Threat Actor

Tonto Team

Tonto Team is a suspected Chinese state-sponsored cyber espionage threat group that has primarily targeted South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and the United States since at least 2009; by 2020 they expanded operations to include other Asian as well as Eastern European countries. Tonto Team has targeted government, military, energy, mining, financial, education, healthcare, and technology organizations, including through the Heartbeat Campaign (2009-2012) and Operation Bitter Biscuit (2017).

15
Techniques
6
Software
0
indicators on this record

Properties

Last source
MITRE ATT&CK
STIX ID
intrusion-set--c5b81590-6814-4d2a-8baa-15c4b6c7f960
In Signal since
initial import (Sep 2026)
Retrieved at
2026-11-02T12:53:29+00:00
Origin source
attack_description
Type
intrusion-set
Origin country
CN

MITRE ATT&CK Techniques (15)

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DLL (T1574.001)

Adversaries may abuse dynamic-link library files (DLLs) in order to achieve persistence, escalate privileges, and evade defenses. DLLs are libraries t

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Exploitation for Client Execution (T1203)

Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code. Vulnerabilities can exist in software due to unsecure coding

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Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068)

Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges. Exploitation of a software vulnerability occurs when an adversar

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Exploitation of Remote Services (T1210)

Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network. Exploitation of a software vulnerabi

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External Proxy (T1090.002)

Adversaries may use an external proxy to act as an intermediary for network communications to a command and control server to avoid direct connections

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Ingress Tool Transfer (T1105)

Adversaries may transfer tools or other files from an external system into a compromised environment. Tools or files may be copied from an external ad

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Keylogging (T1056.001)

Adversaries may log user keystrokes to intercept credentials as the user types them. Keylogging is likely to be used to acquire credentials for new ac

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Local Groups (T1069.001)

Adversaries may attempt to find local system groups and permission settings. The knowledge of local system permission groups can help adversaries dete

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Malicious File (T1204.002)

An adversary may rely upon a user opening a malicious file in order to gain execution. Users may be subjected to social engineering to get them to ope

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Network Share Discovery (T1135)

Adversaries may look for folders and drives shared on remote systems as a means of identifying sources of information to gather as a precursor for Col

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OS Credential Dumping (T1003)

Adversaries may attempt to dump credentials to obtain account login and credential material, normally in the form of a hash or a clear text password.

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PowerShell (T1059.001)

Adversaries may abuse PowerShell commands and scripts for execution. PowerShell is a powerful interactive command-line interface and scripting environ

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Python (T1059.006)

Adversaries may abuse Python commands and scripts for execution. Python is a very popular scripting/programming language, with capabilities to perform

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Spearphishing Attachment (T1566.001)

Adversaries may send spearphishing emails with a malicious attachment in an attempt to gain access to victim systems. Spearphishing attachment is a sp

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Web Shell (T1505.003)

Adversaries may backdoor web servers with web shells to establish persistent access to systems. A Web shell is a Web script that is placed on an openl

Software & Tools (6)

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Bisonal [malware]

Bisonal is a remote access tool (RAT) that has been used by [Tonto Team](https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G0

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LaZagne [tool]

LaZagne is a post-exploitation, open-source tool used to recover stored passwords on a system. It has modul

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MimiKatz [malware]

Mimikatz is a credential dumper capable of obtaining plaintext Windows account logins and passwords, along

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NBTscan [tool]

NBTscan is an open source tool that has been used by state groups to conduct internal reconnaissance within

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ShadowPad [malware]

ShadowPad is a modular backdoor that was first identified in a supply chain compromise of the NetSarang sof

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gsecdump [tool]

gsecdump is a publicly-available credential dumper used to obtain password hashes and LSA secrets from Wind

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Tonto Team — Threat Actor Profile — Ninja Signal | Ninja Signal