Deep Panda

Overview

Deep Panda is a suspected Chinese threat group known to target many industries, including government, defense, financial, and telecommunications. The intrusion into healthcare company Anthem has been attributed to Deep Panda. This group is also known as Shell Crew, WebMasters, KungFu Kittens, and PinkPanther. Deep Panda also appears to be known as Black Vine based on the attribution of both group names to the Anthem intrusion. Some analysts track Deep Panda and APT19 as the same group, but it is unclear from open source information if the groups are the same.

Naming & attribution

Deep Panda is tracked under 6 names across the industry. It uses 10 documented ATT&CK techniques — more than 30% 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.

• ToddyCat — 6 shared techniques (21% overlap)
• APT3 China — 7 shared techniques (15% overlap)
• GALLIUM China — 5 shared techniques (14% overlap)
• Blue Mockingbird — 4 shared techniques (14% overlap)
• Play — 4 shared techniques (13% overlap)
• Stealth Falcon — 3 shared techniques (13% overlap)

Targets

Finance · Military · Non-profit Organisation · Private sector · Technology

Regions

United States

Capabilities

• Custom malware/implant development — ATT&CK: 4 attributed custom malware families

TTPs — 10 techniques across 6 tactics

Tools & malware (7)

Mivast · Ping · Net · StreamEx · Sakula · Tasklist · Derusbi

Reporting (3)

• ICIT Brief - China’s Espionage Dynasty: Economic Death by a Thousand Cuts — Scott, J. and Spaniel, D
• The Black Vine cyberespionage group — DiMaggio, J.
• The Anthem Hack: All Roads Lead to China — ThreatConnect Research Team