Cobalt Strike

Malware
85 incidents First seen 2026-04-21 Last seen 2026-10-31
Overview

Cobalt Strike is a commercial, full-featured, remote access tool that bills itself as “adversary simulation software designed to execute targeted attacks and emulate the post-exploitation actions of advanced threat actors”. Cobalt Strike’s interactive post-exploit capabilities cover the full range of ATT&CK tactics, all executed within a single, integrated system. In addition to its own capabilities, Cobalt Strike leverages the capabilities of other well-known tools such as Metasploit and Mimikatz.

Threat ecosystem
Actors Malware Campaigns CVEs
Tap a node for a quick look · double-tap to open its profile
At a glance
peak priority 170 91 techniques 30 groups use it LinuxmacOSWindows in ATT&CK since 2017-12-14 updated 2026-04-23 · v1.14
Activity by month (incidents)
2026-012026-10
Sectors targeted
government · 26technology · 15health · 11education · 8finance · 8energy · 7defense · 6telecommunications · 6automotive · 4retail · 4
Countries targeted
US · 29CN · 28CA · 23RU · 18GB · 17UA · 17IN · 16ID · 14PK · 14KR · 13PH · 13TH · 13
Origin
CN · 27CA · 15US · 15IN · 12BD · 10KP · 9
Kinds of incident
Malware & Botnets · 22Ransomware & Extortion · 17State-Sponsored & Espionage · 14Cyberattack (general) · 10AI-Enabled Attack · 9Exploited Vulnerability · 8
Techniques seen in incidents
Ransomware · 37Phishing · 36Reconnaissance · 24T1588.001 - Malware · 23Espionage · 22T1059.001 - PowerShell · 21Lateral Movement · 20T1059.007 - JavaScript · 17Exfiltration · 16Social Engineering · 15T1059.006 - Python · 11Extortion · 10T1584.004 - Server · 9Botnet · 7
Related actors
APT41 · 5Salt Typhoon · 4Aquatic Panda · 3Earth Lusca · 3Kimsuky · 3Lazarus Group · 3Contagious Interview · 2Lotus Blossom · 2
Related CVEs
CVE-2026-0257 · 3CVE-2024-42009 · 2CVE-2020-16040 · 1CVE-2020-1938 · 1CVE-2021-26855 · 1CVE-2021-27076 · 1CVE-2021-4034 · 1CVE-2022-20775 · 1CVE-2022-28368 · 1CVE-2023-24932 · 1
ATT&CK techniques by tactic (91)
initial access T1078.002 Domain Accounts T1078.003 Local Accounts
execution T1047 Windows Management Instrumentation T1059.001 PowerShell T1059.003 Windows Command Shell T1059.005 Visual Basic T1059.006 Python T1059.007 JavaScript T1106 Native API T1197 BITS Jobs T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution T1569.002 Service Execution
persistence T1078.002 Domain Accounts T1078.003 Local Accounts T1112 Modify Registry T1137.001 Office Template Macros T1197 BITS Jobs T1543.003 Windows Service
privilege escalation T1055 Process Injection T1055.001 Dynamic-link Library Injection T1055.012 Process Hollowing T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation T1078.002 Domain Accounts T1078.003 Local Accounts T1134.001 Token Impersonation/Theft T1134.003 Make and Impersonate Token T1134.004 Parent PID Spoofing T1543.003 Windows Service T1548.002 Bypass User Account Control T1548.003 Sudo and Sudo Caching
credential access T1003.001 LSASS Memory T1003.002 Security Account Manager T1056.001 Keylogging
discovery T1007 System Service Discovery T1012 Query Registry T1016 System Network Configuration Discovery T1018 Remote System Discovery T1046 Network Service Discovery T1049 System Network Connections Discovery T1057 Process Discovery T1069.001 Local Groups T1069.002 Domain Groups T1083 File and Directory Discovery T1087.002 Domain Account T1135 Network Share Discovery T1497.002 User Activity Based Checks T1518 Software Discovery
lateral movement T1021.001 Remote Desktop Protocol T1021.002 SMB/Windows Admin Shares T1021.003 Distributed Component Object Model T1021.004 SSH T1021.006 Windows Remote Management T1550.002 Pass the Hash
collection T1005 Data from Local System T1056.001 Keylogging T1113 Screen Capture T1185 Browser Session Hijacking
command and control T1001.003 Protocol or Service Impersonation T1071.001 Web Protocols T1071.002 File Transfer Protocols T1071.004 DNS T1090.001 Internal Proxy T1090.004 Domain Fronting T1095 Non-Application Layer Protocol T1105 Ingress Tool Transfer T1132.001 Standard Encoding T1572 Protocol Tunneling T1573.001 Symmetric Cryptography T1573.002 Asymmetric Cryptography
exfiltration T1029 Scheduled Transfer T1030 Data Transfer Size Limits
defense impairment T1112 Modify Registry T1553.002 Code Signing T1685 Disable or Modify Tools
stealth T1027 Obfuscated Files or Information T1027.005 Indicator Removal from Tools T1055 Process Injection T1055.001 Dynamic-link Library Injection T1055.012 Process Hollowing T1070.006 Timestomp T1078.002 Domain Accounts T1078.003 Local Accounts T1134.001 Token Impersonation/Theft T1134.003 Make and Impersonate Token T1134.004 Parent PID Spoofing T1140 Deobfuscate/Decode Files or Information T1197 BITS Jobs T1218.011 Rundll32 T1497.002 User Activity Based Checks T1564.010 Process Argument Spoofing T1620 Reflective Code Loading
Groups that use it
APT19APT29APT32APT37APT41Aquatic PandaBlackByteChimeraCinnamon TempestCobalt GroupCopyKittensDarkHydrusEarth LuscaFIN6FIN7Indrik SpiderLeviathanLuminousMothmenuPassMirrorFaceMustang PandaMustard TempestPlaySandworm TeamStorm-0501Storm-1811TA505Threat Group-3390ToddyCatWizard Spider
Incident timeline
2026-10-30
As Russia's Cyberwar Evolves, Belarus Steps Forward
2026-10-20
Ransomware groups expand targeting of Palo Alto Networks vulnerability
2026-09-26
Cobalt Strike Beacon
AlienVault OTX
2026-09-13
Conti Hacker Who Built Malware and Attacked Victims Gets Four-Year Sentence
2026-09-11
Ukrainian lawyer's second career as a Conti coder earns him 4 years behind bars
2026-09-10
Conti ransomware crew member sentenced to four years in prison
2026-07-30
Claude Mythos — Hype vs. Reality: What Security Teams Need to Know
2026-07-13
Pakistani Police Systems Hit by Chinese and Indian Espionage
2026-07-11
Hackers Weaponize Balochistan Police Portal in Multi-Group Espionage Campaigns
2026-07-08
El ciberespionaje chino eleva su nivel técnico contra organismos públicos
2026-07-04
U.S. Government Agency Paid $1M to Data Extortion Group Kairos
2026-06-26
New SharkLoader Malware Deploys Cobalt Strike in StrikeShark Cyberattacks
2026-06-24
Stealthy Mistic backdoor linked to ransomware access broker KongTuke
2026-06-17
AI in the underground: Curiosity, claims, and concerns
2026-06-16
SprySOCKS Backdoor Expands From Linux to Windows
2026-06-12
Conti ransomware group member pleads guilty, faces up to 20 years in prison
2026-06-12
Conti ransomware group member pleads guilty, faces up to 20 years in prison
2026-06-03
Weedhack Attacks Minecraft Users, CountLoader Hits 86K, Miners Spread via Pirated Content
2026-06-02
AI-built ransomware toolkit automates EDR evasion, AD discovery
2026-06-02
Pointing a Cursor at evading detection
2026-06-02
Threat Actor Uses AI to Build EDR Evasion Tools
2026-06-02
Threat Actor Uses AI to Build EDR Evasion Tools
2026-06-02
Pointing a Cursor at evading detection
2026-06-01
China-Aligned Groups Ramp Up Attacks: Dragon Weave Hits Czech Republic & Taiwan
2026-05-25
The Alert Firehose Finally Meets Its Match
2026-05-23
Ghostwriter Is Back, Using a Ukrainian Learning Platform as Bait to Hit Government Targets
2026-05-22
Ghostwriter Targets Ukraine Government Entities with Prometheus Phishing Malware
2026-05-15
Ghostwriter group resumes attacks on Ukrainian Government targets
2026-05-14
'FrostyNeighbor' APT Carefully Targets Govt Orgs in Poland, Ukraine
2026-05-14
Ghostwriter Targets Ukrainian Government With Geofenced PDF Phishing, Cobalt Strike
2026-05-07
PyPI Packages Deliver ZiChatBot Malware via Zulip APIs on Windows and Linux
2026-05-05
U.S. court sentences Karakurt ransomware negotiator to 8.5 years
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
2026-04-22
'The Gentlemen' Rapidly Rises to Ransomware Prominence
2026-04-21
SystemBC C2 Server Reveals 1,570+ Victims in The Gentlemen Ransomware Operation
2026-04-21
The Gentlemen Ransomware Expands With Rapid Affiliate Growth