New year, new sector: Targeting India's startup ecosystem
Essential information
- Published
- 04/02/2026 15:57
- Modified
- 04/02/2026 21:20
- Tags
- 2026-02-04 apt36 crimson rat cybersecurity india iso lnk osint spear-phishing startup
- Related entities
- 2 observables, 1 intrusion sets (apt), 19 techniques (mitre), 1 malware, 5 others
Description
Transparent Tribe, also known as APT36, has expanded its targeting to include India's startup ecosystem, particularly those in the cybersecurity domain. The group is using startup-oriented themed lure material delivered via ISO container-based files to deploy Crimson RAT. This campaign deviates from their typical government and defense targets, suggesting a shift in strategy towards companies providing open-source intelligence services and collaborating with law enforcement agencies. The attack chain involves spear-phishing emails, malicious LNK files, and batch scripts to execute the Crimson RAT payload. The malware employs extensive obfuscation techniques and uses a custom TCP protocol for command and control communications. This activity demonstrates the group's adaptation of proven tooling for new victim profiles while maintaining its core behavioral tactics, techniques, and procedures.