MalwareUsed by 1 actor

Farseer

For your environment

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THREAT ACTORS

Groups observed using it

1 distinct threat actor attributed by public researchers. Open in Mallory to see the full evidence chain and overlapping campaigns.

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PKPLUG

Unit 42 discovered a previously-unknown Windows backdoor Trojan called Farseer.

via palo alto networks unit 42 blogunit42.paloaltonetworks.com

MITRE ATT&CK

Techniques & procedures

3 distinct techniques documented for this family, organized by ATT&CK tactic.

Persistence

1 technique

T1547.001Registry Run Keys / Startup FolderEvidence1

TacticsPersistence Privilege Escalation

A VBScript component is used, via a registry persistence hook, to launch the Microsoft executable and the Farseer payload during the user login process.

Privilege Escalation

1 technique

T1547.001Registry Run Keys / Startup FolderEvidence1

TacticsPersistence Privilege Escalation

A VBScript component is used, via a registry persistence hook, to launch the Microsoft executable and the Farseer payload during the user login process.

Stealth

1 technique

T1218System Binary Proxy ExecutionEvidence1

TacticStealth

The contents of the file, assuming a victim clicked on the URL in the spear-phishing email, resembles the structure used in a technique known as AppLocker Bypass whereby trusted Windows executables can be used to execute malicious payloads.

Command and Control

1 technique

T1071Application Layer ProtocolEvidence1

TacticCommand and Control

The C2 infrastructure blogged by Blue Coat Labs ... Domain microsoftwarer[.]com ... logitechwkgame[.]com was documented by Unit 42 ... as the C2 for the 9002 Trojans analyzed.

ACTIVITY FEED

Recent activity

2 sources tracked across advisories, community write-ups, and news. New activity surfaces here as Mallory finds it.

2 SOURCESView more in app

palo alto networks unit 42 blogNews

Oct 3, 2019

PKPLUG: Chinese Cyber Espionage Group Attacking Southeast Asia

Farseer is a previously unknown Windows backdoor that uses DLL side-loading, a signed Microsoft Visual Studio executable, and VBScript registry persistence to launch during user login.

web archiveNews

May 26, 2026

A previously unknown malware family/backdoor referenced through shared infrastructure overlaps with other Chinese espionage tooling.

What this page doesn’t show

The version that knows your environment.

This page is what’s public. Mallory adds the parts that aren’t: which of your assets match these IOCs, which detections are missing, which campaigns to expect next, and what to do in the next 30 minutes.

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IOC matching

Match every observed IP, domain, and hash against your live telemetry.

Threat actor attribution1

Named campaigns wielding this family, with evidence pinned to each claim.

Exploited vulnerabilities

CVEs this family uses for access and lateral movement.

Detection signatures

YARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.

MITRE ATT&CK mapping3

Every documented technique, ranked by evidence weight.

Researcher chatter

Reddit, Mastodon, and CTI community discussion around this family.