GINC-APT-1031 · State

UNC2814

Also DARK CASTLE.

Category
State · Attributed to a state or working for one.
Origin
China(high confidence)
Sources
3 sources carry it
Identifier
GINC-APT-1031 · unc2814

What it is

UNC2814 is a suspected PRC-nexus cyber espionage group that has targeted telecommunications providers and government entities globally since at least 2017. The group employs the GRIDTIDE backdoor to blend malicious traffic with legitimate cloud API activity and utilizes living-off-the-land techniques, including SSH lateral movement and the creation of malicious systemd services. GTIG has confirmed 53 intrusions across 42 countries and identified suspected activity in at least 20 additional nations, with a focus on exfiltrating sensitive communications data. Google has taken significant disruption actions against UNC2814, including infrastructure takedowns and the release of IOCs to aid in detection.

Names

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

Other names
DARK CASTLE

Attribution

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

Tools

The tools and malware families the sources tie to it.

  • Backdoor.Oldrea
  • CloudDuke
  • CrossRat
  • Cyber Eye RAT
  • CyberGate

Sources

  • Malpedia malpedia.caad.fkie.fraunhofer.de