S0228: NanHaiShu
Security context for executives and security teams
S0228: NanHaiShu describes [NanHaiShu](https://attack.mitre.org/software/S0228) is a remote access tool and JScript backdoor used by [Leviathan](https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G0065). [NanHaiShu](https://attack.mitre.org/software/S0228) has been used to target government and private-sector organizations that have relations to the South China Sea dispute. (Citation: Proofpoint Leviathan Oct 2017) (Citation: fsecure NanHaiShu July 2016)
Executive priority
S0228: NanHaiShu is an official MITRE ATT&CK software. 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 S0228: NanHaiShu by reviewing the official ATT&CK relationships, mapped tactics (the mapped ATT&CK tactic context), supported platforms (Windows), and available local telemetry before making detection or mitigation decisions.
Likely telemetry
- Official ATT&CK relationships and object metadata
- Network, endpoint, and security-tool telemetry
Detection direction
- Validate whether S0228: NanHaiShu 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.
NanHaiShu
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 | T1027.013 | Encrypted/Encoded FileSub-technique | |
| Enterprise | T1059.007 | JavaScriptSub-technique | |
| Enterprise | T1685 | Disable or Modify Tools | |
| Enterprise | T1059.005 | Visual BasicSub-technique | |
| Enterprise | T1016 | System Network Configuration Discovery | |
| Enterprise | T1105 | Ingress Tool Transfer | |
| Enterprise | T1070.004 | File DeletionSub-technique | |
| Enterprise | T1218.005 | MshtaSub-technique | |
| Enterprise | T1071.004 | DNSSub-technique | |
| Enterprise | T1547.001 | Registry Run Keys / Startup FolderSub-technique | |
| Enterprise | T1082 | System Information Discovery | |
| Enterprise | T1033 | System Owner/User Discovery |
Groups, software, and campaigns
G0065: Leviathan
Leviathan is a Chinese state-sponsored cyber espionage group that has been attributed to the Ministry of State Security's (MSS) Hainan State Security Department and an affiliated front company.[1] Active since at least 2009, Leviathan has targeted the following sectors: academia, aerospace/aviation, biomedical, defense industrial base, government, healthcare, manufacturing, maritime, and transportation across the US, Canada, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia.[1][2][3][4]
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 | 1.2 | Current bundle | 15a069aa08f0… | ||
| 19.1 | 1.2 | Older bundle | 15a069aa08f0… |
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]Proofpoint Leviathan Oct 2017
Axel F, Pierre T. (2017, October 16). Leviathan: Espionage actor spearphishes maritime and defense targets. Retrieved February 15, 2018.
Open source URL - [2]fsecure NanHaiShu July 2016
F-Secure Labs. (2016, July). NANHAISHU RATing the South China Sea. Retrieved July 6, 2018.
Open source URL - [3]NanHaiShu
(Citation: Proofpoint Leviathan Oct 2017)
- [4]mitre-attackS0228Open source URL
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