At the turn of the century, a widespread series of attacks on government sites was discovered by the U.S. government. The attacks, codenamed Moonlight Maze, had been going on undetected for nearly two years, penetrating systems at the Pentagon, NASA and U.S. Department of Energy, as well as universities and research labs involved in military research. Some experts point to these attacks as perhaps the first major example of an APT, although the term was not in common use at that time.
The attacks stole tens of thousands of files, including maps of military installations, troop configurations and military hardware designs, resulting in damage amounting to many millions of dollars. The attacks were traced back to a mainframe computer in the former Soviet Union, although the Russian government denied any involvement. It is possible that the stolen information might have been sold to the highest bidder.