How to protect yourself from cyber espionage

In recent months, the Dutch government has made an unusual first. First, they caved main government IT systems had experienced a long-lasting, multi-year cyber breach which may have led to the theft of various state secrets. Secondly, they publicly accused Chinese state-sponsored hackers of the breach.

Cyber ​​espionage is common

Espionage, the stealing of state secrets and intelligence, has been standard practice for most countries since the dawn of civilization. But in the internet age, the The process of stealing information has become easier and more widespread than ever before.

China is known for its cyber armythousands of highly skilled hackers, backed by massive levels of funding. This army routinely infiltrates foreign networks for conduct espionage missions or disruptive attacks.

What happened in the Netherlands

According to the Dutch government, several Remote Access Trojans (RATs) were discovered lurking in their networks. RATs are used to it compromise a target network and remain in place undetected months or years. By activating the RAT remotely, hackers can gain access to the compromised systems at will to steal data or disrupt business operations – usually completely unnoticed.

The Dutch government is concerned that Chinese hackers have stolen very sensitive intellectual property from semiconductor manufacturers in this case. This information may contain important trade secrets about the design of computer chips.

How can I protect myself against computer espionage?

In most cases Home computer users don’t have to worry about becoming victims to state-sponsored hacking by the Chinese. Unfortunately, many of the techniques used by cyber armies are exactly the same as those used by regular, profit-oriented hackers. So it is wise to protect yourself.

The most important thing is the using a modern anti-malware tool such as Panda Dome. In addition to scanning for known viruses and ransomware, Panda keeps a close eye on Dome monitors every process and activity happening on your device. Suspicious activity is automatically blocked as soon as it is detected. This proactive approach ensures that you can detect and remove potential viruses before they become widely known.

A good anti-malware tool also offers a solution ‘heuristic scanning’. These tools analyze the code for each application and detect and block potentially malicious payloads before they can be executed.

Taking a proactive approach to malware scanning and blocking is absolutely essential. The RATs were not detected in the Dutch government networks because they were ‘unknown’. With heuristic scanning and anti-exploit technology, the suspicious activity enabled by a RAT would be detected – and blocked – before any data is stolen.

If you would like to learn more about Panda Dome and how it can protect you from cyber espionage, here you go download a free trial version Today.