SneakyChef
- First seen
- 2023-08-01 00:00:00
- Origin
- CN
- Primary motivation
- espionage
- Sophistication
- advanced
- Resource level
- government
- Actor type
- nation-state
- Profile updated
- 2026-07-07 12:16:10
Targeted industries: government-and-public-sector education-and-nonprofits
Targeted regions: country_code:cn
Context
SneakyChef is a threat actor known for using the SugarGh0st RAT to target government agencies, research institutions, and organizations worldwide. They have been active since at least August 2023, with a focus on leveraging old and new command and control domains. The group has been observed using lures in the form of scanned documents related to Ministries of Foreign Affairs and embassies. Talos Intelligence assesses with medium confidence that the operators are likely Chinese-speaking based on language preferences and specific targets.
Reports & references
- Cisco Talos — Sneakychef Sugarghost Rat (report)