VERY IMPORTANT

Recorded Future’s Insikt Group has identified a large cluster of new operational infrastructure associated with use of the custom Windows and Linux backdoor KEYPLUG. We attribute this activity to a threat activity group tracked as RedGolf, which is highly likely to be a Chinese state-sponsored group. RedGolf closely overlaps with threat activity reported in open sources under the aliases APT41/BARIUM and has likely carried out state-sponsored espionage activity in parallel with financially motivated operations for personal gain from at least 2014 onward. A 2020 US Department of Justice (DOJ) indictment states that a RedGolf-associated threat actor boasted of connections to the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS); the indicted actors were also linked to the Chengdu-based company Chengdu 404 Network Technology