Threat actor
APT40
Last fetched
APT40 is a threat actor tracked in WhisperGraph's MITRE ATT&CK corpus, observed using 50 techniques and also known as 15 other names.
Also known as
TEMP.Periscope, TEMP.Jumper, Leviathan, BRONZE MOHAWK, GADOLINIUM, KRYPTONITE PANDA, G0065, ATK29, TA423, Red Ladon, ITG09, MUDCARP, ISLANDDREAMS, Gingham Typhoon, ISLAND CASTLE
Description
Leviathan is an espionage actor targeting organizations and high-value targets in defense and government. Active since at least 2014, this actor has long-standing interest in maritime industries, naval defense contractors, and associated research institutions in the United States and Western Europe.
Techniques by tactic
Attributed infrastructure
None published. WhisperGraph carries no ATTRIBUTED_TO edge to APT40 today — this states the absence of a published link, not that APT40 has no infrastructure.
References
- https://www.proofpoint.com/us/threat-insight/post/leviathan-espionage-actor-spearphishes-maritime-and-defense-targets
- https://www.fireeye.com/blog/threat-research/2018/03/suspected-chinese-espionage-group-targeting-maritime-and-engineering-industries.html
- https://www.cfr.org/interactive/cyber-operations/apt-40
- https://www.fireeye.com/blog/threat-research/2019/03/apt40-examining-a-china-nexus-espionage-actor.html
- https://www.recordedfuture.com/chinese-threat-actor-tempperiscope/
- https://www.fireeye.com/blog/threat-research/2018/07/chinese-espionage-group-targets-cambodia-ahead-of-elections.html
- https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G0065/
- https://www.crowdstrike.com/resources/reports/2019-crowdstrike-global-threat-report/
- https://go.crowdstrike.com/rs/281-OBQ-266/images/Report2020CrowdStrikeGlobalThreatReport.pdf
- https://intrusiontruth.wordpress.com/2020/01/09/what-is-the-hainan-xiandun-technology-development-company
- https://intrusiontruth.wordpress.com/2020/01/10/who-is-mr-gu
- https://intrusiontruth.wordpress.com/2020/01/13/who-else-works-for-this-cover-company-network
- https://intrusiontruth.wordpress.com/2020/01/14/who-is-mr-ding
- https://intrusiontruth.wordpress.com/2020/01/15/hainan-xiandun-technology-company-is-apt40
- https://www.secureworks.com/research/threat-profiles/bronze-mohawk
- https://www.mycert.org.my/portal/advisory?id=MA-774.022020
- https://www.elastic.co/blog/advanced-techniques-used-in-malaysian-focused-apt-campaign
- https://www.microsoft.com/security/blog/2020/09/24/gadolinium-detecting-empires-cloud/
- https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/four-chinese-nationals-working-ministry-state-security-charged-global-computer-intrusion
- https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1412916/download
- https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1412921/download
- https://us-cert.cisa.gov/ncas/alerts/aa21-200a
- https://us-cert.cisa.gov/ncas/alerts/aa21-200b
- https://www.canada.ca/en/global-affairs/news/2021/07/statement-on-chinas-cyber-campaigns.html
- https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/news/uk-allies-hold-chinese-state-responsible-for-pervasive-pattern-of-hacking
- https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-and-allies-hold-chinese-state-responsible-for-a-pervasive-pattern-of-hacking
- https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/447239/government-points-finger-at-china-over-cyber-attacks
- https://www.foreignminister.gov.au/minister/marise-payne/media-release/australia-joins-international-partners-attribution-malicious-cyber-activity-china
- https://www.mofa.go.jp/press/danwa/press6e_000312.html
- https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2021/07/19/declaration-by-the-high-representative-on-behalf-of-the-eu-urging-china-to-take-action-against-malicious-cyber-activities-undertaken-from-its-territory
- https://www.mandiant.com/resources/insights/apt-groups
- https://query.prod.cms.rt.microsoft.com/cms/api/am/binary/RWMFIi
- https://decoded.avast.io/threatintel/outbreak-of-follina-in-australia
- https://www.proofpoint.com/us/blog/threat-insight/chasing-currents-espionage-south-china-sea
- https://www.accenture.com/_acnmedia/pdf-96/accenture-security-mudcarp.pdf
- https://blog.google/threat-analysis-group/government-backed-actors-exploiting-winrar-vulnerability/
- https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/threat-intelligence/updated-cyber-threat-actor-naming-system/
© The MITRE Corporation. This work is reproduced and distributed with the permission of The MITRE Corporation.
Related pages
Pivot from APT40 into its techniques, tactics and any attributed infrastructure.
Queries
Resolves the slug to this actor, merging every duplicate node sharing the same name.
MATCH (a:ACTOR)
WHERE a.name =~ $pattern OR any(x IN a.aliases WHERE x =~ $pattern)
RETURN a.id AS id, a.name AS name, a.aliases AS aliases, a.description AS description,
a.references AS references, a.campaigns AS campaigns
LIMIT 25Run yourself →Techniques this actor uses, grouped by the tactic each one serves.
MATCH (a:ACTOR {name: $name})-[:USES_TECHNIQUE]->(t:ATTACK_PATTERN)
OPTIONAL MATCH (t)-[:USES_TACTIC]->(tac:ATTACK_PATTERN)
RETURN t.id AS techniqueId, t.name AS techniqueName, tac.id AS tacticId, tac.name AS tacticName
LIMIT 1000Run yourself →Infrastructure publicly attributed to this actor.
MATCH (n)-[:ATTRIBUTED_TO]->(a:ACTOR {name: $name})
RETURN labels(n)[0] AS kind, n.name AS name
LIMIT 25Run yourself →Or query Whisper from your own LLM workflow via the Whisper MCP server.