Threat Intelligence Directory

Threat actor tracked by Malpedia.

[Malteiro](https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G1026) is a financially motivated criminal group that is likely based in Brazil and has been active since at least November 2019. The group operates and distributes the [Mispadu](https://attack.mitre.org/software/S1122) banking trojan via a Malware-as-a-Service (MaaS) business model. [Malteiro](https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G1026) mainly targets victims throughout Latin America (particularly Mexico) and Europe (particularly Spain and Portugal).(Citation: SCILabs Malteiro 2021)

Malsmoke primarily targets Japanese users through malvertising campaigns that deliver Zloader malware, often leveraging adult content lures and geographic IP information. The group has transitioned from exploit kits, such as Fallout, to social engineering tactics, including fake Java updates, while maintaining a focus on high-traffic adult websites. Their operations are characterized by the use of DGA for C2 server domains and the distribution of payloads via a custom loader, previously relying on Smoke Loader. Connections to past campaigns are evident through similarities in malware masquerading as Java plugins and shared registrar information among domains.

Crowdstrike tarcks the operators behind the Qbot as MALLARD SPIDER

MalKamak is an Iranian threat actor that has been operating since at least 2018. They have been involved in highly targeted cyber espionage campaigns against global aerospace and telecommunications companies. MalKamak utilizes a sophisticated remote access Trojan called ShellClient, which evades antivirus tools and uses cloud services like Dropbox for command and control.

Threat actor tracked by Malpedia.

Earliest activity back to November 2008. An established group of cyber attackers based in Iran, who carried on several campaigns in 2013, including a series of attacks targeting political dissidents and those supporting Iranian political opposition.

Kaspersky Lab and Seculert worked together to sinkhole the Madi Command & Control (C&C) servers to monitor the campaign. Kaspersky Lab and Seculert identified more than 800 victims located in Iran, Israel and select countries across the globe connecting to the C&Cs over the past eight months. Statistics from the sinkhole revealed that the victims were primarily business people working on Iranian and Israeli critical infrastructure projects, Israeli financial institutions, Middle Eastern engineering students, and various government agencies communicating in the Middle East. Common applications and websites that were spied on include accounts on Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail, ICQ, Skype, Google+, and Facebook. Surveillance is also performed over integrated ERP/CRM systems, business contracts, and financial management systems.

Lyceum is an Iranian APT group that has been active since at least 2014. They primarily target Middle Eastern governments and organizations in the energy and telecommunications sectors. Lyceum is known for using cyber espionage techniques and has been linked to other Iranian threat groups such as APT34. They have developed and deployed malware families like Shark and Milan, and have been observed using DNS tunneling and HTTPfor command and control communication.

Luoxk is a malware campaign targeting web servers throughout Asia, Europe and North America.

Luna Moth conducts high-tempo callback phishing campaigns targeting legal and financial organizations in the U.S., using social engineering to lure victims into calling fake helpdesk numbers. Attackers impersonate IT staff to install legitimate RMM tools, enabling direct access to victim systems for data exfiltration. The group demands ransoms between $1 million and $8 million, threatening to leak stolen data if payments are not made. Their operations reflect a shift from traditional ransomware tactics to data breach extortion, leveraging trusted systems to evade detection.

According to CrowdStrike, this actor is using BokBok/IcedID, potentially buying distribution through Emotet infections. On March 17, 2019, CrowdStrike Intelligence observed the use of a new BokBot (developed and operated by LUNAR SPIDER) proxy module in conjunction with TrickBot (developed and operated by WIZARD SPIDER), which may provide WIZARD SPIDER with additional tools to steal sensitive information and conduct fraudulent wire transfers. This activity also provides further evidence to support the existence of a flourishing relationship between these two actors. Lunar Spider is reportedly associated withGrim Spider and Wizard Spider.

LulzSec Black is a hacktivist group that has claimed responsibility for coordinated DDoS attacks against Cyprus' government and critical infrastructure in response to the country's support for Israel. They have also announced cyberattacks targeting the UAE, including breaches of a government website and Alfa Electronics, asserting these actions are in support of Palestine. The group has indicated intentions for further attacks and has not provided independently verifiable evidence of their claims. Their operations reflect a focus on disrupting services and compromising data as part of their political agenda.

LongNosedGoblin is a China-aligned APT group targeting governmental entities in Southeast Asia and Japan for cyberespionage. The group employs Group Policy for malware deployment and utilizes cloud services like Microsoft OneDrive and Google Drive as C&C servers. Their operations feature a modular malware ecosystem, including backdoors, browser data stealers, and PowerShell-based downloaders that execute multi-stage payloads in memory. LongNosedGoblin's tactics emphasize reconnaissance-driven targeting and the abuse of trusted enterprise mechanisms, allowing for stealthy persistence within compromised networks.

Longhorn has been active since at least 2011. It has used a range of back door Trojans in addition to zero-day vulnerabilities to compromise its targets. Longhorn has infiltrated governments and internationally operating organizations, in addition to targets in the financial, telecoms, energy, aerospace, information technology, education, and natural resources sectors. All of the organizations targeted would be of interest to a nation-state attacker. Longhorn has infected 40 targets in at least 16 countries across the Middle East, Europe, Asia, and Africa. On one occasion a computer in the United States was compromised but, following infection, an uninstaller was launched within hours, which may indicate this victim was infected unintentionally. According to cfr, this threat actor compromises governments, international organizations, academic institutions, and financial, telecommunications, energy, aerospace, information technology, and natural resource industries for espionage purposes. Some of the tools used by this threat actor were released by Wikileaks under the name "Vault 7."

LofyGang has been found to be linked to more than 200 malicious packages, with thousands of installations throughout 2022. The group, believed to have been operating for more than a year, has multiple hacking objectives, including stealing credit card information and stealing user accounts including Discord Inc. premium accounts, streaming services accounts such as Disney+ and Minecraft accounts.

Linkc is a newly emerged ransomware group that operates an onion-based data leak site and has claimed one victim, a U.S.-based AI and cloud service provider, H2O.ai, which was attacked on January 29, 2025. The group demanded a ransom of $15 million for data decryption and removal, showcasing access to sensitive information, including GPT model source code and customer data. Linkc's DLS is well-constructed and quick to load, indicating potential for future victim listings. However, there is currently no public acknowledgment from the victim, and the group has not engaged in discussions on cybercrime forums.

LIMINAL PANDA is a China-nexus APT that targets telecommunications entities, employing custom malware and publicly available tools for covert access, C2, and data exfiltration. The adversary demonstrates extensive knowledge of telecom networks, utilizing GSM protocols to retrieve mobile subscriber information and call metadata. LIMINAL PANDA exploits trust relationships and security gaps between providers to access core infrastructure, indicating a focus on SIGINT collection rather than financial gain. Their intrusion activity has primarily affected telecom providers in southern Asia and Africa, with potential for broader targeting based on network configurations.

Lilac Typhoon is a threat actor attributed to China. They have been identified as exploiting the Atlassian Confluence RCE vulnerability CVE-2022-26134, which allows for remote code execution. This vulnerability has been used in cryptojacking campaigns and is included in commercial exploit frameworks. Lilac Typhoon has also been involved in deploying various payloads such as Cobalt Strike, web shells, botnets, coin miners, and ransomware.

LilacSquid is an APT actor targeting a variety of industries worldwide since at least 2021. They use tactics such as exploiting vulnerabilities and compromised RDP credentials to gain access to victim organizations. Their post-compromise activities involve deploying MeshAgent and a customized version of QuasarRAT known as PurpleInk to maintain control over infected systems. LilacSquid has been observed using tools like Secure Socket Funneling for data exfiltration.

UNC1945 is an APT group that has been targeting telecommunications companies globally. They use Linux-based implants to maintain long-term access in compromised networks. UNC1945 has demonstrated advanced technical abilities, utilizing various tools and techniques to evade detection and move laterally through networks. They have also been observed targeting other industries, such as financial and professional consulting, and have been linked to other threat actors, including MustangPanada and RedDelta.

Rostelecom's security team has discovered a new APT group that is breaching companies via industrial PLCs. Named Lifting Zmiy, the group's first attacks were traced back to October 2023. The group targeted PLCs from Russian company Tech-Automatics usually used with elevators and which were still using their default passwords. Rostelecom has linked the group to intrusions at a Russian government contractor, two telecom operators, and an IT company. The company says the group collected and exfiltrated data and then destroyed the victim's infrastructure. Rostelecom says Lifting Zmiy uses Starlink infrastructure for attacks and appears to operate out of Eastern Europe.

Libyan Scorpions is a malware operation in use since September 2015 and operated by a politically motivated group whose main objective is intelligence gathering, spying on influentials and political figures and operate an espionage campaign within Libya.

[Lazarus Group](https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G0032) is a North Korean state-sponsored cyber threat group attributed to the Reconnaissance General Bureau (RGB). (Citation: US-CERT HIDDEN COBRA June 2017) (Citation: Treasury North Korean Cyber Groups September 2019) [Lazarus Group](https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G0032) 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](https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G0032) correlates to other reported campaigns, including Operation Flame, Operation 1Mission, Operation Troy, DarkSeoul, and Ten Days of Rain.(Citation: Novetta Blockbuster) 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.(Citation: Mandiant DPRK Laz Org Breakdown 2022)(Citation: Mandiant DPRK Groups 2023)(Citation: JPCert Blog Laz Subgroups 2025)

Larva‑25012 is a threat actor known for deploying Proxyware, utilizing malware disguised as a Notepad++ installer. The actor injects Proxyware into the Windows Explorer process and employs Python-based loaders to evade detection. They distribute Proxyware installers primarily through advertisements on websites offering free YouTube video downloads and fake sites for cracked software. Larva‑25012 has been active since at least 2024, distributing multiple types of Proxyware, including DigitalPulse, Honeygain, and Infatica.

The Larva-24010 threat actor is distributing malware through the website of a Korean VPN service provider. As a result, when a user downloads and runs the installer from the VPN website, malware can be installed on the system. Since at least 2023, the Larva-24010 threat actor has been targeting Korean VPN users to spread malware, ultimately installing various backdoors such as MeshAgent, gs-netcat, and NKNShell. Through this, the attacker can control infected systems where the VPN is installed and steal sensitive information stored on those systems.

Larva-24005 is a threat actor that breaches servers in Korea to establish a web server and PHP environment for phishing attacks, primarily targeting individuals involved with North Korea and university professors researching the regime. They exploit the BlueKeep vulnerability for initial access and utilize RDPWrap and a custom keylogger post-compromise. Phishing emails are crafted to appear as legitimate communications, often containing malicious URLs or compressed files. The actor has been observed storing phishing pages in the IIS_USER account and XAMPP home folder, although traces of these pages were later deleted.

LARVA-208 is a financially motivated threat actor employing sophisticated phishing campaigns to harvest credentials and deploy ransomware. The actor uses multiple tactics, including Open URL Redirection, fake login pages, and social engineering, to bypass MFA and gain access to corporate networks. LARVA-208 has compromised over 618 organizations since June 2024, often deploying ransomware payloads. The threat actor is linked to LARVA-148, a threat actor managing domain acquisitions and attacks.

Lancefly targets government, aviation, and telecom organizations in South and Southeast Asia. They use a custom backdoor named Merdoor, developed since 2018, and employ various tactics to gain access, including phishing emails, SSH credential brute-forcing, and exploiting server vulnerabilities. Additionally, Lancefly has been observed using a newer version of the ZXShell rootkit and tools like PlugX and ShadowPad RAT, which are typically associated with Chinese-speaking APT groups.

LabHost is a threat actor group targeting Canadian Banks with Phishing-as-a-Service attacks. They have been observed using tools like LabRat and LabSend for real-time campaign management and SMS lures. LabHost's phishing campaigns have similarities to Frappo campaigns, but they operate separately and offer different subscription packages.

KromSec is a hacktivist group that claims to be composed of hackers, activists, writers, and journalists. The group has been involved in a number of high-profile cyberattacks, including a cyber offensive against Iran in September 2022 and the sale of the database of the Iran Ministry of Industries and Mines on a hacker forum in November 2023. KromSec's attacks have been met with mixed reactions, but the group has quickly made a name for itself as a significant threat to governments and organizations around the world.

CrowdStrike identified a cryptojacking campaign targeting vulnerable Docker and Kubernetes infrastructure. Called “Kiss-a-dog,” the campaign targets Docker and Kubernetes infrastructure using an obscure domain from the payload, container escape attempt and anonymized “dog” mining pools.

A group targeting various countries using Denial of Services attacked.

The threat group behind EnemyBot, Keksec, is well-resourced and has the ability to update and add new capabilities to its arsenal of malware on a daily basis (see below for more detail on Keksec)

KAX17 is a sophisticated threat actor that has been active since at least 2017. They have operated hundreds of malicious servers within the Tor network, primarily as entry and middle points. Their main objective appears to be collecting information on Tor users and mapping their routes within the network. Despite efforts to remove their servers, KAX17 has shown resilience and continues to operate.

The Kasablanka group is a cyber-criminal organization that has specifically targeted Russia between September and December 2022, using various payloads delivered through phishing emails containing socially engineered lnk files, zip packages, and executables attached to virtual disk image files.

Karkadann is a threat actor that has been active since at least October 2020, targeting government bodies and news outlets in the Middle East. They have been involved in watering hole attacks, compromising high-profile websites to inject malicious JavaScript code. The group has been linked to another commercial spyware company called Candiru, suggesting they may utilize multiple spyware technologies. There are similarities in the infrastructure and tactics used by Karkadann in their campaigns.

JuiceLedger is a threat actor known for infostealing through their JuiceStealer .NET assembly. They have evolved from spreading fraudulent applications to conducting supply chain attacks, targeting PyPI contributors with phishing campaigns and typosquatting. Their malicious packages contain a code snippet that downloads and executes JuiceStealer, which has evolved to support additional browsers and Discord. Victims of JuiceLedger attacks are advised to reset passwords and report any suspicious activity to security@pypi.org.

Wiz Threat Research identified a new variant of an ongoing malicious campaign targeting misconfigured and publicly exposed PostgreSQL servers. In the observed attack, the threat actor (tracked by Wiz as JINX-0126) abuses exposed PostgreSQL instances, configured with weak and guessable login credentials, to gain access and to deploy XMRig-C3 cryptominers. This campaign was first documented by Aqua Security, but the threat actor has since evolved, implementing defense evasion techniques such as deploying binaries with a unique hash per target and executing the miner payload filelessly—likely to evade detection by CWPP solutions that rely solely on file hash reputation.

JavaGhost is a threat actor group that has targeted cloud environments, particularly AWS, for phishing campaigns without engaging in data theft for extortion. They exploit overly permissive IAM permissions and utilize long-term access keys to gain initial access, employing the GetFederationToken API to acquire temporary credentials for console access. JavaGhost has demonstrated advanced evasion techniques, avoiding common detection methods by not using the GetCallerIdentity API call. Their activities generate detectable logging footprints in CloudTrail, allowing organizations to identify and respond to their tactics.