At least one undisclosed government entity in the MENA region
September 1, 2025
•[ espionage, malware, government ]
Reporting indicates a sustained espionage wave using updated Phoenix implants against government entities, with goals of persistence and data collection rather than overt disruption; activity aligns with prior MuddyWater TTPs and region-focused intelligence objectives.
United States National Guard (select components)
June 15, 2025
•[ espionage, nation-state ]
SecurityWeek reported that China-linked Salt Typhoon compromised National Guard systems in an espionage operation; details limited.
One undisclosed university in the United States
July 15, 2025
•[ espionage, vulnerability exploitation, malware ]
China-linked operators abused CVE-2025-53770 (ToolShell) weeks after Microsofts July patch to gain initial access at a telecom, escalate privileges (e.g., PetitPotam), harvest credentials, and deploy ShadowPad/Zingdoor/KrustyLoader for persistent espionage against telecom and government networks. Primary effect was covert access and collection, not service outage.
Russian IT service provider
October 15, 2025
•[ data leak, espionage, apt ]
China-linked Jewelbug infiltrated Russian IT provider for months, exfiltrating repositories and data
Two undisclosed government departments in a South American country
October 22, 2025
•[ vulnerability exploitation, espionage, data leak ]
Actors exploited a patched SharePoint ToolShell flaw to gain initial access at a telecom, harvest credentials, and pivot across AD-joined systems. Activity included beaconing and data staging consistent with telecom espionage. No operational shutdown reported; primary effect is unauthorized access and data collection.
Undisclosed European telecommunications organisation
July 3, 2025
•[ espionage, malware, vulnerability exploitation ]
Darktrace reports a China-aligned espionage actor (Salt Typhoon) breached a European telecom by exploiting a Citrix NetScaler Gateway, deploying SnappyBee malware for persistence and data staging. Activity reflects classic intelligence collection rather than service disruption; defenders observed beaconing, credential access, and movement to support systems.
National Time Service Center
October 20, 2025
•[ espionage, state-sponsored attack ]
China accuses U.S. NSA of cyber-espionage against NTSC timing systems
Williams & Connolly
October 8, 2025
•[ espionage, state-sponsored attack, data leak ]
Breach of U.S. law firm with major political clients linked to Chinese espionage campaign.
Wiley Rein LLP
July 12, 2025
•[ espionage, unauthorized access, state-sponsored attack ]
Firm notified clients that Microsoft 365 accounts of certain personnel were accessed in an apparent intelligence-gathering operation; suspected China-affiliated group.
Defense and critical-infrastructure entities in Armenia
May 1, 2025
•[ phishing, data leak, espionage ]
Rare Werewolf APT, a Russia-aligned espionage group, conducted spear-phishing and remote-administration toolbased intrusions in MayJune 2025 targeting defense and critical-infrastructure entities in Armenia, resulting in unauthorized access and data exfiltration.
International Criminal Court (ICC)
June 30, 2025
•[ cyberattack, espionage ]
ICC reported a cyberattack detected and contained.Impact and data access undisclosed. This follows a 2023 espionage incident.
The Washington Post
June 13, 2025
•[ data leak, espionage, email compromise ]
A targeted intrusion discovered on June 13 2025 compromised a limited number of Washington Post journalist email accounts, exposing internal correspondence and attachments. The publication stated no subscriber or HR data was affected. Investigation remains ongoing with indications of potential state-sponsored activity.
At least one government agency or state-owned enterprise in Southeast Asia
April 10, 2025
•[ data leak, espionage, government ]
The Record, citing Symantecs Threat Hunter Team, reported that the China-linked APT group Billbug (also known as Thrip and Lotus Blossom) compromised multiple government and critical infrastructure organizations in a Southeast Asian country in April 2025. The campaign involved exploitation of legitimate digital certificates and living-off-the-land tools to exfiltrate sensitive documents from government and military networks. No encryption or disruption was reported, and the activity is assessed as political espionage conducted under Chinas Ministry of State Security.
Undisclosed Taiwan government agencies
March 1, 2025
•[ phishing, malware, espionage ]
Trend Micro and THN describe a March 2025 spear-phishing campaign by China-aligned MirrorFace targeting public institutions in Japan and Taiwan using OneDrive-delivered ZIPs that dropped ROAMINGMOUSE and an upgraded ANEL backdoor; reporting outlines techniques and targeting, not specific victim impact details for a single named org.
Multiple French government and critical infrastructure organizations
April 30, 2025
•[ espionage, data leak, vulnerability exploitation ]
On April 30 2025, Frances national cybersecurity agency (ANSSI) attributed a campaign of at least twelve cyberattacks on French entities to Russias GRU 85th Main Special Service Center (Unit 26165), known as FANCYBEAR. The espionage activity targeted government, media, energy, and critical-infrastructure organizations via exploitation of vulnerable Cisco routers to gain persistence and exfiltrate sensitive data. No operational disruption was reported.
Defense and critical-infrastructure entities in Ukraine
May 1, 2025
•[ phishing, unauthorized access, data leak ]
Rare Werewolf APT, a Russia-aligned espionage group, conducted spear-phishing and remote-administration toolbased intrusions in MayJune 2025 targeting defense and critical-infrastructure entities in Ukraine, resulting in unauthorized access and data exfiltration.
Undisclosed Tajikistan government agencies
May 22, 2025
•[ espionage, phishing, data collection ]
Researchers reported a Russia-aligned espionage campaign targeting Tajik government, academic, and research entities using phishing lures and macro-enabled docs to collect data.
Digital Realty
March 1, 2025
•[ state-sponsored attack, espionage, vulnerability exploit ]
The Ministry of State Security (MSS)linked group Salt Typhoon infiltrated Digital Realty and other data-center operators in early 2025 by exploiting vulnerabilities in network-appliance infrastructure and stolen credentials. Microsoft attributed the campaign to PRC state-sponsored espionage targeting Western critical-infrastructure providers.
Defense and critical-infrastructure entities in Kazakhstan
May 1, 2025
•[ phishing, data leak, espionage ]
Rare Werewolf APT, a Russia-aligned espionage group, conducted spear-phishing and remote-administration toolbased intrusions in MayJune 2025 targeting defense and critical-infrastructure entities in Kazakhstan, resulting in unauthorized access and data exfiltration.
German Association for Eastern European Studies (DGO)
March 27, 2025
•[ data leak, espionage, government ]
SVR (COZYBEAR) infiltrated email servers of the German Association for Eastern European Studies in late March 2025, exfiltrating correspondence and membership data; the German Interior Ministry formally attributed the intrusion to Russias foreign intelligence service on April 22 2025.
