# APT31: threat group profile

> APT31 is a threat group thought to operate from China. Public reporting about it is still limited. This free profile brings together what is known about it, so you can judge the risk to you. It lists the other names the group goes by and links to every public report behind it.

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## At a glance

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Attack techniques | 0 |
| Thought to operate from | China |
| Other names | 7 |
| Public reports | 42 |

## Who is APT31?

APT31 is a threat group thought to operate from China. Public reporting about it is still limited.

### Also known as

ZIRCONIUM, JUDGMENT PANDA, BRONZE VINEWOOD, Red keres, Violet Typhoon, TA412, Zirconium

Security companies each give the same group their own name, so one group can have many.

### What public reporting says

> FireEye characterizes APT31 as an actor specialized on intellectual property theft, focusing on data and projects that make a particular organization competetive in its field. Based on available data (April 2016), FireEye assesses that APT31 conducts network operations at the behest of the Chinese Government. Also according to Crowdstrike, this adversary is suspected of continuing to target upstream providers (e.g., law firms and managed service providers) to support additional intrusions against high-profile assets. In 2018, CrowdStrike observed this adversary using spear-phishing, URL “web bugs” and scheduled tasks to automate credential harvesting.

## Public reports about APT31

- https://www.microsoft.com/security/blog/2017/03/27/detecting-and-mitigating-elevation-of-privilege-exploit-for-cve-2017-0005/
- https://duo.com/decipher/apt-groups-moving-down-the-supply-chain
- https://go.recordedfuture.com/hubfs/reports/cta-2019-0206.pdf
- https://redalert.nshc.net/2019/12/03/threat-actor-targeting-hong-kong-activists
- https://twitter.com/bkMSFT/status/1201876664667582466
- https://www.secureworks.com/research/bronz-vinewood-uses-hanaloader-to-target-government-supply-chain
- https://www.secureworks.com/research/bronze-vinewood-targets-supply-chains
- https://www.secureworks.com/research/threat-profiles/bronze-vinewood
- https://www.crowdstrike.com/resources/reports/2019-crowdstrike-global-threat-report
- https://go.crowdstrike.com/rs/281-OBQ-266/images/Report2020CrowdStrikeGlobalThreatReport.pdf
- https://research.checkpoint.com/2021/the-story-of-jian
- https://supo.fi/-/suojelupoliisi-tunnisti-eduskuntaan-kohdistuneen-kybervakoiluoperaation-apt31-ksi
- https://poliisi.fi/-/eduskunnan-tietojarjestelmiin-kohdistuneen-tietomurron-tutkinnassa-selvitetaan-yhteytta-apt31-toimijaan
- https://pst.no/alle-artikler/pressemeldinger/etterforskningen-av-datanettverksoperasjonen-mot-fylkesmannsembetene-er-avsluttet
- https://www.nrk.no/norge/pst_-har-etterretning-om-at-kinesisk-gruppe-stod-bak-dataangrep-mot-statsforvaltere-1.15540601
- https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/news/uk-allies-hold-chinese-state-responsible-for-pervasive-pattern-of-hacking
- https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-and-allies-hold-chinese-state-responsible-for-a-pervasive-pattern-of-hacking
- https://www.foreignminister.gov.au/minister/marise-payne/media-release/australia-joins-international-partners-attribution-malicious-cyber-activity-china
- https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2021/07/19/declaration-by-the-high-representative-on-behalf-of-the-eu-urging-china-to-take-action-against-malicious-cyber-activities-undertaken-from-its-territory/
- https://www.cert.ssi.gouv.fr/ioc/CERTFR-2021-IOC-003
- https://twitter.com/bkMSFT/status/1417823714922610689
- https://www.mandiant.com/resources/insights/apt-groups
- https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/issues/cybersecurity/cyber-threat-intelligence/cyber-year-in-retrospect/yir-cyber-threats-report-download.pdf
- https://query.prod.cms.rt.microsoft.com/cms/api/am/binary/RWMFIi
- https://www.pwc.co.uk/cyber-security/pdf/pwc-cyber-threats-2020-a-year-in-retrospect.pdf
- https://www.proofpoint.com/us/blog/threat-insight/above-fold-and-your-inbox-tracing-state-aligned-activity-targeting-journalists
- https://www.fortinet.com/blog/psirt-blogs/importance-of-patching-an-analysis-of-the-exploitation-of-n-day-vulnerabilities
- https://intrusiontruth.wordpress.com/2023/05/11/article-1-whats-cracking-at-the-kerui-cracking-academy
- https://intrusiontruth.wordpress.com/2023/05/12/the-illustrious-graduates-of-wuhan-kerui
- https://intrusiontruth.wordpress.com/2023/05/13/all-roads-lead-back-to-wuhan-xiaoruizhi-science-and-technology-company
- https://intrusiontruth.wordpress.com/2023/05/15/trouble-in-paradise
- https://intrusiontruth.wordpress.com/2023/05/16/introducing-cheng-feng
- https://intrusiontruth.wordpress.com/2023/05/17/missing-links
- https://ics-cert.kaspersky.com/media/Kaspersky-ICS-CERT-Common-TTPs-of-attacks-against-industrial-organizations-implants-for-remote-access-En.pdf
- https://asec.ahnlab.com/ko/55070
- https://intrusiontruth.wordpress.com/2023/07/04/wuhan-xiaoruizhi-class-of-19
- https://intrusiontruth.wordpress.com/2023/07/07/one-man-and-his-lasers
- https://www.verfassungsschutz.de/SharedDocs/publikationen/DE/cyberabwehr/2023-02-bfv-cyber-brief.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=6
- https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/seven-hackers-associated-chinese-government-charged-computer-intrusions-targeting-perceived
- https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1345141/dl?inline
- https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-holds-china-state-affiliated-organisations-and-individuals-responsible-for-malicious-cyber-activity
- https://harfanglab.io/en/insidethelab/apt31-indictment-analysis/

## Frequently asked questions

### Who is APT31?

APT31 is a threat group thought to operate from China. Public reporting about it is still limited.

### Where is APT31 thought to be based?

Public reporting places APT31 as operating from China. Attribution is never certain: it rests on the tools, infrastructure and targets researchers have seen.

### How do I know if APT31 is a risk to my business?

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