90 days in a separate security account that application teams cannot access
Alert on high-risk API calls like IAM policy changes, security group modifications, or S3 bucket permission grants
These patterns often reveal the covert channels attackers use to steal information.
Endpoint and workload detection: Examine process execution, kernel events, file modifications, Windows registry changes, and container runtime telemetry across servers, endpoints, and cloud workloads to identify malware, privilege escalation, and lateral movement.
User behavior analytics: Establish baselines of normal activity and flag deviations like employees accessing sensitive files at unusual times.
Threat intelligence feeds: Provide up-to-date indicators of compromise associated with known espionage campaigns.
Map detection to MITRE ATT&CK
Map your detection capabilities to the MITRE ATT&CK framework to identify coverage gaps. Cyber espionage campaigns typically employ these tactics:
Reconnaissance (TA0043): Identify targets
Initial Access (TA0001): Spear phishing (T1566) or exploiting public-facing applications (T1190)
Persistence (TA0003): Scheduled tasks (T1053) or account manipulation (T1098)
Defense Evasion (TA0005): Indicator removal (T1070)
Credential Access (TA0006): Dumping credentials (T1003) or stealing from password stores (T1555)
Discovery (TA0007): Map your environment (T1087, T1046)
Lateral Movement (TA0008): Remote services (T1021)
Collection (TA0009): Email (T1114) and files (T1005)
Exfiltration (TA0010): C2 channels (T1041) or alternative protocols (T1048)
Use this mapping to audit whether your security tools generate alerts for each technique.
Prevention strategies
Prevention strategies make it as difficult as possible for attackers to succeed in your environment:
Zero Trust principles: Continuously verify identity, device security posture, and request context for every access attempt; enforce least-privilege access and segment resources by default, treating all networks as untrusted
Network segmentation: Divide your network into isolated segments to contain breaches and limit lateral movement
Data encryption: Protect sensitive data both at rest and in transit so it's unusable even if stolen
Security awareness training: Teach employees to recognize phishing attempts and social engineering tactics
Incident response planning: Maintain a well-defined plan to contain breaches quickly and minimize damage
Identity hygiene: Enforce multi-factor authentication (MFA) on all accounts, especially privileged roles; use phishing-resistant MFA methods like FIDO2 security keys or certificate-based authentication rather than SMS or push notifications; implement just-in-time (JIT) access for administrative privileges; establish break-glass procedures for emergency access; rotate service account credentials quarterly
Least privilege enforcement: Grant users and service accounts only the minimum permissions required for their role; use cloud-native tools like AWS IAM Access Analyzer or Azure AD Access Reviews to identify unused permissions; remove standing administrative access in favor of temporary elevation workflows
インシデント対応とは? SOCのファストトラックガイド
インシデント対応は、サイバー攻撃を検出して対応するための戦略的なアプローチであり、サイバー攻撃がITシステムやビジネス全体に与える影響を最小限に抑えることを目的としています。
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Continuous monitoring and validation
Implement continuous monitoring across cloud control planes (AWS CloudTrail, Azure Activity Log, GCP Cloud Audit Logs), identity systems, workloads, and data flows. Ensure logs are retained centrally for at least 90 days and mapped to detection coverage frameworks like MITRE ATT&CK to identify gaps. Regular security assessments and penetration testing validate your defenses against real-world attack techniques.
Compliance framework alignment
Align your espionage defenses to recognized compliance frameworks:
NIST SP 800-53 and 800-171: Control families for protecting Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) in federal supply chains and contractors
ISO/IEC 27001: Information security management requirements recognized globally
CIS Controls: Prioritized security actions, with Controls 1-6 addressing fundamental hygiene that prevents most espionage attempts
CMMC: For defense contractors, mandates specific practices to protect Federal Contract Information and CUI
Map your controls to these frameworks to demonstrate compliance and identify gaps.
See Wiz in action
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Notable cyber espionage cases and examples
Operation Aurora in 2009 marked a turning point in understanding cyber espionage threats. Chinese state-sponsored actors targeted dozens of major technology companies including Google and Adobe using a zero-day vulnerability in Internet Explorer. The attackers stole source code and monitored Gmail accounts of human rights activists, demonstrating the scale and sophistication possible in these campaigns.
The 2020 SolarWinds Orion compromise was a landmark software supply chain attack in which threat actors trojanized legitimate software updates to deliver the SUNBURST backdoor to approximately 18,000 organizations, enabling broad espionage across government agencies and Fortune 500 companies. This included numerous federal agencies and Fortune 500 companies, enabling widespread espionage across multiple sectors simultaneously.
GhostNet infiltrated government networks in over 100 countries starting in 2009. The attackers used social engineering to deliver malware that gave them complete control over compromised systems. They could turn on webcams and microphones, steal documents, and monitor communications across embassies and foreign ministries worldwide.
COVID-19 vaccine research became a prime target during the pandemic as multiple nation-states attempted to steal data from pharmaceutical companies and research institutions. These campaigns used various tactics from spear phishing to exploiting software vulnerabilities. The attacks aimed to accelerate domestic vaccine development by stealing years of research and clinical trial data.
Developer ecosystem compromises have emerged as a major espionage vector. In 2024, multiple campaigns targeted software supply chains through compromised developer tools, malicious packages in npm and PyPI repositories, and trojanized CI/CD pipelines. Attackers inject malicious code into legitimate open-source projects or create typosquatted packages that developers accidentally install. Once in the development environment, attackers steal source code, API keys, and cloud credentials, then pivot to production infrastructure. These campaigns demonstrate how espionage actors exploit the trust relationships in modern software development.
Cloud Complianceとは何ですか?
クラウド コンプライアンスは、クラウドベースの資産が組織に関連するデータ保護規制、標準、およびフレームワークの要件を確実に満たすために必要な一連の手順、制御、および組織的対策です。
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How Wiz defends against sophisticated espionage campaigns
Wiz provides unified visibility across your entire cloud environment to detect and prevent espionage campaigns before they succeed. The platform's agentless approach scans your infrastructure in minutes without requiring software installation on every system, eliminating blind spots that attackers exploit for initial access.You get instant coverage across multi-cloud environments, then extend into runtime with lightweight sensors where deeper visibility is needed—without the months-long agent rollout that delays traditional security tools.
Wiz Defend correlates cloud control-plane events with runtime telemetry to surface high-fidelity threats like anomalous data access, suspicious process trees, and credential misuse. Lightweight runtime sensors add depth without disrupting performance. When an alert fires, Defend provides an incident timeline and graph-based context showing what resources were accessed, which identities were involved, and how the attacker moved—reducing investigation time from hours to minutes. You get immediate alerts when the platform identifies activities consistent with espionage campaigns.
Additional capabilities that strengthen your defenses against espionage:
Wiz Security Graph: Maps relationships across code repositories, CI/CD pipelines, cloud infrastructure, identities, and runtime workloads to reveal attack paths and prioritize the single fix that will collapse the entire chain
Wiz CIEM: Calculates effective permissions to expose over-privileged identities and toxic combinations that enable privilege escalation or cross-account lateral movement
Wiz DSPM: Discovers and classifies sensitive data across cloud storage and databases, then correlates data sensitivity with access paths, exposure, and identity permissions to highlight your most critical espionage targets
See how Wiz can help you detect and prevent cyber espionage in your cloud environment—get a personalized demo.
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