Upsynergy

UPSynergy is a software vulnerability, a flaw in design or implementation that was exploited by the Advanced Persistent Threat group APT3. This group created their own version of EternalSynergy, after acquiring the Equation Group's EternalRomance exploit. The inception of UPSynergy marks a significant event in the world of cyber security, as it demonstrated the capability of threat actors to modify and repurpose existing exploits for their own objectives. The first known use of UPSynergy occurred when APT3 deployed it against targeted systems. The unique aspect of this case was that it was widely believed among our group of security researchers, as well as those at Symantec, that the Chinese exploit was reconstructed from captured network traffic. This indicates a high level of sophistication and skill on the part of the attackers, who were able to reverse-engineer a powerful tool using only indirect information. The revelation of UPSynergy's existence and its deployment by APT3 became a topic of significant discussion on February 12, 2020, during an episode of CPRadio titled "UPSynergy: Chinese-American Spy vs. Spy". The event highlighted the ongoing cyber espionage activities between China and America, and underscored the need for robust cyber defense strategies to protect against such advanced threats.