Ke3chang

Threat Actor Profile Updated 3 months ago
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Ke3chang, also known as APT15, Mirage, Vixen Panda GREF, and Playful Dragon, is a prominent threat actor that has been active since at least 2010. According to the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA), this group has consistently targeted energy, government, and military sectors. Ke3chang is linked to various arms of China’s People’s Liberation Army or government, along with other groups such as APT27, APT30, APT31, GALLIUM, and Mustang Panda. Notably, between March 2022 and early 2023, Ke3chang targeted a government finance department in the Americas. Ke3chang's activities have evolved over time, with recent developments including the creation of Graphican's backdoor, an evolution of its signature Ketrican malware. This toolset, while associated with APT15 by Symantec, is linked to Ke3chang by Sekoia.io analysts and ESET, indicating a possible overlap in the operations of these threat actors. Other threat actors have also demonstrated similar patterns of targeting financial institutions and organizations financing infrastructure projects, such as Tropic Trooper targeting Taiwanese financial institutions, Witchetty targeting an African stock exchange, and Gallium targeting an organization financing urban infrastructure development projects in Nepal. The group's tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) have been closely studied and emulated in real-world testing scenarios, underscoring their sophistication and effectiveness. For example, SE Labs replicated the TTPs of Ke3chang, among others, in their testing. Moreover, researchers at Eset attributed campaigns to a threat group tracked as Gref, which overlaps with activity also ascribed to groups including APT15, Vixen Panda, and Ke3chang. In another instance, the Chinese state-sponsored operation Flea, also known as APT15 and Ke3chang, leveraged a novel Graphican backdoor in attacks against foreign affairs ministries across the Americas between late 2022 and early 2023.
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Possible Aliases / Cluster overlaps
It's hard to track cluster overlaps and naming conventions between vendors, so here are some possible overlapping names / profiles you also may want to look at.
IDVotesProfile Description
APT15
2
APT15, also known as Vixen Panda, Nickel, Flea, KE3CHANG, Royal APT, and Playful Dragon, is a threat actor group suspected to be of Chinese origin. The group targets global sectors including trade, economic and financial, energy, and military, aligning with the interests of the Chinese government. I
GREF
1
GREF, a China-aligned Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) group, has been identified as the orchestrator of two active Android malware campaigns. The campaigns have been distributing a malicious software called BadBazaar via two applications, Signal Plus Messenger and FlyGram, through the Google Play s
Playful Dragon
1
Playful Dragon, also known as APT15, Ke3chang, Mirage, Vixen Panda, GREF, Flea, Nickel, and Royal APT, is a notable threat actor in the cybersecurity sphere. This group has been identified by cybersecurity professionals as being behind numerous malicious activities with a history of targeting govern
Apt25
1
APT25, also known as Uncool, Vixen Panda, Ke3chang, Sushi Roll, and Tor, is a threat actor suspected to be attributed to China. This group has targeted sectors such as defense industrial base, media, financial services, and transportation in the U.S. and Europe. They are associated with several type
Vixen Panda Gref
1
None
Vixen Panda
1
Vixen Panda, also known as APT15, Flea, KE3CHANG, Nickel, Playful Dragon, Royal APT, and BackdoorDiplomacy, among other names, is a significant threat actor believed to be sponsored by the Chinese government. The group has been operational since at least 2004, targeting government entities, diplomat
Flea
1
Flea, also known as APT15 or Nickel, is a China-linked threat actor primarily targeting foreign affairs ministries in Central and South American countries. The group's latest campaign utilizes a novel backdoor named "Graphican," which is an evolution of their custom backdoor Ketrican. This new backd
Miscellaneous Associations
Other elements of context that could aid in the identification of relevance
Apt
State Sponso...
Crowdstrike
Eset
Espionage
Linux
Malware
Government
Enisa
Chinese
Fireeye
Backdoor
Associated Malware
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IDTypeVotesProfile Description
KetricanUnspecified
2
Ketrican is a type of malware, or malicious software, that was developed to exploit and damage computer systems. It's associated with the Ke3chang group and is known for its ability to infiltrate systems through suspicious downloads, emails, or websites. Once inside a system, Ketrican can steal pers
graphicanUnspecified
1
Graphican is a novel malware developed by the Chinese threat actor group known as Flea, APT15, or Nickel. The malware, an evolution of the group's custom backdoor Ketrican, has been used in a series of cyber-attacks against foreign affairs ministries across Central and South America between late 202
EmissaryUnspecified
1
Emissary is a malicious software (malware) known for its damaging and exploitative characteristics. The malware operates as a Trojan, named Emissary, that infiltrates systems through suspicious downloads, emails, or websites without the user's knowledge. Once inside a system, it can disrupt operatio
OkrumUnspecified
1
Okrum is a malware that belongs to the Ke3chang Group's arsenal of malicious tools. It is a sophisticated program designed to infiltrate computer systems and carry out harmful activities. Okrum has been identified as an evolution of the Flea backdoor named Ketrican, combining features from both Ketr
TaurusUnspecified
1
Taurus is a malicious software (malware) that has been associated with multiple cyber threat actors, notably Stately Taurus, Iron Taurus, and Starchy Taurus, all of which have connections to Chinese Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs). The malware is designed to infiltrate systems and steal personal
Associated Threat Actors
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IDTypeVotesProfile Description
Mustang PandaUnspecified
4
Mustang Panda, also known as Bronze President, Nomad Panda, Naikon, Earth Preta, and Stately Taurus, is a Chinese-aligned threat actor that has been associated with widespread attacks against various countries in the Asia-Pacific region. The group's malicious activities were first traced back to Mar
APT31Unspecified
2
APT31, also known as Zirconium, is a threat actor group believed to be sponsored by the Chinese government. This group has been implicated in various cyber espionage activities across the globe. One of their notable exploits includes the cloning and use of an Equation Group exploit, EpMe (CVE-2017-0
GALLIUMUnspecified
2
Gallium, also known as Alloy Taurus, is a China-aligned threat actor known for executing actions with malicious intent in the cyber domain. In recent years, Gallium has been associated with various significant cyber-espionage campaigns. The group targeted telecommunication entities in the Middle Eas
APT27Unspecified
2
APT27, also known as Iron Taurus, is a Chinese threat actor group that primarily engages in cyber operations with the goal of intellectual property theft. The group targets multiple organizations worldwide, including those in North and South America, Europe, and the Middle East. APT27 utilizes vario
APT30Unspecified
2
APT30, a threat actor suspected to be attributed to China, has been active since at least 2005. This group primarily targets members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). APT30 is notable for its sustained activity over an extended period and its ability to adapt and modify source c
TurlaUnspecified
1
Turla, also known as Pensive Ursa, is a sophisticated threat actor linked to Russia that has been active for many years. The group is known for its advanced cyber-espionage capabilities and has been associated with numerous high-profile breaches. According to the MITRE ATT&CK and MITRE Ingenuity dat
Venomous BearUnspecified
1
Venomous Bear, also known as Turla, Urobouros, Snake, and other names, is a threat actor group attributed to Center 16 of the Federal Security Service (FSB) of the Russian Federation. The group has been active since at least 2004, targeting diplomatic and government organizations, as well as private
Tropic TrooperUnspecified
1
Tropic Trooper, a threat actor with suspected ties to China, has been identified as a significant cybersecurity concern. Their activities date back to at least 2013, when Trend Micro noted similarities in the encoding algorithms used by Tropic Trooper's malware and the KeyBoy versions from that year
APT41Unspecified
1
APT41, also known as Winnti, Wicked Panda, and Wicked Spider, is a sophisticated threat actor attributed to China. This group has been active since at least 2012, targeting organizations across 14 countries. The group is known for its extensive use of various code families and tools, with at least 4
Sword2033Unspecified
1
Sword2033 is a new and previously undocumented backdoor tool used by the China-linked threat actor known as Alloy Taurus. This group, also referred to as GALLIUM or Softcell, has been actively targeting Linux systems with a variant of the PingPull backdoor, while also deploying Sword2033 in their op
GhostnetUnspecified
1
GhostNet, a threat actor identified as a significant cybersecurity concern, was uncovered in 2009 as a cyber espionage operation that infiltrated computers across 103 countries. The operation demonstrated the vulnerability of government agencies and embassies worldwide to targeted cyber attacks. In
Associated Vulnerabilities
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IDTypeVotesProfile Description
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Source Document References
Information about the Ke3chang Threat Actor was read from the documents corpus below. This display is limited to 20 results, create a free account to see more
SourceCreatedAtTitle
MITRE
a year ago
APT15 is Alive and Strong: An Analysis of RoyalCli and RoyalDNS
CERT-EU
10 months ago
Multiple Chinese APTs are attacking European targets, EU cyber agency warns | #ukscams | #datingscams | #european | #datingscams | #love | #relationships | #scams | #pof | #match.com | #dating | National Cyber Security Consulting
CERT-EU
10 months ago
My Tea's not cold : an overview of China's cyber threat – Global Security Mag Online
BankInfoSecurity
a year ago
Chinese APT Uses Fake Messenger Apps to Spy on Android Users
CrowdStrike
a year ago
CrowdStrike Scores 100% in SE Labs 2023 Q2 EAS Test | CrowdStrike
CERT-EU
a year ago
Stay informed with threat reports
CERT-EU
a year ago
Novel Graphican backdoor leveraged in Chinese APT attacks against foreign ministries
CERT-EU
a year ago
Flea APT’s latest campaign targets foreign affairs ministries with new Graphican backdoor
MITRE
a year ago
Operation “Ke3chang”: Targeted attacks against ministries of foreign affairs | Mandiant
Unit42
a year ago
Chinese Playful Taurus Activity in Iran
CERT-EU
a year ago
EU Organizations Warned of Chinese APT Attacks
Securityaffairs
a year ago
ENISA and CERT-EU warns Chinese APTs targeting EU organizations
CERT-EU
a year ago
Europa vermehrt im Visier chinesischer und russischer Ausspähversuche | ZDNet.de
DARKReading
a year ago
ESET APT Report: Attacks by China-, North Korea-, and Iran-aligned Threat Actors; Russia Eyes Ukraine and the EU
ESET
a year ago
ESET APT Activity Report Q4 2022­–Q1 2023 | WeLiveSecurity