NetTraveler, APT 21, Hammer Panda
Description
(Kaspersky) Over the last few years, we have been monitoring a cyber-espionage campaign that has successfully compromised more than 350 high profile victims in 40 countries. The main tool used by the threat actors during these attacks is NetTraveler, a malicious program used for covert computer surveillance.
The name NetTraveler comes from an internal string which is present in early versions of the malware: NetTraveler Is Running! This malware is used by APT actors for basic surveillance of their victims. Earliest known samples have a timestamp of 2005, although references exist indicating activity as early as 2004. The largest number of samples we observed were created between 2010 and 2013.
The later group RedAlpha has infrastructure overlap with NetTraveler.
Names
| Name | Name-Giver |
|---|---|
| NetTraveler | Kaspersky |
| APT 21 | Mandiant |
| Hammer Panda | CrowdStrike |
| TEMP.Zhenbao | FireEye |
Country
Motivation
- Information theft and espionage
First Seen
2004
Observed Sectors
- Defense
- Embassies
- Government
- Oil and gas
- Scientific research centers and institutes and Tibetan_Uyghur activists
Observed Countries
- Afghanistan
- Australia
- Austria
- Bangladesh
- Belarus
- Belgium
- Cambodia
- Canada
- Chile
- China
- Germany
- Greece
- Hong Kong
- India
- Indonesia
- Iran
- Japan
- Jordan
- Kazakhstan
- Kyrgyzstan
- Lithuania
- Malaysia
- Mongolia
- Morocco
- Nepal
- Pakistan
- Qatar
- Russia
- Slovenia
- South Korea
- Spain
- Suriname
- Syria
- Tajikistan
- Thailand
- Turkey
- Turkmenistan
- UK
- Ukraine
- USA
- Uzbekistan
Tools
Operations
- 2014-08: NetTraveler Gets a Makeover for 10th Anniversary Most recently, the main focus of interest for cyber-espionage activities revolved around diplomatic (32%), government (19%), private (11%), military (9%), industrial and infrastructure (7%), airspace (6%), research (4%), activism (3%), financial (3%), IT (3%), health (2%) and press (1%). https://www.kaspersky.com/about/press-releases/2014_nettraveler-gets-a-makeover-for-10th-anniversary
- 2015-12: Spear-Phishing Email Targets Diplomat of Uzbekistan Unit 42 recently identified a targeted attack against an individual working for the Foreign Ministry of Uzbekistan in China. A spear-phishing email was sent to a diplomat of the Embassy of Uzbekistan who is likely based in Beijing, China. https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/nettraveler-spear-phishing-email-targets-diplomat-of-uzbekistan/
Information
- https://www.kaspersky.com/about/press-releases/2013_kaspersky-lab-uncovers—operation-nettraveler—a-global-cyberespionage-campaign-targeting-government-affiliated-organizations-and-research-institutes
- https://www.proofpoint.com/us/threat-insight/post/nettraveler-apt-targets-russian-european-interests
Other Information
Uuid
8650e8c5-55a5-4441-8903-0f2bf5753ef1
Last Card Change
2020-04-19