# Sandworm: threat group profile

> Sandworm is an espionage group thought to operate from Russia, 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. It lists the other names the group goes by and links to every public report behind it.

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

## At a glance

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Attack techniques | 0 |
| Countries and victims named | 11 |
| Thought to operate from | Russia |
| Suspected backing | Russia |
| Motive | Espionage |
| Other names | 14 |
| Public reports | 24 |

## Who is Sandworm?

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

### Also known as

Quedagh, VOODOO BEAR, TEMP.Noble, IRON VIKING, G0034, ELECTRUM, TeleBots, IRIDIUM, Blue Echidna, FROZENBARENTS, UAC-0113, Seashell Blizzard, UAC-0082, APT44

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

### What public reporting says

> This threat actor targets industrial control systems, using a tool called Black Energy, associated with electricity and power generation for espionage, denial of service, and data destruction purposes. Some believe that the threat actor is linked to the 2015 compromise of the Ukrainian electrical grid and a distributed denial of service prior to the Russian invasion of Georgia. Believed to be responsible for the 2008 DDoS attacks in Georgia and the 2015 Ukraine power grid outage

## Who does Sandworm go after?

**Sectors:** Private sector, Government

**Countries and victims named:** Russia, Lithuania, Kyrgyzstan, Israel, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Poland, Azerbaijan, Iran

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

## Public reports about Sandworm

- https://dragos.com/blog/crashoverride/CrashOverride-01.pdf
- https://www.us-cert.gov/ncas/alerts/TA17-163A
- https://ics.sans.org/blog/2016/01/09/confirmation-of-a-coordinated-attack-on-the-ukrainian-power-grid
- https://web.archive.org/web/20141016132823/https://www.symantec.com/connect/blogs/sandworm-windows-zero-day-vulnerability-being-actively-exploited-targeted-attacks
- https://ics.sans.org/blog/2015/12/30/current-reporting-on-the-cyber-attack-in-ukraine-resulting-in-power-outage
- https://web.archive.org/web/20141224060545/http://blog.trendmicro.com/trendlabs-security-intelligence/timeline-of-sandworm-attacks/
- https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G0034
- https://blog.google/threat-analysis-group/continued-cyber-activity-in-eastern-europe-observed-by-tag
- https://www.welivesecurity.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Win32_Industroyer.pdf
- https://dragos.com/media/2017-Review-Industrial-Control-System-Threats.pdf
- https://dragos.com/adversaries.html
- http://www.welivesecurity.com/2016/12/13/rise-telebots-analyzing-disruptive-killdisk-attacks
- https://www.welivesecurity.com/2017/01/05/killdisk-now-targeting-linux-demands-250k-ransom-cant-decrypt
- https://www.welivesecurity.com/2017/06/30/telebots-back-supply-chain-attacks-against-ukraine
- https://www.welivesecurity.com/2017/05/23/xdata-ransomware-making-rounds-amid-global-wannacryptor-scare
- https://www.welivesecurity.com/2017/06/27/new-ransomware-attack-hits-ukraine
- https://www.welivesecurity.com/2017/10/24/bad-rabbit-not-petya-back
- https://blog.google/threat-analysis-group/fog-of-war-how-the-ukraine-conflict-transformed-the-cyber-threat-landscape/
- https://www.recordedfuture.com/russia-nexus-uac-0113-emulating-telecommunication-providers-in-ukraine
- https://cert.gov.ua/article/405538
- https://cip.gov.ua/services/cm/api/attachment/download?id=60068
- https://packetstormsecurity.com/news/view/35790/Recent-OT-And-Espionage-Attacks-Linked-To-Russias-Sandworm-Now-Named-APT44.html
- https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/threat-intelligence/apt44-unearthing-sandworm?linkId=9627235
- https://services.google.com/fh/files/misc/apt44-unearthing-sandworm.pdf

## Frequently asked questions

### Who is Sandworm?

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

### Where is Sandworm thought to be based?

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

### Who does Sandworm target?

In public reporting, sectors named include private sector and government, and 11 countries and victims are named, including Russia, Lithuania, Kyrgyzstan and Israel.

### How do I know if Sandworm 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.

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