For over a decade, cybersecurity firms have been naming cyberattack groups with codes like Fancy Bear. Google has now simplified its system by giving each group a memorable name and a country indicator: Castle for China, Ion for Iran.

The move is part of an effort to bring clarity in tracking more than 5,000 hacking clusters worldwide. Shane Huntley, CTO of Google Threat Intelligence Group, explains that naming hackers helps organizations recognize threats faster and prepare better responses.

While state-sponsored attackers are easier to track due to their consistent targets, cybercriminal groups and hired hackers are much harder to follow as they have shifting members and customers globally.

Huntley believes a unified coding system will make it easier for everyone involved in cybersecurity. However, he acknowledges that no company can see everything, as each builds its own model based on limited data.