Cyberespionage skills go beyond technical ability

Cyberespionage perpetrators will need not only technical skills but also a good psychological understanding of how to manipulate their intended targets within an organization as people are always the weakest security link.

Joseph Steinberg, CEO of security firm Green Armor, said having a technical knowledge of writing malware is just one of the many skills needed by hackers to conduct cyberespionage. This is because an attacker may write the best malware but it is worthless if he cannot deploy the program on to the targeted network, he said.

So an understanding of human psychology is necessary as an attacker must know how to "deceive people". This deception involves simulating disgruntled employees to talk about vulnerabilities in the corporate network, for instance, or conducting social engineering that is targeted at specific user behavior, Steinberg explained.