Threat Actor Profile
High APT
Description

Equation is a sophisticated threat group that employs multiple remote access tools. The group is known to use zero-day exploits and has developed the capability to overwrite the firmware of hard disk drives. (Citation: Kaspersky Equation QA)

Confidence Score
90%
Known Aliases
Equation
Tags
mitre-attack stix-2.1 intrusion-set
First Seen

Unknown

Last Updated

Unknown

Active Status
Active
Created

April 29, 2026

MITRE ATT&CK Techniques (4)
T1480.001 - Environmental Keying
Defense Evasion
T1564.005 - Hidden File System
Defense Evasion
T1120 - Peripheral Device Discovery
Discovery
T1542.002 - Component Firmware
Persistence
Indicators of Compromise

Loading IOCs…

IOC KQL for Sentinel
STIX Data
{'aliases': ['Equation'],
 'created': '2017-05-31T21:31:54.697Z',
 'created_by_ref': 'identity--c78cb6e5-0c4b-4611-8297-d1b8b55e40b5',
 'description': '[Equation](https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G0020) is a '
                'sophisticated threat group that employs multiple remote '
                'access tools. The group is known to use zero-day exploits and '
                'has developed the capability to overwrite the firmware of '
                'hard disk drives. (Citation: Kaspersky Equation QA)',
 'external_references': [{'external_id': 'G0020',
                          'source_name': 'mitre-attack',
                          'url': 'https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G0020'},
                         {'description': '(Citation: Kaspersky Equation QA)',
                          'source_name': 'Equation'},
                         {'description': "Kaspersky Lab's Global Research and "
                                         'Analysis Team. (2015, February). '
                                         'Equation Group: Questions and '
                                         'Answers. Retrieved December 21, '
                                         '2015.',
                          'source_name': 'Kaspersky Equation QA',
                          'url': 'https://media.kasperskycontenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/43/2018/03/08064459/Equation_group_questions_and_answers.pdf'}],
 'id': 'intrusion-set--96e239be-ad99-49eb-b127-3007b8c1bec9',
 'modified': '2025-04-25T14:48:45.400Z',
 'name': 'Equation',
 'object_marking_refs': ['marking-definition--fa42a846-8d90-4e51-bc29-71d5b4802168'],
 'spec_version': '2.1',
 'type': 'intrusion-set',
 'x_mitre_attack_spec_version': '3.2.0',
 'x_mitre_deprecated': False,
 'x_mitre_domains': ['enterprise-attack'],
 'x_mitre_modified_by_ref': 'identity--c78cb6e5-0c4b-4611-8297-d1b8b55e40b5',
 'x_mitre_version': '1.2'}
Quick Actions
Related TTPs (4)
Environmental Keying
Defense Evasion

Hidden File System
Defense Evasion

Peripheral Device Discovery
Discovery

Component Firmware
Persistence