APT1

Overview

APT1 is a Chinese threat group that has been attributed to the 2nd Bureau of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) General Staff Department’s (GSD) 3rd Department, commonly known by its Military Unit Cover Designator (MUCD) as Unit 61398.

Naming & attribution

APT1 is tracked under 4 names across the industry. It uses 23 documented ATT&CK techniques — more than 57% of the 174 groups tracked here.

Closest groups by technique overlap

Computed from shared ATT&CK techniques. Overlap is not attribution — distinct actors converge on the same tradecraft — but a high share is a useful pivot.

• admin@338 China — 7 shared techniques (25% overlap)
• Ke3chang China — 13 shared techniques (23% overlap)
• Chimera China — 15 shared techniques (22% overlap)
• MirrorFace China — 12 shared techniques (22% overlap)
• Aquatic Panda China — 10 shared techniques (21% overlap)
• Earth Lusca China — 11 shared techniques (20% overlap)

Targets

Government · Private sector

Regions

Belgium · Canada · France · India · Israel · Japan · Luxembourg · Norway · Singapore · South Africa · Switzerland · Taiwan · United Arab Emirates · United Kingdom · United States

Capabilities

• Custom malware/implant development — ATT&CK: 6 attributed custom malware families

TTPs — 23 techniques across 8 tactics

Tools & malware (17)

Seasalt · ipconfig · BISCUIT · Cachedump · PsExec · GLOOXMAIL · Lslsass · PoisonIvy · WEBC2 · Mimikatz · gsecdump · Pass-The-Hash Toolkit · CALENDAR · Tasklist · Net · xCmd · pwdump

Reporting (1)

• CrowdStrike Intelligence Report: Putter Panda — Crowdstrike Global Intelligence Team