C0007: FunnyDream
FunnyDream was a suspected Chinese cyber espionage campaign that targeted government and foreign organizations in Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, and other parts of Southeast Asia. Security researchers linked the FunnyDream campaign to possible Chinese-speaking threat actors through the use of the Chinoxy backdoor and noted infrastructure overlap with the TAG-16 threat group.[1][2][3]
Security context for executives and security teams
C0007: FunnyDream describes [FunnyDream](https://attack.mitre.org/campaigns/C0007) was a suspected Chinese cyber espionage campaign that targeted government and foreign organizations in Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, and other parts of Southeast Asia. Security researchers linked the [FunnyDream](https://attack.mitre.org/campaigns/C0007) campaign to possible Chinese-speaking threat actors through the use of the [Chinoxy](https://attack.mitre.org/software/S1041) backdoor and noted infrastructure overlap with the TAG-16 threat group...
Executive priority
C0007: FunnyDream is an official MITRE ATT&CK campaign. Glexia treats it as defensive behavior context for prioritizing monitoring, control validation, and response planning without using the object by itself as an attribution claim.
Technical view
Security teams should validate C0007: FunnyDream by reviewing the official ATT&CK relationships, mapped tactics (the mapped ATT&CK tactic context), supported platforms (the platforms named in the official object), and available local telemetry before making detection or mitigation decisions.
Likely telemetry
- Official ATT&CK relationships and object metadata
Detection direction
- Validate whether C0007: FunnyDream appears in your detection coverage and tabletop scenarios.
- Use the object to align executive risk language with SOC, incident response, and detection engineering work.
- Do not treat ATT&CK relationship context as attribution without corroborating evidence.
Mitigation priorities
- Map the object to existing controls and identify missing telemetry or response ownership.
- Prioritize mitigations that reduce exposure on the listed platforms and tactics.
- Review adjacent ATT&CK relationships before changing policy, detections, or reporting language.
Additional notes and limits
Baseline Glexia take generated from the official MITRE ATT&CK STIX object, source hash, tactics, platforms, and detection fields. It is safe to replace with a richer model-generated take for the same source hash later.
This baseline take is source-grounded and schema-validated, but it does not include environment-specific telemetry, incident evidence, or threat-intelligence corroboration.
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
FunnyDream
FunnyDream was a suspected Chinese cyber espionage campaign that targeted government and foreign organizations in Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, and other parts of Southeast Asia. Security researchers linked the FunnyDream campaign to possible Chinese-speaking threat actors through the use of the Chinoxy backdoor and noted infrastructure overlap with the TAG-16 threat group.[1][2][3]
How security teams should use this page
Treat this object as behavior context, not an attribution claim. Validate the related groups, software, data sources, and mitigations against official ATT&CK relationships and your own telemetry before making control-coverage decisions.
Techniques used
This mirrors the MITRE pattern of making group, software, campaign, and technique relationships scannable. Relationship notes come from mirrored ATT&CK relationship text when available.
| Domain | ID | Name | Relationship / procedure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enterprise | T1059.005 | Visual BasicSub-technique | During FunnyDream, the threat actors used a Visual Basic script to run remote commands.[1] |
| Enterprise | T1018 | Remote System Discovery | During FunnyDream, the threat actors used several tools and batch files to map victims' internal networks.[1] |
| Enterprise | T1016 | System Network Configuration Discovery | During FunnyDream, the threat actors used ipconfig for discovery on remote systems.[1] |
| Enterprise | T1560.001 | Archive via UtilitySub-technique | During FunnyDream, the threat actors used 7zr.exe to add collected files to an archive.[1] |
| Enterprise | T1059.003 | Windows Command ShellSub-technique | During FunnyDream, the threat actors used `cmd.exe` to execute the wmiexec.vbs script.[1] |
| Enterprise | T1105 | Ingress Tool Transfer | During FunnyDream, the threat actors downloaded additional droppers and backdoors onto a compromised system.[1] |
| Enterprise | T1588.001 | MalwareSub-technique | For FunnyDream, the threat actors used a new backdoor named FunnyDream.[1] |
| Enterprise | T1057 | Process Discovery | During FunnyDream, the threat actors used Tasklist on targeted systems.[1] |
| Enterprise | T1583.001 | DomainsSub-technique | For FunnyDream, the threat actors registered a variety of domains.[1] |
| Enterprise | T1049 | System Network Connections Discovery | During FunnyDream, the threat actors used netstat to discover network connections on remote systems.[1] |
| Enterprise | T1585.002 | Email AccountsSub-technique | For FunnyDream, the threat actors likely established an identified email account to register a variety of domains that were used during the campaign.[1] |
| Enterprise | T1047 | Windows Management Instrumentation | During FunnyDream, the threat actors used `wmiexec.vbs` to run remote commands.[1] |
| Enterprise | T1588.002 | ToolSub-technique | For FunnyDream, the threat actors used a modified version of the open source PcShare remote administration tool.[1] |
| Enterprise | T1082 | System Information Discovery | During FunnyDream, the threat actors used Systeminfo to collect information on targeted hosts.[1] |
Groups, software, and campaigns
S1043: ccf32
ccf32 is data collection malware that has been used since at least February 2019, most notably during the FunnyDream campaign; there is also a similar x64 version.[1]
S1044: FunnyDream
FunnyDream is a backdoor with multiple components that was used during the FunnyDream campaign since at least 2019, primarily for execution and exfiltration.[1]
S0096: Systeminfo
Systeminfo is a Windows utility that can be used to gather detailed information about a computer. [1]
S0100: ipconfig
S0057: Tasklist
S0104: netstat
S1041: Chinoxy
Chinoxy is a backdoor that has been used since at least November 2018, during the FunnyDream campaign, to gain persistence and drop additional payloads. According to security researchers, Chinoxy has been used by Chinese-speaking threat actors.[1]
S1050: PcShare
All related ATT&CK context
Object version and sync metadata
The fields below describe the current mirrored snapshot. When Glexia retains multiple ATT&CK source imports, you can open the table to compare the same object across releases (hashes and MITRE timestamps). For MITRE’s own release notes and roadmap, see ATT&CK resources — Updates.
Imported snapshots across ATT&CK releases(2)
| Release | Bundle imported | Object version | Modified | Status | Raw hash |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19.2 | 1.0 | Current bundle | 21a11bdd4f77… | ||
| 19.1 | 1.0 | Older bundle | 634cfc854be3… |
Mirrored ATT&CK source object
The raw object is retained through the mirrored ATT&CK source bundle and object hash. The raw endpoint returns the exact object from the mirrored bundle when available.
External references and citations
MITRE external references are preserved separately from Glexia analysis so citations remain traceable to their original source records.
- [1]Bitdefender FunnyDream Campaign November 2020
Vrabie, V. (2020, November). Dissecting a Chinese APT Targeting South Eastern Asian Government Institutions. Retrieved September 19, 2022.
Open source URL - [2]Kaspersky APT Trends Q1 2020
Global Research and Analysis Team. (2020, April 30). APT trends report Q1 2020. Retrieved September 19, 2022.
Open source URL - [3]Recorded Future Chinese Activity in Southeast Asia December 2021
Insikt Group. (2021, December 8). Chinese State-Sponsored Cyber Espionage Activity Supports Expansion of Regional Power and Influence in Southeast Asia. Retrieved September 19, 2022.
Open source URL - [4]mitre-attackC0007Open source URL
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