Academy
TermThreat intelligence

Threat actor

The person, group or organisation behind a cyberattack.

Flow

  1. 1Infrastructure
  2. 2Campaign
  3. 3Traces
Related families
Rhadamanthys, DarkCrystal RAT (DCRat)
MITRE ATT&CK
T1588.001 · Obtain Capabilities: Malware
Sources
7 sources
01

Overview

NIST defines a threat actor as an individual or group with the intent or capability to harm an organisation. Actors are distinguished by their goals: financial gain, espionage, sabotage or ideology. NIST CSRC

Security vendors track actors with their own naming systems (e.g. TA547, UNC5537); the same group may carry different names at different vendors. These tracking names are used instead of unverified identities. CISA

02

How it works

  1. 1

    Infrastructure

    The actor acquires malware, domains and servers. MITRE ATT&CK

  2. 2

    Campaign

    It attacks a specific audience with a specific method.

  3. 3

    Traces

    Recurring domains, code fragments and methods link activity to the actor. CISA

03

Real-world examples

UNC5537

Mandiant tracked the group that stole data from Snowflake customer environments and extorted victims as UNC5537; the group tried to sell the stolen data on forums. Google Cloud (Mandiant)

04

How to detect it

  • Track indicators together with the actor’s known methods, not one by one. CISA
05

What to do

  • Prioritise according to the methods of actors that target your sector. NIST CSRC
06

MITRE ATT&CK

07

Related families and terms

08

Sources

  1. 1Obtain Capabilities: Malware (T1588.001) · MITRE ATT&CK
  2. 2Threat actor — glossary definition · NIST CSRC
  3. 3Nation-State Cyber Actors · CISA
  4. 4UNC5537 targets Snowflake customer instances · Google Cloud (Mandiant), 2024
  5. 5TA547 targets German organizations with Rhadamanthys · Proofpoint, 2024
  6. 6BlindEagle targets Colombian government agency with Caminho and DCRat · Zscaler
  7. 7Threat intelligence — glossary definition · NIST CSRC
From the Essential plan

Infostealer Detection

See your firm's attack surface on one screen: how many findings, at which severity, on which domain.