What is cyber espionage?

29th October 2025

Modern spy craft is less guns and disguises, more keyboards and malware.

Spies, in the traditional sense, are people who infiltrate another place – be it business or government – to obtain information not otherwise publicly available. While these spies still operate, much of this type of espionage has moved to the digital space, as key data is stored digitally.

In cyber espionage, the goal is the same: get privileged details from another party. This may be to further a political agenda, for an economic advantage, to strategically disrupt processes or to assist in other kinds of warfare.

So, what methods do cyber criminals (as well as cyber experts employed by governments) use to get the information they want?

·         Phishing: emails designed to trick users into giving away credentials or to install malware. Spear phishing is a dangerous variant, designed to target and trick one person in particular.

·         Malware: there are multiple types, but spyware is the most useful in espionage – activity is monitored, keystrokes are logged, and data is extracted, all while remaining undetected.

·         Insider threats: people from within an organisation might give information away to another if given an incentive, be it bribery or blackmail.

To defend against cyber espionage, the advice is the same as always: resilience and awareness are vital. The latest defensive technology and staff training are the best methods of keeping attacks away.

The most important thing, for espionage more than anything else, is zero trust. Ultimately, you can’t trust that you aren’t being infiltrated by competitors or other countries, so you can’t afford anything to get by you by mistake. Many of the methods listed are almost impossible to track once they are in your systems, so preventing access initially is key.

If you’d like to learn more about cyber espionage or you think you might be a target, please talk to Interfuture Security – we can help you stay one step ahead!

YouTube: https://youtu.be/OqpyewpMWjs