Threat actor
Inception Framework
Last fetched
Inception Framework is a threat actor tracked in WhisperGraph's MITRE ATT&CK corpus, observed using 22 techniques and also known as 6 other names.
Also known as
Clean Ursa, Cloud Atlas, OXYGEN, G0100, ATK116, Blue Odin
Description
This threat actor uses spear-phishing techniques to target private-sector energy, defense, aerospace, research, and media organizations and embassies in Africa, Europe, and the Middle East, for the purpose of espionage.
Techniques by tactic
Attributed infrastructure
None published. WhisperGraph carries no ATTRIBUTED_TO edge to Inception Framework today — this states the absence of a published link, not that Inception Framework has no infrastructure.
References
- https://www.cfr.org/interactive/cyber-operations/inception-framework
- https://web.archive.org/web/20160710180729/https://www.bluecoat.com/security-blog/2014-12-09/blue-coat-exposes-%E2%80%9C-inception-framework%E2%80%9D-very-sophisticated-layered-malware
- https://paper.seebug.org/papers/APT/APT_CyberCriminal_Campagin/2015/Inception_APT_Analysis_Bluecoat.pdf
- https://logrhythm.com/blog/catching-the-inception-framework-phishing-attack
- https://paper.seebug.org/papers/APT/APT_CyberCriminal_Campagin/2014/bcs_wp_InceptionReport_EN_v12914.pdf
- https://securelist.com/the-red-october-campaign/57647
- https://securelist.com/red-october-diplomatic-cyber-attacks-investigation/36740
- https://securelist.com/red-october-part-two-the-modules/57645
- https://securelist.com/cloud-atlas-redoctober-apt-is-back-in-style/68083
- https://securelist.com/an-undocumented-word-feature-abused-by-attackers/81899
- https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/unit42-inception-attackers-target-europe-year-old-office-vulnerability
- https://securelist.com/recent-cloud-atlas-activity/92016
- https://www.symantec.com/blogs/threat-intelligence/inception-framework-hiding-behind-proxies
- https://www.akamai.com/uk/en/multimedia/documents/white-paper/upnproxy-blackhat-proxies-via-nat-injections-white-paper.pdf
- https://www.pwc.co.uk/cyber-security/pdf/pwc-cyber-threats-2020-a-year-in-retrospect.pdf
- https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/issues/cybersecurity/cyber-threat-intelligence/cyber-year-in-retrospect/yir-cyber-threats-annex-download.pdf
- https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/issues/cybersecurity/cyber-threat-intelligence/cyber-year-in-retrospect/yir-cyber-threats-report-download.pdf
- https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/atoms/clean-ursa
- https://www.cfr.org/interactive/cyber-operations/cloud-atlas
- https://www.cfr.org/cyber-operations/red-october
- https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G0100
© The MITRE Corporation. This work is reproduced and distributed with the permission of The MITRE Corporation.
Related pages
Pivot from Inception Framework 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.