Unearthing APT44: Russia’s Notorious Cyber Sabotage Unit Sandworm

Written by: Gabby Roncone, Dan Black, John Wolfram, Tyler McLellan, Nick Simonian, Ryan Hall, Anton Prokopenkov, Luke Jenkins, Dan Perez, Lexie Aytes, Alden Wahlstrom

With Russia's full-scale invasion in its third year, Sandworm (aka FROZENBARENTS) remains a formidable threat to Ukraine. The group’s operations in support of Moscow’s war aims have proven tactically and operationally adaptable, and as of today, appear to be better integrated with the activities of Russia’s conventional forces than in any other previous phase of the conflict. To date, no other Russian government-backed cyber group has played a more central role in shaping and supporting Russia’s military campaign. 

Yet the threat posed by Sandworm is far from limited to Ukraine. Mandiant continues to see operations from the group that are global in scope in key political, military, and economic hotspots for Russia. Additionally, with a record number of people participating in national elections in 2024, Sandworm’s history of attempting to interfere in democratic processes further elevates the severity of the threat the group may pose in the near-term. 

Given the active and diffuse nature of the threat posed by Sandworm globally, Mandiant has decided to graduate the group into a named Advanced Persistent Threat: APT44. As part of this process, we are releasing a report, “ APT44: Unearthing Sandworm ”, that provides additional insights into the group’s new operations, retrospective insights, and context on how the group is adjusting to support Moscow’s war aims.

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