EC2 Grouper
- Primary motivation
- financial-gain
- Sophistication
- intermediate
- Resource level
- team
- Actor type
- criminal, unknown
- Profile updated
- 2026-07-07 12:19:49
Targeted industries: technology-and-telecommunications financial-services retail-and-hospitality
Context
EC2 Grouper is a prolific threat actor known for leveraging AWS tools for PowerShell to conduct automated attacks in cloud environments. They typically utilize the CreateSecurityGroup API to establish remote access and exhibit a consistent security group naming convention. Credential acquisition is believed to stem from compromised cloud access keys, often sourced from public code repositories. Notably, their activities do not include calls to AuthorizeSecurityGroupIngress, suggesting a selective approach to escalation.
Reports & references
- fortinet.com — Catching Ec2 Grouper No Indicators Required (report)