- Category
- State · Attributed to a state or working for one.
- Origin
- India(high confidence)
- Sponsor
- India
- Motivation
- Information theft and espionage
- Seen
- 2012–2026
- Status
- Active
- ATT&CK
- G0121 · 30 techniques
- Sources
- 9 sources carry it
- Identifier
- GINC-APT-0096 · sidewinder
IndiaWhat it is
Sidewinder is a suspected Indian threat actor group that has been active since at least 2012. They have been observed targeting government, military, and business entities throughout Asia, primarily focusing on Pakistan, China, Nepal, and Afghanistan.
Names
The names each vendor, agency and source gives it. Naming differs by who tracks the actor, so one group carries many.
- CrowdStrike
- Razor Tiger
- MITRE ATT&CK
- G0121
- QiAnXin
- APT-Q-39
- Qihoo 360
- APT-C-17, APT-C-24
- Other names
- BabyElephant, GroupA21, Hardcore Nationalist, HN2, Rattlesnake, SideWinder, Rattlesnake, T-APT-04
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
Chinese and Russian sources
- Qihoo 360India
Targets
- Countries
- Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Djibouti, Egypt, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Türkiye, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam
- Sectors
- Defense, Government, Maritime and Shipbuilding, Military, Private Sector
Tools
The tools and malware families the sources tie to it.
- Koadic
- POWERSOURCE
- POWERSTATS
- Power Loader
- PowerDuke
- PowerRAT
- Xploit
Sources
- MITRE ATT&CK attack.mitre.org
- ETDA Threat Group Card apt.etda.or.th
- Malpedia malpedia.caad.fkie.fraunhofer.de
- Qihoo 360 apt.360.net