Threat Actor Profile
High APT
Description

Machete is a suspected Spanish-speaking cyber espionage group that has been active since at least 2010. It has primarily focused its operations within Latin America, with a particular emphasis on Venezuela, but also in the US, Europe, Russia, and parts of Asia. Machete generally targets high-profile organizations such as government institutions, intelligence services, and military units, as well as telecommunications and power companies.(Citation: Cylance Machete Mar 2017)(Citation: Securelist Machete Aug 2014)(Citation: ESET Machete July 2019)(Citation: 360 Machete Sep 2020)

Confidence Score
90%
Known Aliases
Machete APT-C-43 El Machete
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 (11)
T1036.005 - Match Legitimate Resource Name or Locat…
Defense Evasion
T1218.007 - Msiexec
Defense Evasion
T1053.005 - Scheduled Task
Execution
T1059.003 - Windows Command Shell
Execution
T1059.005 - Visual Basic
Execution
T1059.006 - Python
Execution
T1204.001 - Malicious Link
Execution
T1204.002 - Malicious File
Execution
T1189 - Drive-by Compromise
Initial Access
T1566.001 - Spearphishing Attachment
Initial Access
T1566.002 - Spearphishing Link
Initial Access
Indicators of Compromise

Loading IOCs…

IOC KQL for Sentinel
STIX Data
{'aliases': ['Machete', 'APT-C-43', 'El Machete'],
 'created': '2019-09-13T12:37:10.394Z',
 'created_by_ref': 'identity--c78cb6e5-0c4b-4611-8297-d1b8b55e40b5',
 'description': '[Machete](https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G0095) is a '
                'suspected Spanish-speaking cyber espionage group that has '
                'been active since at least 2010. It has primarily focused its '
                'operations within Latin America, with a particular emphasis '
                'on Venezuela, but also in the US, Europe, Russia, and parts '
                'of Asia. [Machete](https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G0095) '
                'generally targets high-profile organizations such as '
                'government institutions, intelligence services, and military '
                'units, as well as telecommunications and power '
                'companies.(Citation: Cylance Machete Mar 2017)(Citation: '
                'Securelist Machete Aug 2014)(Citation: ESET Machete July '
                '2019)(Citation: 360 Machete Sep 2020)',
 'external_references': [{'external_id': 'G0095',
                          'source_name': 'mitre-attack',
                          'url': 'https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G0095'},
                         {'description': '(Citation: Securelist Machete Aug '
                                         '2014)(Citation: ESET Machete July '
                                         '2019)(',
                          'source_name': 'Machete'},
                         {'description': '(Citation: 360 Machete Sep 2020)',
                          'source_name': 'APT-C-43'},
                         {'description': '(Citation: Cylance Machete Mar 2017)',
                          'source_name': 'El Machete'},
                         {'description': 'The Cylance Threat Research Team. '
                                         "(2017, March 22). El Machete's "
                                         'Malware Attacks Cut Through LATAM. '
                                         'Retrieved September 13, 2019.',
                          'source_name': 'Cylance Machete Mar 2017',
                          'url': 'https://threatvector.cylance.com/en_us/home/el-machete-malware-attacks-cut-through-latam.html'},
                         {'description': 'Kaspersky Global Research and '
                                         'Analysis Team. (2014, August 20). El '
                                         'Machete. Retrieved September 13, '
                                         '2019.',
                          'source_name': 'Securelist Machete Aug 2014',
                          'url': 'https://securelist.com/el-machete/66108/'},
                         {'description': 'ESET. (2019, July). MACHETE JUST GOT '
                                         'SHARPER Venezuelan government '
                                         'institutions under attack. Retrieved '
                                         'September 13, 2019.',
                          'source_name': 'ESET Machete July 2019',
                          'url': 'https://www.welivesecurity.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/ESET_Machete.pdf'},
                         {'description': 'kate. (2020, September 25). APT-C-43 '
                                         'steals Venezuelan military secrets '
                                         'to provide intelligence support for '
                                         'the reactionaries — HpReact '
                                         'campaign. Retrieved November 20, '
                                         '2020.',
                          'source_name': '360 Machete Sep 2020',
                          'url': 'https://blog.360totalsecurity.com/en/apt-c-43-steals-venezuelan-military-secrets-to-provide-intelligence-support-for-the-reactionaries-hpreact-campaign/'}],
 'id': 'intrusion-set--38863958-a201-4ce1-9dbe-539b0b6804e0',
 'modified': '2025-04-25T14:49:22.323Z',
 'name': 'Machete',
 '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_contributors': ['Matias Nicolas Porolli, ESET'],
 'x_mitre_deprecated': False,
 'x_mitre_domains': ['enterprise-attack'],
 'x_mitre_modified_by_ref': 'identity--c78cb6e5-0c4b-4611-8297-d1b8b55e40b5',
 'x_mitre_version': '2.0'}
Quick Actions
Related TTPs (11)
Match Legitimate Resource Nam…
Defense Evasion

Msiexec
Defense Evasion

Scheduled Task
Execution

Windows Command Shell
Execution

Visual Basic
Execution