Gamaredon, also known as Primitive Bear, UNC530, ACTINIUM, or Aqua Blizzard1 (by Microsoft) is a Russian advanced persistent threat that has been active since at least 2013.23
Motivation
Cyber espionage appears to be the main goal of the group,;2 unlike most APTs, Gamaredon broadly targets all users all over the globe (in addition to also focusing on certain victims, especially Ukrainian organizations4) and appears to provide services for other APTs.3 For example, the InvisiMole threat group has attacked select systems that Gamaredon had earlier compromised and fingerprinted.4
Tactics
The group frequently uses spear phishing techniques with malicious code attachments that download remote templates containing malware.2
Malware used by the group includes Pterodo, PowerPunch, ObfuMerry, ObfuBerry, DilongTrash, DinoTrain, and DesertDown.2
Ukraine
On 19 January 2022, they attempted to compromise a Western government entity in Ukraine.2
References
References
- "How Microsoft names threat actors". Microsoft. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
- Kyle Alspach (4 February 2022). "Microsoft discloses new details on Russian hacker group Gamaredon". VentureBeat. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
- Warren Mercer; Vitor Ventura (23 February 2021). "Gamaredon - When nation states don't pay all the bills". Cisco. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
- Charlie Osborne (21 March 2022). "Ukraine warns of InvisiMole attacks tied to state-sponsored Russian hackers". ZDNet. Retrieved 9 May 2022.