Threat actor
Ember Bear
Last fetched
Ember Bear is a threat actor tracked in WhisperGraph's MITRE ATT&CK corpus, observed using 47 techniques and also known as 6 other names.
Also known as
UNC2589, Bleeding Bear, DEV-0586, Cadet Blizzard, Frozenvista, UAC-0056
Description
[Ember Bear](https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G1003) is a Russian state-sponsored cyber espionage group that has been active since at least 2020, linked to Russia's General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) 161st Specialist Training Center (Unit 29155).(Citation: CISA GRU29155 2024) [Ember Bear](https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G1003) has primarily focused operations against Ukrainian government and telecommunication entities, but has also operated against critical infrastructure entities in Europe and the Americas.(Citation: Cadet Blizzard emerges as novel threat actor) [Ember Bear](https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G1003) conducted the [WhisperGate](https://attack.mitre.org/software/S0689) destructive wiper attacks against Ukraine in early 2022.(Citation: CrowdStrike Ember Bear Profile March 2022)(Citation: Mandiant UNC2589 March 2022)(Citation: CISA GRU29155 2024) There is some confusion as to whether [Ember Bear](https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G1003) overlaps with another Russian-linked entity referred to as [Saint Bear](https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G1031). At present available evidence strongly suggests these are distinct activities with different behavioral profiles.(Citation: Cadet Blizzard emerges as novel threat actor)(Citation: Palo Alto Unit 42 OutSteel SaintBot February 2022 )
Techniques by tactic
Attributed infrastructure
None published. WhisperGraph carries no ATTRIBUTED_TO edge to Ember Bear today — this states the absence of a published link, not that Ember Bear has no infrastructure.
References
- https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G1003
- https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/ukraine-targeted-outsteel-saintbot/
- https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/2024-09/aa24-249a-russian-military-cyber-actors-target-us-and-global-critical-infrastructure.pdf
- https://www.crowdstrike.com/blog/who-is-ember-bear/
- https://www.mandiant.com/resources/russia-invasion-ukraine-retaliation
- https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/blog/2023/06/14/cadet-blizzard-emerges-as-a-novel-and-distinct-russian-threat-actor/
© The MITRE Corporation. This work is reproduced and distributed with the permission of The MITRE Corporation.
Related pages
Pivot from Ember Bear 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 25Techniques 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 1000Infrastructure publicly attributed to this actor.
MATCH (n)-[:ATTRIBUTED_TO]->(a:ACTOR {name: $name})
RETURN labels(n)[0] AS kind, n.name AS name
LIMIT 25Or query Whisper from your own LLM workflow via the Whisper MCP server.