APT28

Threat Actor
65 incidents First seen 2026-04-03 Last seen 2026-10-22
Overview

APT28 is a threat group that has been attributed to Russia's General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) 85th Main Special Service Center (GTsSS) military unit 26165. This group has been active since at least 2004. APT28 reportedly compromised the Hillary Clinton campaign, the Democratic National Committee, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in 2016 in an attempt to interfere with the U.S. presidential election. In 2018, the US indicted five GRU Unit 26165 officers associated with APT28 for cyber operations (including close-access operations) conducted between 2014 and 2018 against the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the US Anti-Doping Agency, a US nuclear facility, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the Spiez Swiss Chemicals Laboratory, and other organizations. Some of these were conducted with the assistance of GRU Unit 74455, which is also referred to as Sandworm Team.

Threat ecosystem
Actors Malware Campaigns CVEs
Tap a node for a quick look · double-tap to open its profile
At a glance
peak priority 190 110 techniques 29 tools & malware in ATT&CK since 2017-05-31 updated 2026-07-31 · v5.3
Activity by month (incidents)
2026-012026-10
Sectors targeted
government · 32defense · 18manufacturing · 11energy · 7health · 7hospitality · 6technology · 6finance · 5aviation · 3logistics · 3
Countries targeted
RU · 37UA · 37US · 26CA · 20GB · 17DE · 11ES · 11PL · 11AT · 10CH · 10FR · 9RO · 9
Origin
RU · 53UA · 21GB · 10BG · 7CA · 7FR · 7
Kinds of incident
State-Sponsored & Espionage · 32Malware & Botnets · 15Exploited Vulnerability · 11Cyberattack (general) · 8Data Breach · 6Phishing & Social Engineering · 5
Techniques seen in incidents
Espionage · 43Phishing · 32Social Engineering · 15T1588.001 - Malware · 13Exfiltration · 11Ransomware · 11T1059.001 - PowerShell · 11Reconnaissance · 10T1588.006 - Vulnerabilities · 8T1059.007 - JavaScript · 7T1584.004 - Server · 6T1589.001 - Credentials · 6T1059.005 - Visual Basic · 5T1588.005 - Exploits · 5
Related malware
Sofacy · 10Sednit · 9Olympic Destroyer · 2VPNFilter · 2ALPHV · 1BlackCat · 1Cyclops Blink · 1DDoSia · 1
Related CVEs
CVE-2025-66376 · 5CVE-2026-21509 · 5CVE-2023-50224 · 3CVE-2025-49113 · 3CVE-2026-21513 · 3CVE-2023-5631 · 2CVE-2025-48700 · 2CVE-2025-68461 · 2CVE-2026-8496 · 2CVE-2008-4128 · 1
ATT&CK techniques by tactic (110)
reconnaissance T1589.001 Credentials T1591 Gather Victim Org Information T1595.002 Vulnerability Scanning T1596 Search Open Technical Databases T1598 Phishing for Information T1598.003 Spearphishing Link
resource development T1583.001 Domains T1583.003 Virtual Private Server T1583.006 Web Services T1584.008 Network Devices T1586.002 Email Accounts T1588.002 Tool T1588.007 Artificial Intelligence
initial access T1078 Valid Accounts T1078.004 Cloud Accounts T1091 Replication Through Removable Media T1133 External Remote Services T1189 Drive-by Compromise T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application T1199 Trusted Relationship T1566.001 Spearphishing Attachment T1669 Wi-Fi Networks
execution T1059.001 PowerShell T1059.003 Windows Command Shell T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution T1204.001 Malicious Link T1204.002 Malicious File T1559.002 Dynamic Data Exchange
persistence T1037.001 Logon Script (Windows) T1078 Valid Accounts T1078.004 Cloud Accounts T1098.002 Additional Email Delegate Permissions T1133 External Remote Services T1137.002 Office Test T1505.003 Web Shell T1542.003 Bootkit T1546.015 Component Object Model Hijacking T1547.001 Registry Run Keys / Startup Folder
privilege escalation T1037.001 Logon Script (Windows) T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation T1078 Valid Accounts T1078.004 Cloud Accounts T1098.002 Additional Email Delegate Permissions T1134.001 Token Impersonation/Theft T1546.015 Component Object Model Hijacking T1547.001 Registry Run Keys / Startup Folder
credential access T1003 OS Credential Dumping T1003.001 LSASS Memory T1003.003 NTDS T1040 Network Sniffing T1056.001 Keylogging T1110 Brute Force T1110.001 Password Guessing T1110.003 Password Spraying T1528 Steal Application Access Token T1557.004 Evil Twin
discovery T1040 Network Sniffing T1057 Process Discovery T1083 File and Directory Discovery T1120 Peripheral Device Discovery
lateral movement T1021.002 SMB/Windows Admin Shares T1091 Replication Through Removable Media T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services T1550.001 Application Access Token T1550.002 Pass the Hash
collection T1005 Data from Local System T1025 Data from Removable Media T1039 Data from Network Shared Drive T1056.001 Keylogging T1074.001 Local Data Staging T1074.002 Remote Data Staging T1113 Screen Capture T1114.002 Remote Email Collection T1119 Automated Collection T1213 Data from Information Repositories T1213.002 Sharepoint T1557.004 Evil Twin T1560 Archive Collected Data T1560.001 Archive via Utility
command and control T1001.001 Junk Data T1071.001 Web Protocols T1071.003 Mail Protocols T1090.002 External Proxy T1090.003 Multi-hop Proxy T1092 Communication Through Removable Media T1102.002 Bidirectional Communication T1105 Ingress Tool Transfer T1573.001 Symmetric Cryptography
exfiltration T1030 Data Transfer Size Limits T1048.002 Exfiltration Over Asymmetric Encrypted Non-C2 Protocol T1567 Exfiltration Over Web Service
impact T1498 Network Denial of Service
stealth T1014 Rootkit T1027.013 Encrypted/Encoded File T1036 Masquerading T1036.005 Match Legitimate Resource Name or Location T1070.004 File Deletion T1070.006 Timestomp T1078 Valid Accounts T1078.004 Cloud Accounts T1134.001 Token Impersonation/Theft T1140 Deobfuscate/Decode Files or Information T1211 Exploitation for Stealth T1218.011 Rundll32 T1221 Template Injection T1542.003 Bootkit T1564.001 Hidden Files and Directories T1564.003 Hidden Window T1684.001 Impersonation
defense impairment T1685.005 Clear Windows Event Logs
Tools & malware it uses
ADVSTORESHELLCannoncertutilCHOPSTICKcipher.exeCORESHELLDealersChoiceDowndelphDrovorubForfilesFysbisHIDEDRVJHUHUGITKoadicKomplexLAMEHUGLoJaxMimikatzNetOLDBAITreGeorgResponderTorUSBStealerWevtutilWinexeXAgentOSXXTunnelZebrocy
Campaigns attributed to it
APT28 Nearest Neighbor Campaign
Incident timeline
2026-10-22
IOC - Swallowtail: Russian Espionage Group Targets Defense Firms in Two NATO Countries
AlienVault OTX
2026-10-21
Russia-linked hackers broke into NATO shipbuilder in latest espionage campaign
2026-10-21
-Wyden calls for ECH adoption -DHS bans DeepSeek on govt net...
2026-10-20
Russia's APT28 hacking group has been detected to have infiltrated a NATO member country's defense industry, gaining access to the internal network through a newly discovered malicious code.
2026-10-20
Russian GRU hackers hit NATO shipbuilder, aircraft engine maker, law enforcement agency in espionage campaign
2026-10-20
Swallowtail: Russian Espionage Group Targets Defense Firms in Two NATO Countries
AlienVault OTX
2026-10-20
Russian APT28 Breaches NATO Naval Shipbuilder in NATO Country, Deploys New Reflective Loader
2026-10-20
Swallowtail: Russian Espionage Group Targets Defense Firms in Two NATO Countries
AlienVault OTX
2026-10-13
North Korea Phishes Ukrainians for War Intel
2026-09-04
Investigating Midnight Blizzard's AI Powered Infrastructure.
AlienVault OTX
2026-08-28
Offensive Security Investments Surge as AI Threats Increase
2026-08-28
Russian APT BlueDelta Uses HOOKEDGE to Target Defense and Diplomatic Organizations
2026-08-28
APT28-Linked HOOKEDGE Backdoor Targets European Government and Diplomatic Organizations
2026-08-19
Quién está detrás de NoName057, los 'hackers' que han golpeado la seguridad nacional filtrando datos de policías, militares y guardias civiles
2026-08-19
Fake AI, real malware: Attackers impersonating AI brands
2026-08-18
Hackers target Ukrainian agency managing assets seized from sanctioned Russians
2026-08-03
Russian hackers hijack hotel Wi-Fi networks to spy on travelers, Microsoft says
2026-08-01
Hijacked Hotel Wi-Fi Pushes Fake Updates to Deliver Surveillance Malware
2026-07-26
Hackers Hijack Hotel Wi-Fi to Steal Microsoft 365 Credentials
2026-07-24
Hotel Wi-Fi Routers Compromised to Steal Corporate Login Credentials From Visitors
2026-06-30
A double-edged bleeding edge: Classifying AI threats
2026-06-22
Canada’s Spy Agency Used First-of-Its-Kind Warrant to Clean Botnet-Infected Devices
2026-06-02
Gamaredon Exploits WinRAR to Deliver GammaWorm and GammaSteel Against Ukraine
2026-05-25
Kremlin appoints cyber executive with alleged GRU ties to Security Council role
2026-04-24
Over 10,000 Zimbra servers vulnerable to ongoing XSS attacks
2026-04-17
Ukraine confirms suspected APT28 campaign targeting prosecutors, anti-corruption agencies
2026-04-16
Ukrainian emergency services and hospitals hit by espionage campaign using new AgingFly malware
2026-04-08
Russian hacking group targets home and small office routers to spy on users
2026-04-08
US Thwarts DNS Hijacking Network Controlled by Russian APT28 Hackers
2026-04-07
Russia Hacked Routers to Steal Microsoft Office Tokens
2026-04-07
Russia's Fancy Bear still attacking routers to boost fake sites, NCSC warns
2026-04-07
Authorities disrupt router DNS hijacks used to steal Microsoft 365 logins
2026-04-07
Russian APT28 Hackers Hijack Routers to Steal Credentials, UK Security Agency Warns
2026-04-07
UK exposes Russian cyber unit hacking home routers to hijack internet traffic