APT20
No sourced public emblem in this profile.
reference profile · reported nexus: CN (not nationality)
We’ve uncovered some new data and likely attribution regarding a series of APT watering hole attacks this past summer. Watering hole attacks are an increasingly popular component of APT campaigns, as many people are more aware of spear phishing and are less likely to open documents or click on links in unsolicited emails. Watering hole attacks offer a much better chance of success because they involve compromising legitimate websites and installing malware intended to compromise website visitors. These are often popular websites frequented by people who work in specific industries or have political sympathies to which the actors want to gain access. In contrast to many other APT campaigns, which tend to rely heavily on spear phishing to gain victims, “th3bug” is known for compromising legitimate websites their intended visitors are likely to frequent. Over the summer they compromised several sites, including a well-known Uyghur website written in that native language.
Source-reported aliases: VIOLIN PANDA, TH3Bug, Crawling Taurus, RIDGE CASTLE. Associations do not prove equivalence.
Target geography
Catalog-listed countries (associations, not attack counts): No country-level metadata
No bound claim-post feed for this label.
Historical casebook
No dated record curated yet; absence does not establish inactivity.
Planned Kinwilder coverage
Tentative editorial review windows, contingent on evidence and review; not promised publication dates or predictions of attacks.
No assigned review window.
References
https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/atoms/crawling-taurus/
https://www.mandiant.com/resources/insights/apt-groups
https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/threat-intelligence/updated-cyber-threat-actor-naming-system/