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Vol. 1 · Ed. 2026
CyberGlossary
Entry № 521

Havex (Dragonfly RAT)

Qu'est-ce que Havex (Dragonfly RAT) ?

Havex (Dragonfly RAT)An ICS-aware remote access trojan used by the Dragonfly / Energetic Bear / Berserk Bear group between 2013 and 2014 in espionage campaigns against Western energy and manufacturing sectors, notable for scanning OPC servers from inside victim networks.


Havex is a modular remote-access trojan used by the threat group variously called Dragonfly (Symantec), Energetic Bear (CrowdStrike), and Berserk Bear (others), widely attributed to Russian state interests. It was the primary RAT in a 2013–2014 espionage campaign documented by F-Secure, Symantec, and ICS-CERT against energy, defense, and pharmaceutical companies across Europe and North America. Distribution combined spear-phishing, watering-hole compromises of energy-sector websites, and trojanized installers downloaded from compromised ICS vendor sites — the first widely reported supply-chain attacks on ICS engineering software vendors. The notable ICS-specific behavior was an OPC-scanning module: once inside a victim network, Havex enumerated OPC Classic servers and gathered DCOM-exposed information about the connected industrial devices, suggesting reconnaissance for later disruptive operations rather than immediate sabotage. Havex is a landmark case for ICS defenders because it demonstrated that espionage-grade tooling routinely reaches OT engineering segments via IT compromises and trojanized vendor downloads.

Exemples

  1. 01

    A 2014 victim energy utility downloaded a trojanized installer from a compromised ICS-vendor site; the Havex implant began OPC scanning the engineering subnet within hours.

  2. 02

    Defenders trace Havex behavior in a victim network by alerting on OPC DCOM enumeration originating from non-engineering workstations.

Questions fréquentes

Qu'est-ce que Havex (Dragonfly RAT) ?

An ICS-aware remote access trojan used by the Dragonfly / Energetic Bear / Berserk Bear group between 2013 and 2014 in espionage campaigns against Western energy and manufacturing sectors, notable for scanning OPC servers from inside victim networks. Cette notion relève de la catégorie OT / ICS / IoT en cybersécurité.

Que signifie Havex (Dragonfly RAT) ?

An ICS-aware remote access trojan used by the Dragonfly / Energetic Bear / Berserk Bear group between 2013 and 2014 in espionage campaigns against Western energy and manufacturing sectors, notable for scanning OPC servers from inside victim networks.

Comment fonctionne Havex (Dragonfly RAT) ?

Havex is a modular remote-access trojan used by the threat group variously called Dragonfly (Symantec), Energetic Bear (CrowdStrike), and Berserk Bear (others), widely attributed to Russian state interests. It was the primary RAT in a 2013–2014 espionage campaign documented by F-Secure, Symantec, and ICS-CERT against energy, defense, and pharmaceutical companies across Europe and North America. Distribution combined spear-phishing, watering-hole compromises of energy-sector websites, and trojanized installers downloaded from compromised ICS vendor sites — the first widely reported supply-chain attacks on ICS engineering software vendors. The notable ICS-specific behavior was an OPC-scanning module: once inside a victim network, Havex enumerated OPC Classic servers and gathered DCOM-exposed information about the connected industrial devices, suggesting reconnaissance for later disruptive operations rather than immediate sabotage. Havex is a landmark case for ICS defenders because it demonstrated that espionage-grade tooling routinely reaches OT engineering segments via IT compromises and trojanized vendor downloads.

Comment se défendre contre Havex (Dragonfly RAT) ?

Les défenses contre Havex (Dragonfly RAT) combinent habituellement des contrôles techniques et des pratiques opérationnelles, comme détaillé dans la définition ci-dessus.

Quels sont les autres noms de Havex (Dragonfly RAT) ?

Noms alternatifs courants : Dragonfly RAT, Energetic Bear RAT.

Termes liés