Threat Actors

aka GamblingPuppet

According to TrendMicro, Earth Berberoka is a threat group originating from China that mainly focuses on targeting gambling websites. This group's campaign uses multiple malware families that target the Windows, Linux, and macOS platforms that have been attributed to Chinese-speaking actors. Aside from using tried-and-tested malware families that have been upgraded, such as PlugX and Gh0st RAT, Earth Berberoka has also developed a brand-new complex, multistage malware family, which has been dubbed PuppetLoader.

GhostRedirector is a China-aligned threat actor that has compromised at least 65 Windows servers across various sectors, primarily in Brazil, Thailand, and Vietnam. It employs a passive C++ backdoor named Rungan and a malicious IIS module called Gamshen to maintain persistent access and manipulate search engine results for SEO fraud. The actor utilizes public exploits like EfsPotato and BadPotato for privilege escalation and abuses code-signing certificates to evade detection. GhostRedirector's operations involve installing remote access tools, creating rogue administrator accounts, and leveraging SQL injection vulnerabilities to execute PowerShell for downloading malicious payloads.

Beginning in January 2018 and persisting through the first half of the year, CrowdStrike Intelligence observed SALTY SPIDER, developer and operator of the long-running Sality botnet, distribute malware designed to target cryptocurrency users.

Funksec is a newly identified extortion group that has claimed 11 victims across various sectors, including media, IT, and education, operating a Tor-based DLS to centralize its ransomware activities. The group advertises a free DDoS tool and may develop its own ransomware binary, indicating significant technical capability. The DLS was likely created in late November to early December 2024, with the first advertisement titled “Funksec Ransomware” posted on 3 December 2024. Currently, there is limited publicly available information on Funksec's TTPs, and it is not known to be associated with any other threat groups.

aka DEV-0832, Vice Society

Vice Society is a ransomware group that has been active since at least June 2021. They primarily target the education and healthcare sectors, but have also been observed targeting the manufacturing industry. The group has used multiple ransomware families and has been known to utilize PowerShell scripts for their attacks. There are similarities between Vice Society and the Rhysida ransomware group, suggesting a potential connection or rebranding.

aka UNC788, CALANQUE

Iranian state-sponsored cyber espionage group tasked with conducting information collection and surveillance operations against individuals and organizations of strategic interest to the Iranian government.

aka CL-STA-0049, Jewelbug

REF7707 is a cyber campaign targeting government entities, particularly a foreign ministry in South America, utilizing malware families such as FinalDraft, GuidLoader, and PathLoader for persistence and lateral movement. The threat actor employs the Microsoft Graph API for C2 communication, blending malicious traffic with legitimate activity to evade detection. Despite their technical sophistication, REF7707 operators exhibited poor operational security, leading to the exposure of their infrastructure and malware. Their tactics enable the extraction of sensitive data, including passwords and Active Directory information, facilitating ongoing espionage activities.

Earth Alux is a China-linked APT group known for conducting cyberespionage attacks across various sectors, including government, technology, and telecommunications. They primarily exploit vulnerable services in exposed servers to gain initial access, implanting web shells like GODZILLA and deploying backdoors such as VARGEIT and COBEACON. The group employs tools like RSBINJECT and MASQLOADER for lateral movement and network discovery, while also utilizing RAILSETTER for persistence through mspaint injection. Their operations have predominantly targeted the APAC region and have extended to Latin America, with a focus on exfiltrating sensitive information to attacker-controlled cloud storage.

aka OperationTroy, Guardian of Peace, GOP +5

Andariel is a threat actor that primarily targets South Korean corporations and institutions. They are believed to collaborate with or operate as a subsidiary organization of the Lazarus threat group. WHOIS utilizes spear phishing attacks, watering hole attacks, and supply chain attacks for initial access. They have been known to exploit vulnerabilities and use malware such as Infostealer and TigerRAT.

aka DEV-0530, H0lyGh0st

H0lyGh0st is a North Korean threat actor that has been active since June 2021. They are responsible for developing and deploying the H0lyGh0st ransomware, which targets small-to-medium businesses in various sectors. The group employs "double extortion" tactics, encrypting data and threatening to publish it if the ransom is not paid. There are connections between H0lyGh0st and the PLUTONIUM APT group, indicating a possible affiliation.

Storm-1175 is a cybercriminal group known for deploying Medusa ransomware and exploiting public-facing applications for initial access. They have been observed exploiting a critical deserialization vulnerability in GoAnywhere MFT, tracked as CVE-2025-10035, which could lead to command injection and potential RCE. Microsoft Defender researchers identified exploitation activity aligned with TTPs attributed to Storm-1175, including the use of post-compromise techniques that involve creating a group named “ESX Admins” in the domain.

aka Velvet Chollima, Black Banshee, Thallium +7

This threat actor targets South Korean think tanks, industry, nuclear power operators, and the Ministry of Unification for espionage purposes.

WhiteCobra is a threat actor that has infiltrated the Visual Studio Code marketplace and Open VSX registry, deploying 24 malicious extensions targeting cryptocurrency development tools, particularly Solidity. The group employs social engineering tactics, manipulates download counts and reviews, and uses fake branding to establish credibility for their extensions, which deliver LummaStealer on Windows and unknown malware on macOS. WhiteCobra has been linked to a $500,000 cryptocurrency theft in July 2025 and maintains detailed playbooks with revenue targets, showcasing their organized and persistent operations. Despite ongoing efforts by security researchers to remove their malicious extensions, WhiteCobra continues to upload new threats weekly, highlighting the sophistication of their TTPs.

Head Mare is a hacktivism focussed threat actor group known for targeting Russia and Belarus sectors using a remote access malware called PhantomRAT. They have been observed executing malicious code through specially crafted RAR archives, different from previous attacks exploiting vulnerabilities. The attribution of their campaign to Ukraine is uncertain due to limited visibility inside Russian networks. PhantomCore's use of RAR archives in their attack chain has been previously observed in other threat actor groups like Forest Blizzard.

UNC6671 is involved in credential harvesting operations, utilizing vishing tactics to impersonate IT staff and directing victims to enter credentials on a victim-branded site. They have gained access to Okta customer accounts and employed PowerShell to download sensitive data from SharePoint and OneDrive. Their extortion tactics include aggressive harassment of victim personnel, and they have used unbranded extortion emails with different Tox IDs for communication. The threat actors have shown a preference for registering domains with Tucows, indicating potential operational differences from related threat groups.

FulcrumSec is a financially motivated data-theft-extortion group known for sophisticated ransomware attacks and double extortion tactics. They have exploited vulnerabilities such as hardcoded credentials and misconfigured cloud permissions to gain access to targets, including Novo Nordisk and Arup Group. Their operations involve extensive dwell time, with claims of spending months analyzing stolen data before contacting victims. FulcrumSec has demonstrated a targeted approach, often demanding ransoms that are strategically calculated based on the victim's financial profile.

UNC5537 is a financially motivated threat actor targeting Snowflake customer databases. They use stolen credentials obtained from infostealer malware to access and exfiltrate large volumes of data. The compromised accounts lack multi-factor authentication, allowing UNC5537 to conduct data theft and extortion.

suspected Russian espionage group.

aka Akira, PUNK SPIDER, GOLD SAHARA

Storm-1567 is the threat actor behind the Ransomware-as-a-Service Akira. They attacked Swedish organizations in March 2023. This ransomware utilizes the ChaCha encryption algorithm, PowerShell, and Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI). Microsoft's Defender for Endpoint successfully blocked a large-scale hacking campaign carried out by Storm-1567, highlighting the effectiveness of their security solution.

aka IceFog, Trident, RedFoxtrot +4

Operate since at least 2011, from several locations in China, with members in Korea and Japan as well. Possibly linked to Onion Dog. This threat actor targets government institutions, military contractors, maritime and shipbuilding groups, telecommunications operators, and others, primarily in Japan and South Korea.

aka Spring Dragon, ST Group, DRAGONFISH +7

Lotus Blossom is a threat group that has targeted government and military organizations in Southeast Asia.

aka Vertigo Panda

UNC6384 (also tracked as Vertigo Panda) is a Chinese-affiliated APT that conducts targeted espionage campaigns primarily against diplomatic entities in Southeast Asia and Europe, specifically Belgium and Hungary. The group exploits the ZDI-CAN-25373 Windows shortcut vulnerability to gain initial code execution via malicious .LNK files, deploying the PlugX RAT through sophisticated delivery mechanisms, including DLL side-loading and adversary-in-the-middle attacks. Their operations involve social engineering tactics, such as spear-phishing emails themed around diplomatic events, to entice victims into executing malicious payloads. UNC6384's use of valid code signing and HTTPS hosting enhances their evasion of detection and increases the likelihood of user interaction.

aka STONE PANDA, Menupass Team, happyyongzi +12

menuPass is a threat group that has been active since at least 2006. Individual members of menuPass are known to have acted in association with the Chinese Ministry of State Security's (MSS) Tianjin State Security Bureau and worked for the Huaying Haitai Science and Technology Development Company.

aka DEEP PANDA, Codoso, WebMasters +12

Adversary group targeting financial, technology, non-profit organisations.

aka BRONZE PRESIDENT, HoneyMyte, Red Lich +9

This threat actor targets nongovernmental organizations using Mongolian-themed lures for espionage purposes. In April 2017, CrowdStrike Falcon Intelligence observed a previously unattributed actor group with a Chinese nexus targeting a U.S.-based think tank. Further analysis revealed a wider campaign with unique tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs). This adversary targets non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in general, but uses Mongolian language decoys and themes, suggesting this actor has a specific focus on gathering intelligence on Mongolia. These campaigns involve the use of shared malware like Poison Ivy or PlugX. Recently, Falcon Intelligence observed new activity from MUSTANG PANDA, using a unique infection chain to target likely Mongolia-based victims. This newly observed activity uses a series of redirections and fileless, malicious implementations of legitimate tools to gain access to the targeted systems. Additionally, MUSTANG PANDA actors reused previously-observed legitimate domains to host files.

aka Labubu

Bearlyfy has been attributed to over 70 cyber attacks targeting Russian companies since its emergence in January 2025, employing a custom Windows ransomware strain known as GenieLocker. The group operates with dual objectives of extortion and sabotage, utilizing a modified version of PolyVice and leveraging vulnerabilities in external services and applications for initial access. Analysis reveals overlaps with PhantomCore, indicating a pro-Ukrainian interest, while Bearlyfy's attacks are characterized by minimal preparation and a focus on immediate impact through data encryption and destruction. Approximately 20% of victims reportedly pay the ransom, with demands escalating to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

aka Red Dev 18, Earth Bluecrow

Since 2021, Red Menshen, a China based threat actor, which has been observed targeting telecommunications providers across the Middle East and Asia, as well as entities in the government, education, and logistics sectors using a custom backdoor referred as BPFDoor. This threat actor uses a variety of tools in its post-exploitation phase. This includes custom variants of the shared tool Mangzamel (including Golang variants), custom variants of Gh0st, and open source tools like Mimikatz and Metasploit to aid in its lateral movement across Windows systems. Also, They have been seen sending commands to BPFDoor victims via Virtual Privat Servers (VPSs) hosted at a well-known provider, and that these VPSs, in turn, are administered via compromised routers based in Taiwan, which the threat actor uses as VPN tunnels. Most Red Menshen activity that has been observed took place between Monday to Friday (with none observed on the weekends), with most communication taking place between 01:00 and 10:00 UTC.131 This pattern suggests a consistent 8 to 9-hour activity window for the threat actor, with realistic probability of it aligning to local working hours.

UNC5342 is a North Korea-linked APT that employs the EtherHiding technique to deliver malware and facilitate cryptocurrency theft. The actor has been observed deploying EtherRAT and JADESNOW malware, utilizing transaction history as a Dead Drop Resolver to embed payloads directly into the calldata of blockchain transactions. Their operations involve leveraging centralized API services to interact with public blockchains like Ethereum and BNB Smart Chain. The malware is designed to exfiltrate sensitive data, particularly targeting cryptocurrency wallets and credentials.

aka Sapphire Sleet

Open-source reporting has claimed that the Hermes ransomware was developed by the North Korean group STARDUST CHOLLIMA (activities of which have been public reported as part of the “Lazarus Group”), because Hermes was executed on a host during the SWIFT compromise of FEIB in October 2017.

aka MASAN, CryptoCore

CryptoCore is a North Korean APT known for targeting cryptocurrency exchanges and financial institutions, employing spear-phishing techniques that lead to LONEJOGGER malware infections. The group has leveraged social engineering tactics, including deepfake technology and hijacked YouTube accounts, to execute sophisticated giveaway scams that deceive victims into sending cryptocurrencies. Their operations have involved the misuse of platforms like Gemini for reconnaissance and the development of fraudulent content. Additionally, CryptoCore has been linked to a variety of campaigns, including Dangerous Password and SnatchCrypto, focusing on financial gain through cryptocurrency theft.