Double Dragon (hacking group)
Double Dragon (also known as APT41) is a hacking organization with alleged ties to China. Classified as an advanced persistent threat, the organization was named by the US Department of Justice in September 2020 in relation to charges brought against five Chinese and two Malaysian nationals for allegedly compromising more than 100 companies around the world.[1][2][3][4]
In 2019, the cybersecurity company FireEye stated with high confidence that the group was sponsored by the Chinese Communist Party while conducting operations for financial gain.[5]
Investigations FireEye have found APT 41 operations in multiple sectors, such as healthcare, telecommunications, and technology.[5] The group conducts many of its financial activities in the video game industry, including development studios, distributors, and publishers.[6] The organisation has conducted multiple operations in 14 countries, most notably the United States of America. Such activities include incidents of tracking, the compromising of business supply chains, and collecting surveillance data.[7]
APT 41’s operations are described as moonlighting due to their balance of espionage supported by the Chinese state and financially motivated activities outside of state authorisation in their downtime.[5][8] As such, it is harder to ascertain whether particular incidents are state-directed or not.[9][10]
References
- ^ Cimpanu, Catalin. "US charges five hackers from Chinese state-sponsored group APT41". ZDNet. Retrieved 2020-09-17.
- ^ "FBI Deputy Director David Bowdich's Remarks at Press Conference on China-Related Cyber Indictments". Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved 2020-09-17.
- ^ Rodzi, Nadirah H. (2020-09-17). "Malaysian digital game firm's top execs facing extradition after US accuses them of cyber crimes". The Straits Times. Retrieved 2020-09-17.
- ^ Yong, Charissa (2020-09-16). "China acting as a safe haven for its cyber criminals, says US". The Straits Times. Retrieved 2020-09-17.
- ^ a b c APT41: A Dual Espionage and Cyber Crime Operation (Report). FireEye. 2019-08-07. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
- ^ Kendzierskyj, Stefan; Jahankhani, Hamid (2020), "Critical National Infrastructure, C4ISR and Cyber Weapons in the Digital Age", Advanced Sciences and Technologies for Security Applications, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 3–21, ISBN 978-3-030-35745-0, retrieved 2021-05-25
- ^ Kianpour, Mazaher (2021). "Socio-Technical Root Cause Analysis of Cyber-enabled Theft of the U.S. Intellectual Property -- The Case of APT41". arXiv:2103.04901 [cs.CR].
- ^ Steffens, Timo (2020), "Advanced Persistent Threats", Attribution of Advanced Persistent Threats, Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg, pp. 3–21, ISBN 978-3-662-61312-2, retrieved 2021-05-25
- ^ Bateman., Jon. War, Terrorism, and Catastrophe in Cyber Insurance: Understanding and Reforming Exclusions. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. OCLC 1229752520.
- ^ Kitchen, Klon (2020-07-24). "Cybersecurity: National Policies and Practices for Understanding Hacks and Reducing Vulnerabilities" (PDF). Backgrounder. 3512.
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