# Longhorn: threat group profile

> Longhorn is an espionage group thought to operate from United States, with suspected state backing. Public reporting about it is still limited. This free profile brings together what is known about it, so you can judge the risk to you.

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

## At a glance

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Attack techniques | 0 |
| Countries and victims named | 1 |
| Thought to operate from | United States |
| Suspected backing | United States |
| Motive | Espionage |
| Other names | 4 |
| Public reports | 5 |

## Who is Longhorn?

Longhorn is an espionage group thought to operate from United States, with suspected state backing. Public reporting about it is still limited.

### Also known as

Lamberts, the Lamberts, APT-C-39, PLATINUM TERMINAL

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

### What public reporting says

> Longhorn has been active since at least 2011. It has used a range of back door Trojans in addition to zero-day vulnerabilities to compromise its targets. Longhorn has infiltrated governments and internationally operating organizations, in addition to targets in the financial, telecoms, energy, aerospace, information technology, education, and natural resources sectors. All of the organizations targeted would be of interest to a nation-state attacker.  Longhorn has infected 40 targets in at least 16 countries across the Middle East, Europe, Asia, and Africa. On one occasion a computer in the United States was compromised but, following infection, an uninstaller was launched within hours, which may indicate this victim was infected unintentionally. According to cfr, this threat actor compromises governments, international organizations, academic institutions, and financial, telecommunications, energy, aerospace, information technology, and natural resource  industries for espionage purposes. Some of the tools used by this threat actor were released by Wikileaks under the name "Vault 7."

## Who does Longhorn go after?

**Sectors:** Private sector, Government

**Countries and victims named:** Global

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

## Public reports about Longhorn

- https://community.broadcom.com/symantecenterprise/communities/community-home/librarydocuments/viewdocument?DocumentKey=7ca2e331-2209-46a8-9e60-4cb83f9602de&CommunityKey=1ecf5f55-9545-44d6-b0f4-4e4a7f5f5e68&tab=librarydocuments
- https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/longhorn-cyber-espionage-group-is-actually-the-cia/
- https://www.cfr.org/interactive/cyber-operations/longhorn
- http://blogs.360.cn/post/APT-C-39_CIA_EN.html
- https://www.secureworks.com/research/threat-profiles/platinum-terminal

## Frequently asked questions

### Who is Longhorn?

Longhorn is an espionage group thought to operate from United States, with suspected state backing. Public reporting about it is still limited.

### Where is Longhorn thought to be based?

Public reporting places Longhorn as operating from United States, with suspected state backing. Attribution is never certain: it rests on the tools, infrastructure and targets researchers have seen.

### Who does Longhorn target?

In public reporting, sectors named include private sector and government, and 1 countries and victims are named, including Global.

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

Create an account and tell us the software you run. We match it against known flaws, including those linked to threat groups, rank each one from 0 to 100 and tell you as soon as we spot something that affects you.

## Check whether it matters to your business

A free Precursor Intelligence account (no card needed) matches the software you run against known flaws, including those linked to threat groups, ranks each one from 0 to 100 and tells you as soon as we spot something that affects you. It also shows which threat groups and ransomware gangs are hitting your sector, with profiles of over 900 groups and a PDF dossier for each.

- Start free: https://www.precursorintelligence.com/register
- Book a demo: https://www.precursorintelligence.com/contact