It’s in the news almost every week: cyber-attacks on public infrastructures, military installations, government offices, private businesses and more, all attributed to unfriendly nations. As of this writing, the most egregious examples of bad-actor nations are Iran and North Korea, showing that cyber-attacks happen with both hot and cold wars.
• Iran has tightly coordinated cyber operations with its current military actions. Iranian-linked hackers reportedly breached dozens of Israeli security cameras, allowing them to see missile strike impacts and Israeli troop movements in near real time. Iran has also carried out disruptive campaigns such as denial-of-service attacks, phishing operations, and destructive malware. Iran has shown that cyber-attacks and traditional warfare are planned together to support total battle decision-making.
• North Korea, with state-affiliated attackers like the infamous Lazarus Group, have continued to conduct ransomware campaigns against different business and economic sectors, especially healthcare. These operations achieve two state objectives at once: generating revenue for the regime while disrupting critical services. Lazarus has been linked to stealing more than $600M in cryptocurrency from a gaming transaction platform; WannaCry ransomware attacks across 150 countries; and the hack of Sony Pictures (in retaliation for a satirical film about North Korea).
You may not be the primary target—but you could be the entry point. Nation-state attackers are known to exploit trusted vendors, partners, and smaller organizations as pathways into larger environments.
“They move like militaries and are funded like governments because they are governments. Their top objectives are critical infrastructure, defense systems, and sensitive data, not necessarily for money, but for power. And make no mistake, smaller businesses are often exposed in the process, or the entry point. Nation State actors don’t knock. They infiltrate.”
Chuck Smith, Guardian CEO
How Do These Nation States Do It?
• Phishing and social engineering: Employees are tricked into clicking a link, opening a file, or logging onto a fake website. Iran, war or not, continuously engages in large-scale phishing campaigns and malware distribution. Researchers have identified thousands of malicious domains and tools not only designed for surveillance or data theft, but also for destructive attacks meant to erase systems completely.
• Exploiting weaknesses: Recent Lazarus-linked campaigns have focused on ransomware and supply-chain compromises, targeting healthcare (again) and technology firms. These attacks typically combine phishing, malware, and exploitation of software vulnerabilities, like missed updates and patches. More frightening, North Korea is embedding agents, posing as remote IT workers, within foreign companies. These individuals can gain legitimate access to credentials and internal systems, enabling espionage and data theft.
What You Need to Do Right Now
Start here:
• Employ behavioral analytics. This uses machine learning to spot unusual user or system activity patterns that could indicate a breach or insider threat. A simple example: a “normal” employee suddenly begins downloading massive files in the middle of the night.
• Go beyond traditional team training. Serious companies include ongoing gamified training and attack simulations. Employees should be able to spot social engineering and phishing scams immediately.
• Monitor the “Dark Web.” Continuously check whether sensitive company information, such as employee usernames and passwords, has been exposed or sold online.
The Guardian Difference
Cybersecurity isn’t just defense. It’s offense. At Guardian, we operate from the attacker’s perspective, continuously hunting for exposure, identifying gaps, and eliminating the paths threats rely on before they’re used against you.
We actively look for what’s exposed instead of simply waiting on alerts. And we monitor and test continuously to make sure you’re protected. Tools alone aren’t enough. Our experienced team protects your environment and proves that it’s working. So you can make decisions with confidence, not assumptions.