Ask HN: Why isn't the NSA categorized as an APT?

4•TheOpenSourcer•16h ago

Israel Unit-8200 is an APT Iran has like 4 APT's under its army Why isn't the NSA categorized as an APT?

APT definition: APTs are state-run, organized, and stealthy. The NSA fits this definition.

Can someone explain this? Is it only politics?

Comments

mhb•15h ago

WTF is an APT?

AnimalMuppet•15h ago

Advanced Persistent Threat. It's a cyber security term.

sloaken•10h ago

Thanks. Well that answers the question. Opponents are threats, your tools to counter are not.

As in: Your gun is a threat to me, my gun is how I defend against YOUR gun.

cochinescu•15h ago

It's probably more about convention and terminology. Security researchers tend to label foreign actors as APTs partly for tracking and reporting purposes. With domestic agencies, especially US ones, there's either reluctance or it's treated as a given.

KomoD•15h ago

Sure they are. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equation_Group

tim-tday•14h ago

Remember the Snowden leaks? They are.

rl1987•12h ago

Because it's not wrong when "we" (i.e. those naming who counts as APT) are doing it.

sloaken•10h ago

It is perspective. From the Iranian stance, NSA is an APT and theirs is not. Likewise the UK version, Russian versions etc.

Them / Us.

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Comments

Anyone know how long it will take to re-start Qatar's helium plants?

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Are AI Agents like von Hammerstein's industrious and stupid?

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Ask HN: Why isn't the NSA categorized as an APT?

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Ask HN: Is operational memory a missing layer in AI agent architecture?

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European municipalities leak citizen data to US companies

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