Tropic Trooper

Threat Actor
10 incidents First seen 2026-03-05 Last seen 2026-06-25
Overview

Tropic Trooper is an unaffiliated threat group that has led targeted campaigns against targets in Taiwan, the Philippines, and Hong Kong. Tropic Trooper focuses on targeting government, healthcare, transportation, and high-tech industries and has been active since 2011.

Threat ecosystem
Actors Malware Campaigns CVEs
Tap a node for a quick look · double-tap to open its profile
At a glance
peak priority 140 49 techniques 6 tools & malware in ATT&CK since 2019-01-29 updated 2026-07-31 · v1.6
Activity by month (incidents)
2026-032026-06
Sectors targeted
telecommunications · 3health · 2technology · 2education · 1finance · 1government · 1transportation · 1
Countries targeted
JP · 8AR · 6BO · 6BR · 6CL · 6CO · 6CR · 6CU · 6DO · 5EC · 5GT · 4HN · 4
Origin
CN · 5AO · 4BF · 4BI · 4BJ · 4BW · 4
Kinds of incident
Malware & Botnets · 5Cyberattack (general) · 2Data Breach · 2Phishing & Social Engineering · 2Ransomware & Extortion · 2State-Sponsored & Espionage · 2
Techniques seen in incidents
T1588.001 - Malware · 7Ransomware · 4Exfiltration · 3Phishing · 3Espionage · 2Social Engineering · 2T1059.001 - PowerShell · 2Wiper · 2Data Leak · 1Defacement · 1Extortion · 1T1555.001 - Keychain · 1T1592.002 - Software · 1
Related malware
Cobalt Strike · 2KeyBoy · 2PlugX · 1ShadowPad · 1
ATT&CK techniques by tactic (49)
initial access T1078.003 Local Accounts T1091 Replication Through Removable Media T1566.001 Spearphishing Attachment
execution T1059.003 Windows Command Shell T1106 Native API T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution T1204.002 Malicious File T1574.001 DLL
persistence T1078.003 Local Accounts T1505.003 Web Shell T1543.003 Windows Service T1547.001 Registry Run Keys / Startup Folder T1547.004 Winlogon Helper DLL
privilege escalation T1055.001 Dynamic-link Library Injection T1078.003 Local Accounts T1543.003 Windows Service T1547.001 Registry Run Keys / Startup Folder T1547.004 Winlogon Helper DLL
discovery T1016 System Network Configuration Discovery T1033 System Owner/User Discovery T1046 Network Service Discovery T1049 System Network Connections Discovery T1057 Process Discovery T1082 System Information Discovery T1083 File and Directory Discovery T1135 Network Share Discovery T1518 Software Discovery T1518.001 Security Software Discovery T1680 Local Storage Discovery
lateral movement T1091 Replication Through Removable Media
collection T1119 Automated Collection
command and control T1071.001 Web Protocols T1071.004 DNS T1105 Ingress Tool Transfer T1132.001 Standard Encoding T1573 Encrypted Channel T1573.002 Asymmetric Cryptography
exfiltration T1020 Automated Exfiltration T1052.001 Exfiltration over USB
stealth T1027.003 Steganography T1027.013 Encrypted/Encoded File T1036.005 Match Legitimate Resource Name or Location T1055.001 Dynamic-link Library Injection T1070.004 File Deletion T1078.003 Local Accounts T1140 Deobfuscate/Decode Files or Information T1221 Template Injection T1564.001 Hidden Files and Directories T1574.001 DLL
Tools & malware it uses
BITSAdminKeyBoyPoisonIvyShadowPadUSBferryYAHOYAH
Incident timeline
2026-06-25
Local Police Collusion Hampers Crackdown on Asian Scam Centers
2026-05-21
Chinese APTs Share Linux Backdoor in Central Asia Telco Attacks
2026-04-24
North Korea's Lazarus Targets macOS Users via ClickFix
2026-04-24
Tropic Trooper Uses Trojanized SumatraPDF and GitHub to Deploy AdaptixC2
2026-04-24
Tropic Trooper APT Takes Aim at Home Routers, Japanese Targets
2026-03-05
Chinese state hackers target telcos with new malware toolkit
2026-03-05
UAT-9244 targets South American telecommunication providers with three new malware implants