Threat Group Cards: A Threat Actor Encyclopedia

APT group: SharpPanda, Sharp Dragon

Names	SharpPanda (Check Point) Sharp Dragon (Check Point)
Country	China
Motivation	Information theft and espionage
First seen	2018
Description	(Check Point) Check Point Research identified an ongoing surveillance operation targeting a Southeast Asian government. The attackers use spear-phishing to gain initial access and leverage old Microsoft Office vulnerabilities together with the chain of in-memory loaders to attempt and install a previously unknown backdoor on victim’s machines. Our investigation shows the operation was carried out by what we believe is a Chinese APT group that has been testing and refining the tools in its arsenal for at least 3 years.
Observed	Sectors: Government. Countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Africa, the Caribbean and Southeast Asia.
Tools used	8.t Dropper, Cobalt Strike.
Operations performed	2024	Chinese Espionage Campaign Expands to Target Africa and The Caribbean <https://blog.checkpoint.com/research/chinese-espionage-campaign-expands-to-target-africa-and-the-caribbean/>
	Mar 2024	Inside the SharpPanda's Malware Targeting Malaysia <https://notes.netbytesec.com/2024/05/inside-sharppandas-malware-targeting.html>
Information	<https://research.checkpoint.com/2021/chinese-apt-group-targets-southeast-asian-government-with-previously-unknown-backdoor/>

Last change to this card: 19 June 2024

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