SideWinder APT Launches Covert Multi-Stage Assault on Middle East and Africa
October 17, 2024
Malware / Cyber Espionage
An advanced persistent threat (APT) known as SideWinder, with suspected links to India, has initiated a wave of attacks targeting high-profile organizations and critical infrastructure in the Middle East and Africa. This group, also referred to as APT-C-17, Baby Elephant, Hardcore Nationalist, Leafperforator, Rattlesnake, Razor Tiger, and T-APT-04, may initially appear low-skilled due to its reliance on publicly available exploits, malicious LNK files, scripts, and common remote access tools (RATs). However, Kaspersky researchers Giampaolo Dedola and Vasily Berdnikov suggest that their true capabilities become evident upon closer examination of their operational tactics. The group’s targets include government and military sectors, logistics, telecommunications, financial institutions, universities, and oil trading firms in countries such as Bangladesh, Djibouti, Jordan, and Malaysia.