Turla threat group

Turla is an espionage group thought to operate from Russia, with suspected state backing. Public reporting links it to 50 attack techniques, and to attacks on government and military organisations, with 15 countries and victims named. This free profile shows how it works and who it targets, so you can judge the risk to you.

Attack techniques
50
Countries and victims named
15
Thought to operate from
Russia
Suspected backing
Russia
Motive
Espionage
Other names
25
Built from public reporting, with every source listed below.
Overview

Who is Turla?

Turla has 25 other names in security research. Below is what published reporting says about it, with a link to every report so you can check the detail yourself.

Also known as

SnakeVENOMOUS BearGroup 88WaterbugWRAITHUroburosPfinetTAG_0530KRYPTONHippo TeamPacifier APTPopeye

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

What public reporting says

A 2014 Guardian article described Turla as: 'Dubbed the Turla hackers, initial intelligence had indicated western powers were key targets, but it was later determined embassies for Eastern Bloc nations were of more interest. Embassies in Belgium, Ukraine, China, Jordan, Greece, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Poland, and Germany were all attacked, though researchers from Kaspersky Lab and Symantec could not confirm which countries were the true targets. In one case from May 2012, the office of the prime minister of a former Soviet Union member country was infected, leading to 60 further computers being affected, Symantec researchers said. There were some other victims, including the ministry for health of a Western European country, the ministry for education of a Central American country, a state electricity provider in the Middle East and a medical organisation in the US, according to Symantec. It is believed the group was also responsible for a much - documented 2008 attack on the US Central Command. The attackers - who continue to operate - have ostensibly sought to carry out surveillance on targets and pilfer data, though their use of encryption across their networks has made it difficult to ascertain exactly what the hackers took.Kaspersky Lab, however, picked up a number of the attackers searches through their victims emails, which included terms such as Nato and EU energy dialogue Though attribution is difficult to substantiate, Russia has previously been suspected of carrying out the attacks and Symantecs Gavin O’ Gorman told the Guardian a number of the hackers appeared to be using Russian names and language in their notes for their malicious code. Cyrillic was also seen in use.'

Public reports about Turla (36)

How it works

How does Turla attack? Stage by stage.

Each technique is a known way attackers research, get in, stay hidden or do damage. Here are the 50 linked to Turla, laid out from first look to final blow. Some techniques belong to more than one stage. Pick a stage to see them. Public reporting also lists 41 more specific variations of them, called sub-techniques.

Stage 10 of 15

Looking around

Mapping the network, accounts and data once inside.

15 techniques
  • T1007System Service Discovery
  • T1012Query Registry
  • T1016System Network Configuration Discovery
  • T1018Remote System Discovery
  • T1049System Network Connections Discovery
  • T1057Process Discovery
  • T1069Permission Groups Discovery
  • T1082System Information Discovery
  • T1083File and Directory Discovery
  • T1087Account Discovery
  • T1120Peripheral Device Discovery
  • T1124System Time Discovery
  • T1201Password Policy Discovery
  • T1518Software Discovery
  • T1615Group Policy Discovery
Targets

Who does Turla go after?

The sectors and places named in public reporting about this group. If yours is on the list, it is worth knowing how they work and which flaws they use.

Sectors (2)

GovernmentMilitary
See threats by industry →

Countries and victims named (15)

  1. 01France
  2. 02Romania
  3. 03Kazakhstan
  4. 04Poland
  5. 05Tajikistan
  6. 06Russia
  7. 07United States
  8. 08Saudi Arabia
  9. 09Germany
  10. 10India
  11. 11Belarus
  12. 12Netherlands
  13. 13Iran
  14. 14Uzbekistan
  15. 15Iraq
Free account

Is Turla a risk to you?

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FAQ

Questions about Turla

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Turla is an espionage group thought to operate from Russia, with suspected state backing. Public reporting links it to 50 attack techniques, and to attacks on government and military organisations, with 15 countries and victims named.

Public reporting places Turla as operating from Russia, with suspected state backing. Attribution is never certain: it rests on the tools, infrastructure and targets researchers have seen.

In public reporting, sectors named include government and military, and 15 countries and victims are named, including France, Romania, Kazakhstan and Poland.

Public reporting links Turla to 50 attack techniques. Most of them are about looking around, hiding and taking control.

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