What are the most sophisticated programs used by cybercriminals?

Some of the most complex cybercriminal programs include those used for targeted attacks and cyberweapons, said Sergey Lozhkin, a leading cybersecurity expert at Kaspersky Lab, in an interview with Gazeta.Ru.

"A targeted attack, typically carried out by APT groups (Advanced Persistent Threat), is a prolonged and highly sophisticated attack. The choice of target here is never random: it’s either large businesses, government organizations handling classified information, military organizations, and so on," explained Lozhkin.

Specialized software is developed for these attacks, with the goal of bypassing cyber defense systems. Such programs aim to infiltrate, embed themselves within a system, and operate undetected. These programs are extremely difficult to detect and may stay hidden within a victim’s computer networks for days, months, or even years.

"But there are even more complex programs, known as cyberweapons. Cyberweapons are designed to penetrate critical infrastructure and cause its destruction. For example, they could infiltrate a critical system of an industrial plant, nuclear facility, or space technology operation and disable equipment," said the specialist.

According to Lozhkin, the most famous case of cyberweapon use was Stuxnet, a malicious computer worm.

"It was discovered in 2010, although it was likely developed around 2005. This malware infiltrated the infrastructure of an Iranian uranium enrichment facility. It connected to the industrial centrifuges, seized control, and issued commands to operate them at increased speeds. These centrifuges began spinning too fast and eventually broke down, causing additional damage to the surrounding facilities. This was done to disrupt Iran’s nuclear program," the specialist noted.