Dropping Elephant Patchwork Espionage APT: Multi-Platform Tactics and Tooling
Dropping Elephant, also known as Patchwork, is a persistent espionage-focused APT active since late 2015. The actor employs a dual-platform attack strategy targeting high-value sectors including defense, energy, and government across Asia, Europe, Türkiye, and the United States. On Windows, the group utilizes malicious .lnk files disguised as PDF documents to execute obfuscated PowerShell downloaders and staged payloads. Simultaneously, the threat actor deploys trojanized Android applications via social engineering and romance-themed lures. These mobile payloads facilitate extensive data exfiltration, including keystroke logging, call recording, and message interception, enabling long-term intelligence gathering and organizational espionage.