Threat Actor Profile
High APT
Description

Elderwood is a suspected Chinese cyber espionage group that was reportedly responsible for the 2009 Google intrusion known as Operation Aurora. (Citation: Security Affairs Elderwood Sept 2012) The group has targeted defense organizations, supply chain manufacturers, human rights and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and IT service providers. (Citation: Symantec Elderwood Sept 2012) (Citation: CSM Elderwood Sept 2012)

Confidence Score
90%
Known Aliases
Elderwood Elderwood Gang Beijing Group Sneaky Panda
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 (9)
T1105 - Ingress Tool Transfer
Command and Control
T1027.002 - Software Packing
Defense Evasion
T1027.013 - Encrypted/Encoded File
Defense Evasion
T1203 - Exploitation for Client Execution
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': ['Elderwood', 'Elderwood Gang', 'Beijing Group', 'Sneaky Panda'],
 'created': '2018-04-18T17:59:24.739Z',
 'created_by_ref': 'identity--c78cb6e5-0c4b-4611-8297-d1b8b55e40b5',
 'description': '[Elderwood](https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G0066) is a '
                'suspected Chinese cyber espionage group that was reportedly '
                'responsible for the 2009 Google intrusion known as Operation '
                'Aurora. (Citation: Security Affairs Elderwood Sept 2012) The '
                'group has targeted defense organizations, supply chain '
                'manufacturers, human rights and nongovernmental organizations '
                '(NGOs), and IT service providers. (Citation: Symantec '
                'Elderwood Sept 2012) (Citation: CSM Elderwood Sept 2012)',
 'external_references': [{'external_id': 'G0066',
                          'source_name': 'mitre-attack',
                          'url': 'https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G0066'},
                         {'description': '(Citation: CSM Elderwood Sept 2012)',
                          'source_name': 'Beijing Group'},
                         {'description': '(Citation: CSM Elderwood Sept 2012)',
                          'source_name': 'Sneaky Panda'},
                         {'description': '(Citation: Security Affairs '
                                         'Elderwood Sept 2012) (Citation: '
                                         'Symantec Elderwood Sept 2012) '
                                         '(Citation: CSM Elderwood Sept 2012)',
                          'source_name': 'Elderwood'},
                         {'description': '(Citation: Symantec Elderwood Sept '
                                         '2012) (Citation: CSM Elderwood Sept '
                                         '2012)',
                          'source_name': 'Elderwood Gang'},
                         {'description': 'Clayton, M.. (2012, September 14). '
                                         'Stealing US business secrets: '
                                         "Experts ID two huge cyber 'gangs' in "
                                         'China. Retrieved February 15, 2018.',
                          'source_name': 'CSM Elderwood Sept 2012',
                          'url': 'https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2012/0914/Stealing-US-business-secrets-Experts-ID-two-huge-cyber-gangs-in-China'},
                         {'description': "O'Gorman, G., and McDonald, G.. "
                                         '(2012, September 6). The Elderwood '
                                         'Project. Retrieved November 17, '
                                         '2024.',
                          'source_name': 'Symantec Elderwood Sept 2012',
                          'url': 'https://web.archive.org/web/20190717233006/http:/www.symantec.com/content/en/us/enterprise/media/security_response/whitepapers/the-elderwood-project.pdf'},
                         {'description': 'Paganini, P. (2012, September 9). '
                                         'Elderwood project, who is behind Op. '
                                         'Aurora and ongoing attacks?. '
                                         'Retrieved February 13, 2018.',
                          'source_name': 'Security Affairs Elderwood Sept 2012',
                          'url': 'http://securityaffairs.co/wordpress/8528/hacking/elderwood-project-who-is-behind-op-aurora-and-ongoing-attacks.html'}],
 'id': 'intrusion-set--03506554-5f37-4f8f-9ce4-0e9f01a1b484',
 'modified': '2024-11-17T19:55:07.587Z',
 'name': 'Elderwood',
 '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_contributors': ['Valerii Marchuk, Cybersecurity Help s.r.o.'],
 'x_mitre_deprecated': False,
 'x_mitre_domains': ['enterprise-attack'],
 'x_mitre_modified_by_ref': 'identity--c78cb6e5-0c4b-4611-8297-d1b8b55e40b5',
 'x_mitre_version': '1.3'}
Quick Actions
Related TTPs (9)
Ingress Tool Transfer
Command and Control

Software Packing
Defense Evasion

Encrypted/Encoded File
Defense Evasion

Exploitation for Client Execu…
Execution

Malicious Link
Execution