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ProjectSauron threat group

ProjectSauron is an espionage group thought to operate from United States, with suspected state backing. Public reporting links it to attacks on government and military organisations, with 6 countries and victims named. This free profile brings together what is known about it, so you can judge the risk to you.

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Attack techniques
0
Countries and victims named
6
Thought to operate from
United States
Suspected backing
United States
Motive
Espionage
Other names
4
Built from public reporting, with every source listed below.
Overview

Who is ProjectSauron?

ProjectSauron has 4 other names in security research. Below is what published reporting says about it, with a link to every report so you can check the detail yourself.

Also known as

StriderSauronProject SauronG0041

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

What public reporting says

ProjectSauron is the name for a top level modular cyber-espionage platform, designed to enable and manage long-term campaigns through stealthy survival mechanisms coupled with multiple exfiltration methods. Technical details show how attackers learned from other extremely advanced actors in order to avoid repeating their mistakes. As such, all artifacts are customized per given target, reducing their value as indicators of compromise for any other victim. Usually APT campaigns have a geographical nexus, aimed at extracting information within a specific region or from a given industry. That usually results in several infections in countries within that region, or in the targeted industry around the world. Interestingly, ProjectSauron seems to be dedicated to just a couple of countries, focused on collecting high value intelligence by compromising almost all key entities it could possibly reach within the target area. The name, ProjectSauron reflects the fact that the code authors refer to ‘Sauron’ in the Lua scripts.

Public reports about ProjectSauron (5)

Targets

Who does ProjectSauron go after?

The sectors and places named in public reporting about this group. If yours is on the list, it is worth knowing how they work and which flaws they use.

Sectors (2)

GovernmentMilitary
See threats by industry →

Countries and victims named (6)

  1. 01Russia
  2. 02Iran
  3. 03Belgium
  4. 04China
  5. 05Sweden
  6. 06Rwanda
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FAQ

Questions about ProjectSauron

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ProjectSauron is an espionage group thought to operate from United States, with suspected state backing. Public reporting links it to attacks on government and military organisations, with 6 countries and victims named.

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

In public reporting, sectors named include government and military, and 6 countries and victims are named, including Russia, Iran, Belgium and China.

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