Threat Actor Profile
Description
Confucius is a cyber espionage group that has primarily targeted military personnel, high-profile personalities, business persons, and government organizations in South Asia since at least 2013. Security researchers have noted similarities between Confucius and Patchwork, particularly in their respective custom malware code and targets.(Citation: TrendMicro Confucius APT Feb 2018)(Citation: TrendMicro Confucius APT Aug 2021)(Citation: Uptycs Confucius APT Jan 2021)
Confidence Score
Known Aliases
Tags
First Seen
Unknown
Last Updated
Unknown
Active Status
ActiveCreated
April 29, 2026
MITRE ATT&CK Techniques (19)
Indicators of Compromise
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IOC KQL for Sentinel
STIX Data
{'aliases': ['Confucius', 'Confucius APT'],
'created': '2021-12-26T23:11:39.442Z',
'created_by_ref': 'identity--c78cb6e5-0c4b-4611-8297-d1b8b55e40b5',
'description': '[Confucius](https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G0142) is a cyber '
'espionage group that has primarily targeted military '
'personnel, high-profile personalities, business persons, and '
'government organizations in South Asia since at least 2013. '
'Security researchers have noted similarities between '
'[Confucius](https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G0142) and '
'[Patchwork](https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G0040), '
'particularly in their respective custom malware code and '
'targets.(Citation: TrendMicro Confucius APT Feb '
'2018)(Citation: TrendMicro Confucius APT Aug 2021)(Citation: '
'Uptycs Confucius APT Jan 2021)',
'external_references': [{'external_id': 'G0142',
'source_name': 'mitre-attack',
'url': 'https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G0142'},
{'description': 'Lunghi, D and Horejsi, J. (2018, '
'February 13). Deciphering Confucius: '
"A Look at the Group's Cyberespionage "
'Operations. Retrieved December 26, '
'2021.',
'source_name': 'TrendMicro Confucius APT Feb 2018',
'url': 'https://www.trendmicro.com/en_us/research/18/b/deciphering-confucius-cyberespionage-operations.html'},
{'description': 'Lunghi, D. (2021, August 17). '
'Confucius Uses Pegasus '
'Spyware-related Lures to Target '
'Pakistani Military. Retrieved '
'December 26, 2021.',
'source_name': 'TrendMicro Confucius APT Aug 2021',
'url': 'https://www.trendmicro.com/en_us/research/21/h/confucius-uses-pegasus-spyware-related-lures-to-target-pakistani.html'},
{'description': 'Uptycs Threat Research Team. (2021, '
'January 12). Confucius APT deploys '
'Warzone RAT. Retrieved December 17, '
'2021.',
'source_name': 'Uptycs Confucius APT Jan 2021',
'url': 'https://www.uptycs.com/blog/confucius-apt-deploys-warzone-rat'}],
'id': 'intrusion-set--6eded342-33e5-4451-b6b2-e1c62863129f',
'modified': '2025-04-16T20:37:36.476Z',
'name': 'Confucius',
'object_marking_refs': ['marking-definition--fa42a846-8d90-4e51-bc29-71d5b4802168'],
'revoked': False,
'spec_version': '2.1',
'type': 'intrusion-set',
'x_mitre_attack_spec_version': '3.2.0',
'x_mitre_deprecated': False,
'x_mitre_domains': ['enterprise-attack', 'mobile-attack'],
'x_mitre_modified_by_ref': 'identity--c78cb6e5-0c4b-4611-8297-d1b8b55e40b5',
'x_mitre_version': '1.1'}