GINC-APT-0029 · State

Lazarus Group

Also Citrine Sleet, Covellite, Diamond Sleet, Jade Sleet, Operation Sharpshooter, Sapphire Sleet and 82 other names.

Category
State · Attributed to a state or working for one.
Origin
North Korea(high confidence)
Sponsor
State-sponsored, Bureau/Unit 211
Agency named
Lazarus, RGB, Reconnaissance General Bureau
Motivation
Espionage; Financial crime; Information theft and espionage; Sabotage; Sabotage and destruction
Seen
2007–2026
Status
Active
ATT&CK
G0032 · 94 techniques
Sources
12 sources carry it
Identifier
GINC-APT-0029 · lazarus-group

What it is

Lazarus Group is a North Korean state-sponsored cyber threat group attributed to the Reconnaissance General Bureau (RGB). Lazarus Group has been active since at least 2009 and is reportedly responsible for the November 2014 destructive wiper attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment, identified by Novetta as part of Operation Blockbuster. Malware used by Lazarus Group correlates to other reported campaigns, including Operation Flame, Operation 1Mission, Operation Troy, DarkSeoul, and Ten Days of Rain.

North Korea’s cyber operations have shown a consistent pattern of adaptation, forming and reorganizing units as national priorities shift. These units frequently share personnel, infrastructure, malware, and tradecraft, making it difficult to attribute specific operations with high confidence. Public reporting often uses “Lazarus Group” as an umbrella term for multiple North Korean cyber operators conducting espionage, destructive attacks, and financially motivated campaigns.

Names

The names each vendor, agency and source gives it. Naming differs by who tracks the actor, so one group carries many.

CrowdStrike
Genie Spider, Labyrinth Chollima, Lazarus Group, Hidden Cobra, Labyrinth Chollima, STARDUST CHOLLIMA
IBM X-Force
ITG03
Mandiant
UNC1069, UNC2970, APT 38, APT38, UNC4034, UNC4736, UNC4899, UNC577
Microsoft
Citrine Sleet, Diamond Sleet, Jade Sleet, Sapphire Sleet, DEV-0139, DEV-1222, Moonstone Sleet, Storm-0139, Storm-0954, Storm-1222
MITRE ATT&CK
G0032
NSHC
SectorA01
Proofpoint
TA404
Qihoo 360
APT-C-26
Secureworks
CTG-2460, NICKEL ACADEMY, NICKEL GLADSTONE
Talos and others
Group 77
Thales
ATK117, ATK3
Operations
Operation Sharpshooter, Operation AppleJeus, Operation DarkSeoul, Operation GhostSecret, Operation Troy, Operation “99”, Operation “AppleJeus sequel”, Operation “AppleJeus”, Operation “Blockbuster”: Breach of Sony Pictures Entertainment, Operation “CryptoCore”, Operation “Dream Job”, Operation “Dream Magic”, Operation “Flame”, Operation “GhostSecret”, Operation “In(ter)caption”, Operation “LolZarus”, Operation “Marstech Mayhem”, Operation “No Pineapple!”, Operation “North Star”, Operation “Phantom Circuit”, Operation “Sharpshooter”, Operation “SyncHole”, Operation “Ten Days of Rain” / ”DarkSeoul”, Operation “Troy”
Other names
Covellite, TraderTraitor, Alluring Pisces, Andariel, Appleworm, ATK 3, BeagleBoyz, Black Artemis, BlueNoroff, Bureau 121, CageyChameleon, COPERNICIUM, CryptoCore, Dark Seoul, Gleaming Pisces, Gods Apostles, Gods Disciples, Guardians of Peace, Hastati Group, HIDDEN COBRA, Lazarus, Lazarus - APT-C-26, MASAN, MIDNIGHT NEPTUNE, NewRomanic Cyber Army Team, Pukchong, Slow Pisces, Subgroup: Bluenoroff, Unit 121, Whois Hacking Team, ZINC

Attribution

Each attribution is a claim: who makes it, and to whom. Western and Eastern sources are kept apart, as they often disagree.

Western sources

Targets

Countries
Australia, Bangladesh, Bangladesh Bank, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea, Ecuador, France, Germany, Guatemala, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Sony Pictures Entertainment, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States, Vietnam
Sectors
Aerospace, Cryptocurrency, Defense, Energy, Engineering, Entertainment, Financial, Government, Healthcare, Media, Private sector, Shipping and Logistics, Technology

Tools

The tools and malware families the sources tie to it.

  • AppleJeus
  • Archelaus Beta
  • AuditCred
  • BADCALL
  • BLINDINGCAN
  • Backdoor.Oldrea
  • Bankshot
  • Cryptoistic
  • Dacls
  • Dtrack
  • ECCENTRICBANDWAGON
  • FALLCHILL
  • GeminiDuke
  • HARDRAIN
  • HOPLIGHT
  • HotCroissant
  • KEYMARBLE
  • MagicRAT
  • Nuclear RAT
  • Proxysvc
  • RATANKBA
  • RawDisk
  • Remote Utilities
  • RemoteCMD
  • RemotePC
  • Responder
  • SharpBot
  • SharpEye
  • TAINTEDSCRIBE
  • TYPEFRAME
  • ThreatNeedle
  • Trojan.Karagany
  • Trojan.Mebromi
  • Volgmer
  • WannaCry
  • Whois Wiper
  • Wiper
  • Xploit
  • netsh
  • route

Sources