Threat Actor Profile
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
Known Aliases
Tags
First Seen
Unknown
Last Updated
Unknown
Active Status
ActiveCreated
April 29, 2026
MITRE ATT&CK Techniques (9)
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'}