# APT41: threat group profile

> APT41 is a threat group thought to operate from China, with suspected backing from the People's Republic of China. Public reporting links it to 80 attack techniques, and to attacks on automotive, business and services organisations, with 16 countries and victims named. This free profile shows how it works and who it targets, so you can judge the risk to you.

Canonical page: https://www.precursorintelligence.com/threat-actors/apt41
Breadcrumb: [Home](https://www.precursorintelligence.com/) > [Threat groups](https://www.precursorintelligence.com/threat-actors) > APT41

## At a glance

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Attack techniques | 80 (plus 62 sub-techniques) |
| Countries and victims named | 16 |
| Thought to operate from | China |
| Suspected backing | People's Republic of China |
| Other names | 19 |
| Public reports | 32 |

## Who is APT41?

APT41 is a threat group thought to operate from China, with suspected backing from the People's Republic of China. Public reporting links it to 80 attack techniques, and to attacks on automotive, business and services organisations, with 16 countries and victims named.

### Also known as

G0096, TA415, Blackfly, Grayfly, LEAD, BARIUM, WICKED SPIDER, WICKED PANDA, BRONZE ATLAS, BRONZE EXPORT, Red Kelpie, G0044, Earth Baku, Amoeba, HOODOO, Brass Typhoon, Winnti, Double Dragon, TG-2633

Security companies each give the same group their own name, so one group can have many.

### What public reporting says

> APT41 is a prolific cyber threat group that carries out Chinese state-sponsored espionage activity in addition to financially motivated activity potentially outside of state control.

## How does APT41 attack? Stage by stage

Each technique is a known way attackers research, get in, stay hidden or do damage. Here are the 80 linked to APT41. Some techniques belong to more than one stage. Public reporting also lists 62 more specific variations of them, called sub-techniques.

### 1. Research (4)

- T1593: Search Open Websites/Domains
- T1594: Search Victim-Owned Websites
- T1595: Active Scanning
- T1596: Search Open Technical Databases

### 2. Preparation (3)

- T1583: Acquire Infrastructure
- T1586: Compromise Accounts
- T1588: Obtain Capabilities

### 3. Getting in (5)

- T1078: Valid Accounts
- T1133: External Remote Services
- T1190: Exploit Public-Facing Application
- T1195: Supply Chain Compromise
- T1566: Phishing

### 4. Running code (7)

- T1047: Windows Management Instrumentation
- T1053: Scheduled Task/Job
- T1059: Command and Scripting Interpreter
- T1197: BITS Jobs
- T1203: Exploitation for Client Execution
- T1569: System Services
- T1574: Hijack Execution Flow

### 5. Staying in (13)

- T1037: Boot or Logon Initialization Scripts
- T1053: Scheduled Task/Job
- T1078: Valid Accounts
- T1098: Account Manipulation
- T1112: Modify Registry
- T1133: External Remote Services
- T1136: Create Account
- T1197: BITS Jobs
- T1505: Server Software Component
- T1542: Pre-OS Boot
- T1543: Create or Modify System Process
- T1546: Event Triggered Execution
- T1547: Boot or Logon Autostart Execution

### 6. Taking control (10)

- T1037: Boot or Logon Initialization Scripts
- T1053: Scheduled Task/Job
- T1055: Process Injection
- T1078: Valid Accounts
- T1098: Account Manipulation
- T1134: Access Token Manipulation
- T1484: Domain or Tenant Policy Modification
- T1543: Create or Modify System Process
- T1546: Event Triggered Execution
- T1547: Boot or Logon Autostart Execution

### 7. Hiding (14)

- T1014: Rootkit
- T1027: Obfuscated Files or Information
- T1036: Masquerading
- T1055: Process Injection
- T1070: Indicator Removal
- T1078: Valid Accounts
- T1134: Access Token Manipulation
- T1140: Deobfuscate/Decode Files or Information
- T1197: BITS Jobs
- T1218: System Binary Proxy Execution
- T1480: Execution Guardrails
- T1542: Pre-OS Boot
- T1574: Hijack Execution Flow
- T1684: Social Engineering

### 8. Disabling defences (5)

- T1112: Modify Registry
- T1484: Domain or Tenant Policy Modification
- T1553: Subvert Trust Controls
- T1599: Network Boundary Bridging
- T1685: Disable or Modify Tools

### 9. Stealing passwords (4)

- T1003: OS Credential Dumping
- T1056: Input Capture
- T1110: Brute Force
- T1555: Credentials from Password Stores

### 10. Looking around (11)

- T1012: Query Registry
- T1016: System Network Configuration Discovery
- T1018: Remote System Discovery
- T1033: System Owner/User Discovery
- T1046: Network Service Discovery
- T1049: System Network Connections Discovery
- T1069: Permission Groups Discovery
- T1082: System Information Discovery
- T1083: File and Directory Discovery
- T1087: Account Discovery
- T1135: Network Share Discovery

### 11. Spreading (3)

- T1021: Remote Services
- T1550: Use Alternate Authentication Material
- T1570: Lateral Tool Transfer

### 12. Gathering data (6)

- T1005: Data from Local System
- T1056: Input Capture
- T1074: Data Staged
- T1119: Automated Collection
- T1213: Data from Information Repositories
- T1560: Archive Collected Data

### 13. Keeping contact (9)

- T1001: Data Obfuscation
- T1008: Fallback Channels
- T1071: Application Layer Protocol
- T1090: Proxy
- T1102: Web Service
- T1104: Multi-Stage Channels
- T1105: Ingress Tool Transfer
- T1568: Dynamic Resolution
- T1573: Encrypted Channel

### 14. Taking data out (4)

- T1030: Data Transfer Size Limits
- T1041: Exfiltration Over C2 Channel
- T1048: Exfiltration Over Alternative Protocol
- T1567: Exfiltration Over Web Service

### 15. Causing damage (2)

- T1486: Data Encrypted for Impact
- T1496: Resource Hijacking

## Who does APT41 go after?

**Sectors:** Automotive, Business, Services, Cryptocurrency, Education, Energy, Financial, Healthcare, High-Tech, Intergovernmental, Media and Entertainment, Pharmaceuticals, Private sector, Retail, Telecommunications, Travel

**Countries and victims named:** China, France, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Japan, Myanmar, Netherlands, Singapore, South Korea, South Africa, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States

See threats by industry: https://www.precursorintelligence.com/industries

## Public reports about APT41

- https://securelist.com/winnti-faq-more-than-just-a-game/57585/
- https://securelist.com/winnti-more-than-just-a-game/37029/
- http://williamshowalter.com/a-universal-windows-bootkit/
- https://www.microsoft.com/security/blog/2017/01/25/detecting-threat-actors-in-recent-german-industrial-attacks-with-windows-defender-atp/
- https://securelist.com/games-are-over/70991/
- https://medium.com/chronicle-blog/winnti-more-than-just-windows-and-gates-e4f03436031a
- https://www.dw.com/en/thyssenkrupp-victim-of-cyber-attack/a-36695341
- https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/teamviewer-confirms-undisclosed-breach-from-2016/
- https://blog.trendmicro.com/trendlabs-security-intelligence/winnti-abuses-github/
- https://www.dw.com/en/bayer-points-finger-at-wicked-panda-in-cyberattack/a-48196004
- https://www.welivesecurity.com/2019/03/11/gaming-industry-scope-attackers-asia/
- https://401trg.com/burning-umbrella/
- https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G0044/
- https://www.crowdstrike.com/blog/meet-crowdstrikes-adversary-of-the-month-for-july-wicked-spider/
- https://www.secureworks.com/research/threat-profiles/bronze-atlas
- https://www.secureworks.com/research/threat-profiles/bronze-export
- https://www.pwc.co.uk/cyber-security/assets/cyber-threats-2019-retrospect.pdf
- https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/seven-international-cyber-defendants-including-apt41-actors-charged-connection-computer
- https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/7210602/FLASH-AC-000133-TT-Published.pdf
- https://www.cfr.org/cyber-operations/winnti-umbrella
- https://www.fireeye.com/blog/threat-research/2019/08/apt41-dual-espionage-and-cyber-crime-operation.html
- https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/apt41-using-new-speculoos-backdoor-to-target-organizations-globally/
- https://www.mandiant.com/resources/report-apt41-double-dragon-a-dual-espionage-and-cyber-crime-operation
- https://www.cfr.org/cyber-operations/apt-41
- https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G0096
- https://www.uscc.gov/sites/default/files/2022-02/Adam_Kozy_Testimony.pdf
- https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/issues/cybersecurity/cyber-threat-intelligence/cyber-year-in-retrospect/yir-cyber-threats-report-download.pdf
- https://www.pwc.co.uk/cyber-security/pdf/pwc-cyber-threats-2020-a-year-in-retrospect.pdf
- https://www.fireeye.com/content/dam/fireeye-www/summit/cds-2019/presentations/cds19-executive-s08-achievement-unlocked.pdf
- https://www.welivesecurity.com/2021/03/10/exchange-servers-under-siege-10-apt-groups/
- https://services.google.com/fh/files/blogs/gcat_threathorizons_full_apr2023.pdf
- https://www.trendmicro.com/en_us/research/24/d/earth-freybug.html

## Frequently asked questions

### Who is APT41?

APT41 is a threat group thought to operate from China, with suspected backing from the People's Republic of China. Public reporting links it to 80 attack techniques, and to attacks on automotive, business and services organisations, with 16 countries and victims named.

### Where is APT41 thought to be based?

Public reporting places APT41 as operating from China, with suspected backing from the People's Republic of China. Attribution is never certain: it rests on the tools, infrastructure and targets researchers have seen.

### Who does APT41 target?

In public reporting, sectors named include automotive, business, services, cryptocurrency and education, and 16 countries and victims are named, including China, France, Hong Kong and India.

### How does APT41 attack?

Public reporting links APT41 to 80 attack techniques. Most of them are about hiding, staying in and looking around.

### How do I know if APT41 is a risk to my business?

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