KINWILDER

Blackgear

No sourced public emblem in this profile.

reference profile · reported nexus: CN (not nationality)

BLACKGEAR is an espionage campaign which has targeted users in Taiwan for many years. Multiple papers and talks have been released covering this campaign, which used the ELIRKS backdoor when it was first discovered in 2012. It is known for using blogs and microblogging services to hide the location of its actual command-and-control (C&C) servers. This allows an attacker to change the C&C server used quickly by changing the information in these posts. Like most campaigns, BLACKGEAR has evolved over time. Our research indicates that it has started targeting Japanese users. Two things led us to this conclusion: first, the fake documents that are used as part of its infection routines are now in Japanese. Secondly, it is now using blogging sites and microblogging services based in Japan for its C&C activity.

Source-reported aliases: Topgear, Comnie, BLACKGEAR. 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

Pinned source catalog

https://blog.trendmicro.com/trendlabs-security-intelligence/blackgear-espionage-campaign-evolves-adds-japan-target-list/

https://blog.trendmicro.com/trendlabs-security-intelligence/blackgear-cyberespionage-campaign-resurfaces-abuses-social-media-for-cc-communication/

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