Storm-0501

Overview

Storm-0501 is a financially motivated cyber criminal group that uses commodity and open-source tools to conduct ransomware operations. Storm-0501 has been active since 2021 and has previously been affiliated with Sabbath Ransomware and other Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) variants such as Hive, BlackCat, Hunters International, LockBit 3.0, and Embargo ransomware.

Naming & attribution

It uses 42 documented ATT&CK techniques — more than 78% of the 174 groups tracked here. Activity attributed since 2021.

Distinctive techniques

Techniques this group uses that are rare across the other 173 tracked groups — these carry more signal than the near-universal ones.

• T1098.001 Additional Cloud Credentials — used by 1 of 174 groups
• T1526 Cloud Service Discovery — used by 1 of 174 groups
• T1087.004 Cloud Account — used by 2 of 174 groups
• T1484.002 Trust Modification — used by 2 of 174 groups
• T1555.006 Cloud Secrets Management Stores — used by 2 of 174 groups
• T1556.009 Conditional Access Policies — used by 2 of 174 groups
• T1578.003 Delete Cloud Instance — used by 2 of 174 groups
• T1580 Cloud Infrastructure Discovery — used by 2 of 174 groups

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.

• Scattered Spider — 17 shared techniques (19% overlap)
• VOID MANTICORE Iran — 13 shared techniques (14% overlap)
• BlackByte — 11 shared techniques (14% overlap)
• ToddyCat — 7 shared techniques (12% overlap)
• APT38 North Korea — 10 shared techniques (11% overlap)
• Medusa Group — 10 shared techniques (11% overlap)

Capabilities

• Destructive / data-wiping operations — ATT&CK T1485
• Exploitation of public-facing / client applications — ATT&CK T1190

TTPs — 42 techniques across 13 tactics

Tools & malware (8)

Impacket · Tasklist · Cobalt Strike · Embargo · Rclone · Nltest · Net · AADInternals

Reporting (3)

• Storm-0501’s evolving techniques lead to cloud-based ransomware — Microsoft Threat Intelligence
• Storm-0501: Ransomware attacks expanding to hybrid cloud environments — Microsoft Threat Intelligence
• An In-Depth Look at Ransomware Gang, Sabbath — Avertium