G0016: APT29
APT29 is threat group that has been attributed to Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR).[1][2] They have operated since at least 2008, often targeting government networks in Europe and NATO member countries, research institutes, and think tanks. APT29 reportedly compromised the Democratic National Committee starting in the summer of 2015.[3][4][5][6]
In April 2021, the US and UK governments attributed the SolarWinds Compromise to the SVR; public statements included citations to APT29, Cozy Bear, and The Dukes.[7][8] Industry reporting also referred to the actors involved in this campaign as UNC2452, NOBELIUM, StellarParticle, Dark Halo, and SolarStorm.[9][10][11][12][13][14]
Security context for executives and security teams
G0016: APT29 describes [APT29](https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G0016) is threat group that has been attributed to Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR).(Citation: White House Imposing Costs RU Gov April 2021)(Citation: UK Gov Malign RIS Activity April 2021) They have operated since at least 2008, often targeting government networks in Europe and NATO member countries, research institutes, and think tanks. [APT29](https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G0016) reportedly compromised the Democratic National Committee starting in the summer o...
Executive priority
G0016: APT29 is an official MITRE ATT&CK group. 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 G0016: APT29 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 G0016: APT29 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.
APT29
APT29 is threat group that has been attributed to Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR).[1][2] They have operated since at least 2008, often targeting government networks in Europe and NATO member countries, research institutes, and think tanks. APT29 reportedly compromised the Democratic National Committee starting in the summer of 2015.[3][4][5][6]
In April 2021, the US and UK governments attributed the SolarWinds Compromise to the SVR; public statements included citations to APT29, Cozy Bear, and The Dukes.[7][8] Industry reporting also referred to the actors involved in this campaign as UNC2452, NOBELIUM, StellarParticle, Dark Halo, and SolarStorm.[9][10][11][12][13][14]
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 | T1621 | Multi-Factor Authentication Request Generation | APT29 has used repeated MFA requests to gain access to victim accounts.CitationSuspected Russian Activity Targeting Government and Business Entities Around the GlobeCitationNCSC et al APT29 2024 |
| Enterprise | T1003.002 | Security Account ManagerSub-technique | |
| Enterprise | T1588.002 | ToolSub-technique | |
| Enterprise | T1090.004 | Domain FrontingSub-technique | |
| Enterprise | T1528 | Steal Application Access Token | APT29 uses stolen tokens to access victim accounts, without needing a password.CitationNCSC et al APT29 2024 |
| Enterprise | T1568 | Dynamic Resolution | |
| Enterprise | T1068 | Exploitation for Privilege Escalation | APT29 has exploited CVE-2021-36934 to escalate privileges on a compromised host.CitationESET T3 Threat Report 2021 |
| Enterprise | T1546.003 | Windows Management Instrumentation Event SubscriptionSub-technique | APT29 has used WMI event subscriptions for persistence.CitationMandiant No Easy Breach |
| Enterprise | T1547.001 | Registry Run Keys / Startup FolderSub-technique | APT29 added Registry Run keys to establish persistence.CitationMandiant No Easy Breach |
| Enterprise | T1136.003 | Cloud AccountSub-technique | APT29 can create new users through Azure AD.CitationMSTIC Nobelium Oct 2021 |
| Enterprise | T1098.005 | Device RegistrationSub-technique | APT29 has enrolled their own devices into compromised cloud tenants, including enrolling a device in MFA to an Azure AD environment following a successful password guessing attack against a dormant account.CitationMandiant APT29 Microsoft 365 2022CitationNCSC et al APT29 2024 |
| Enterprise | T1587.003 | Digital CertificatesSub-technique | |
| Enterprise | T1005 | Data from Local System | |
| Enterprise | T1105 | Ingress Tool Transfer | |
| Enterprise | T1651 | Cloud Administration Command | APT29 has used Azure Run Command and Azure Admin-on-Behalf-of (AOBO) to execute code on virtual machines.CitationMSTIC Nobelium Oct 2021 |
| Enterprise | T1566.001 | Spearphishing AttachmentSub-technique | |
| Enterprise | T1078.004 | Cloud AccountsSub-technique | |
| Enterprise | T1053.005 | Scheduled TaskSub-technique | APT29 has used named and hijacked scheduled tasks to establish persistence.CitationMandiant No Easy Breach |
| Enterprise | T1016.001 | Internet Connection DiscoverySub-technique | |
| Enterprise | T1587.001 | MalwareSub-technique | |
| Enterprise | T1583.006 | Web ServicesSub-technique | APT29 has registered algorithmically generated Twitter handles that are used for C2 by malware, such as HAMMERTOSS. APT29 has also used legitimate web services such as Dropbox and Constant Contact in their operations.CitationFireEye APT29[23] |
| Enterprise | T1090.003 | Multi-hop ProxySub-technique | |
| Enterprise | T1037 | Boot or Logon Initialization Scripts | |
| Enterprise | T1027.006 | HTML SmugglingSub-technique | APT29 has embedded an ISO file within an HTML attachment that contained JavaScript code to initiate malware execution.CitationESET T3 Threat Report 2021 |
| Enterprise | T1070.004 | File DeletionSub-technique | |
| Enterprise | T1203 | Exploitation for Client Execution | |
| Enterprise | T1550.003 | Pass the TicketSub-technique | APT29 used Kerberos ticket attacks for lateral movement.CitationMandiant No Easy Breach |
| Enterprise | T1204.001 | Malicious LinkSub-technique | |
| Enterprise | T1036.005 | Match Legitimate Resource Name or LocationSub-technique | |
| Enterprise | T1110.003 | Password SprayingSub-technique | |
| Enterprise | T1114.002 | Remote Email CollectionSub-technique | |
| Enterprise | T1027.001 | Binary PaddingSub-technique | |
| Enterprise | T1556.007 | Hybrid IdentitySub-technique | APT29 has edited the `Microsoft.IdentityServer.Servicehost.exe.config` file to load a malicious DLL into the AD FS process, thereby enabling persistent access to any service federated with AD FS for a user with a specified User Principal Name.CitationMagicWeb |
| Enterprise | T1059.001 | PowerShellSub-technique | |
| Enterprise | T1133 | External Remote Services | |
| Enterprise | T1037.004 | RC ScriptsSub-technique | |
| Enterprise | T1021.007 | Cloud ServicesSub-technique | APT29 has leveraged compromised high-privileged on-premises accounts synced to Office 365 to move laterally into a cloud environment, including through the use of Azure AD PowerShell.CitationMandiant Remediation and Hardening Strategies for Microsoft 365 |
| Enterprise | T1595.002 | Vulnerability ScanningSub-technique | |
| Enterprise | T1566.002 | Spearphishing LinkSub-technique | |
| Enterprise | T1070.006 | TimestompSub-technique | |
| Enterprise | T1586.003 | Cloud AccountsSub-technique | APT29 has used residential proxies, including Azure Virtual Machines, to obfuscate their access to victim environments.CitationMandiant APT29 Microsoft 365 2022 |
| Enterprise | T1090.002 | External ProxySub-technique | APT29 uses compromised residential endpoints as proxies for defense evasion and network access.CitationNCSC et al APT29 2024 |
| Enterprise | T1573 | Encrypted Channel | |
| Enterprise | T1047 | Windows Management Instrumentation | APT29 used WMI to steal credentials and execute backdoors at a future time.CitationMandiant No Easy Breach |
| Enterprise | T1110.001 | Password GuessingSub-technique | APT29 has successfully conducted password guessing attacks against a list of mailboxes.CitationMandiant APT29 Microsoft 365 2022 |
| Enterprise | T1199 | Trusted Relationship | APT29 has compromised IT, cloud services, and managed services providers to gain broad access to multiple customers for subsequent operations.CitationMSTIC Nobelium Oct 2021 |
| Enterprise | T1566.003 | Spearphishing via ServiceSub-technique | |
| Enterprise | T1078 | Valid Accounts | APT29 has used a compromised account to access an organization's VPN infrastructure.CitationMandiant APT29 Microsoft 365 2022 |
| Enterprise | T1505.003 | Web ShellSub-technique |
Groups, software, and campaigns
S0048: PinchDuke
S0684: ROADTools
S0515: WellMail
S0046: CozyCar
S0002: Mimikatz
S0175: meek
meek is an open-source Tor plugin that tunnels Tor traffic through HTTPS connections.
S0682: TrailBlazer
TrailBlazer is a modular malware that has been used by APT29 since at least 2019.[1]
S0057: Tasklist
S0052: OnionDuke
S0512: FatDuke
S0150: POSHSPY
S0634: EnvyScout
C0023: Operation Ghost
Operation Ghost was an APT29 campaign starting in 2013 that included operations against ministries of foreign affairs in Europe and the Washington, D.C. embassy of a European Union country. During Operation Ghost, APT29 used new families of malware and leveraged web services, steganography, and unique C2 infrastructure for each victim.[1]
C0024: SolarWinds Compromise
The SolarWinds Compromise was a sophisticated supply chain cyber operation conducted by APT29 that was discovered in mid-December 2020. APT29 used customized malware to inject malicious code into the SolarWinds Orion software build process that was later distributed through a normal software update; they also used password spraying, token theft, API abuse, spear phishing, and other supply chain attacks to compromise user accounts and leverage their associated access. Victims of this campaign included government, consulting, technology, telecom, and other organizations in North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. This activity has been labled the StellarParticle campaign in industry reporting.[1] Industry reporting also initially referred to the actors involved in this campaign as UNC2452, NOBELIUM, Dark Halo, and SolarStorm.[2][3][4][5][1][6][7][8]
In April 2021, the US and UK governments attributed the SolarWinds Compromise to Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR); public statements included citations to APT29, Cozy Bear, and The Dukes.[9][10][11] The US government assessed that of the approximately 18,000 affected public and private sector customers of Solar Winds’ Orion product, a much smaller number were compromised by follow-on APT29 activity on their systems.[12]
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 | 6.2 | Current bundle | d0ee7035952b… | ||
| 19.1 | 6.2 | Older bundle | 66bfb5ded9ef… |
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]White House Imposing Costs RU Gov April 2021
White House. (2021, April 15). Imposing Costs for Harmful Foreign Activities by the Russian Government. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
Open source URL - [2]UK Gov Malign RIS Activity April 2021
UK Gov. (2021, April 15). UK and US expose global campaign of malign activity by Russian intelligence services . Retrieved April 16, 2021.
Open source URL - [3]F-Secure The Dukes
F-Secure Labs. (2015, September 17). The Dukes: 7 years of Russian cyberespionage. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
Open source URL - [4]GRIZZLY STEPPE JAR
Department of Homeland Security and Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2016, December 29). GRIZZLY STEPPE – Russian Malicious Cyber Activity. Retrieved January 11, 2017.
Open source URL - [5]Crowdstrike DNC June 2016
Alperovitch, D.. (2016, June 15). Bears in the Midst: Intrusion into the Democratic National Committee. Retrieved August 3, 2016.
Open source URL - [6]UK Gov UK Exposes Russia SolarWinds April 2021
UK Gov. (2021, April 15). UK exposes Russian involvement in SolarWinds cyber compromise . Retrieved April 16, 2021.
Open source URL - [7]NSA Joint Advisory SVR SolarWinds April 2021
NSA, FBI, DHS. (2021, April 15). Russian SVR Targets U.S. and Allied Networks. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
Open source URL - [8]UK NSCS Russia SolarWinds April 2021
UK NCSC. (2021, April 15). UK and US call out Russia for SolarWinds compromise. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
Open source URL - [9]FireEye SUNBURST Backdoor December 2020
FireEye. (2020, December 13). Highly Evasive Attacker Leverages SolarWinds Supply Chain to Compromise Multiple Global Victims With SUNBURST Backdoor. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
Open source URL - [10]MSTIC NOBELIUM Mar 2021
Nafisi, R., Lelli, A. (2021, March 4). GoldMax, GoldFinder, and Sibot: Analyzing NOBELIUM’s layered persistence. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
Open source URL - [11]CrowdStrike SUNSPOT Implant January 2021
CrowdStrike Intelligence Team. (2021, January 11). SUNSPOT: An Implant in the Build Process. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
Open source URL - [12]Volexity SolarWinds
Cash, D. et al. (2020, December 14). Dark Halo Leverages SolarWinds Compromise to Breach Organizations. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
Open source URL - [13]Cybersecurity Advisory SVR TTP May 2021
NCSC, CISA, FBI, NSA. (2021, May 7). Further TTPs associated with SVR cyber actors. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
Open source URL - [14]Unit 42 SolarStorm December 2020
Unit 42. (2020, December 23). SolarStorm Supply Chain Attack Timeline. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
Open source URL - [15]ESET Dukes October 2019
Faou, M., Tartare, M., Dupuy, T. (2019, October). OPERATION GHOST. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
Open source URL - [16]NCSC APT29 July 2020
National Cyber Security Centre. (2020, July 16). Advisory: APT29 targets COVID-19 vaccine development. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
Open source URL - [17]Secureworks IRON HEMLOCK Profile
Secureworks CTU. (n.d.). IRON HEMLOCK. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
- [18]CrowdStrike StellarParticle January 2022
CrowdStrike. (2022, January 27). Early Bird Catches the Wormhole: Observations from the StellarParticle Campaign. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
Open source URL - [19]Mandiant APT29 Eye Spy Email Nov 22
Mandiant. (2022, May 2). UNC3524: Eye Spy on Your Email. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
Open source URL - [20]MSTIC Nobelium Toolset May 2021
MSTIC. (2021, May 28). Breaking down NOBELIUM’s latest early-stage toolset. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
Open source URL - [21]PWC WellMess July 2020
PWC. (2020, July 16). How WellMess malware has been used to target COVID-19 vaccines. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
Open source URL - [22]PWC WellMess C2 August 2020
PWC. (2020, August 17). WellMess malware: analysis of its Command and Control (C2) server. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
Open source URL - [23]MSTIC NOBELIUM May 2021
Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center (MSTIC). (2021, May 27). New sophisticated email-based attack from NOBELIUM. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
Open source URL - [24]Secureworks IRON RITUAL Profile
Secureworks CTU. (n.d.). IRON RITUAL. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
Open source URL - [25]SentinelOne NobleBaron June 2021
Guerrero-Saade, J. (2021, June 1). NobleBaron | New Poisoned Installers Could Be Used In Supply Chain Attacks. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
Open source URL - [26]MSRC Nobelium June 2021
MSRC. (2021, June 25). New Nobelium activity. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
Open source URL - [27]APT29
(Citation: F-Secure The Dukes)(Citation: FireEye APT29 Nov 2018)(Citation: ESET Dukes October 2019)(Citation: NCSC APT29 July 2020)(Citation: Cybersecurity Advisory SVR TTP May 2021)
- [28]Blue Kitsune
(Citation: PWC WellMess July 2020)(Citation: PWC WellMess C2 August 2020)
- [29]Cozy Bear
(Citation: Crowdstrike DNC June 2016)(Citation: ESET Dukes October 2019)(Citation: NCSC APT29 July 2020)(Citation: Cybersecurity Advisory SVR TTP May 2021)(Citation: CrowdStrike StellarParticle January 2022)
- [30]CozyDuke
(Citation: Crowdstrike DNC June 2016)
- [31]Dark Halo
(Citation: Volexity SolarWinds)
- [32]FireEye APT29 Nov 2018
Dunwoody, M., et al. (2018, November 19). Not So Cozy: An Uncomfortable Examination of a Suspected APT29 Phishing Campaign. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
Open source URL - [33]IRON HEMLOCK
(Citation: Secureworks IRON HEMLOCK Profile)
- [34]IRON RITUAL
(Citation: Secureworks IRON RITUAL Profile)
- [35]Microsoft Threat Actor Naming July 2023
Microsoft . (2023, July 12). How Microsoft names threat actors. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
Open source URL - [36]Microsoft Unidentified Dec 2018
Microsoft Defender Research Team. (2018, December 3). Analysis of cyberattack on U.S. think tanks, non-profits, public sector by unidentified attackers. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
Open source URL - [37]Midnight Blizzard
(Citation: Microsoft Threat Actor Naming July 2023)
- [38]NOBELIUM
(Citation: MSTIC NOBELIUM Mar 2021)(Citation: MSTIC NOBELIUM May 2021)(Citation: MSTIC Nobelium Toolset May 2021)(Citation: MSRC Nobelium June 2021)
- [39]NobleBaron
(Citation: SentinelOne NobleBaron June 2021)
- [40]SolarStorm
(Citation: Unit 42 SolarStorm December 2020)
- [41]The Dukes
(Citation: F-Secure The Dukes)(Citation: ESET Dukes October 2019)(Citation: NCSC APT29 July 2020)(Citation: Cybersecurity Advisory SVR TTP May 2021)
- [42]UNC2452
(Citation: FireEye SUNBURST Backdoor December 2020)
- [43]UNC3524
(Citation: Mandiant APT29 Eye Spy Email Nov 22)
- [44]YTTRIUM
(Citation: Microsoft Unidentified Dec 2018)
- [45]mitre-attackG0016Open source URL
Source: MITRE ATT&CK®. © 2026 The MITRE Corporation. This work is reproduced and distributed with the permission of The MITRE Corporation. MITRE ATT&CK and ATT&CK are registered trademarks of The MITRE Corporation. Glexia is not affiliated with or endorsed by MITRE.
