HAFNIUM APT Group (Silk Typhoon): Exploiting the Global Attack Surface for Strategic Espionage

This report profiles HAFNIUM (Silk Typhoon), a China-aligned APT that conducts large-scale cyber espionage by exploiting internet-facing enterprise services—most notably multiple zero-day vulnerabilities in Microsoft Exchange that led to mass compromises. It covers HAFNIUM’s attribution, motivations, TTPs (initial access via server exploits, persistence via web shells, C2 using compromised/cloud infrastructure, lateral movement and data collection), target profile, notable operations, and recommended defensive controls such as rapid patching and web-shell monitoring.