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dark-caracal

Adversary-emulation profile for Dark Caracal (G0070), a Lebanese state-linked cyber-espionage and surveillance actor attributed to the General Directorate of General Security (GDGS), operating since at least 2012.

packages/decepticon/decepticon/skills/shared/adversary-emulation/dark-caracal/SKILL.md

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# Dark Caracal — Adversary Emulation Profile

Dark Caracal (MITRE ATT&CK **G0070**) is a cyber-espionage and surveillance group attributed to Lebanon's **General Directorate of General Security (GDGS)**, operating since at least 2012. The group is best characterized by its **mobile-first surveillance** approach — deploying trojanized Android messaging apps (Pallas) to harvest SMS, call logs, contacts, photos, and real-time audio/video — combined with cross-platform desktop RATs (Bandook, CrossRAT) and the commercial spyware FinFisher. Dark Caracal relies on relatively simple social engineering — phishing via Facebook and WhatsApp, watering holes, and trojanized applications masquerading as popular software — rather than advanced zero-day exploitation. Despite this simplicity, the group has compromised thousands of victims across 20+ countries, exfiltrating hundreds of thousands of files and text messages. Evidence suggests the group may also operate as a **cyber-mercenary / hack-for-hire** entity, conducting campaigns on behalf of other governments (notably Kazakhstan in Operation Manul).

## Attribution & motivation

- **Sponsor / nation:** Republic of Lebanon — **General Directorate of General Security (GDGS)**, the country's primary intelligence agency. The 2018 EFF/Lookout investigation traced C2 infrastructure to a building adjacent to GDGS headquarters in Beirut, with test devices physically located in the same building.
- **Motivation:** Primarily **espionage and surveillance** — long-term intelligence collection against individuals (journalists, activists, dissidents, lawyers, military personnel) rather than organizations. Secondary motivation includes **hack-for-hire / mercenary operations** for foreign governments (Kazakhstan in Operation Manul).
- **Attribution confidence:** **High.** Backed by the joint EFF/Lookout 2018 investigation tracing infrastructure to GDGS premises, corroborated by shared infrastructure with Operation Manul (2016 EFF report), and consistent vendor reporting (Check Point, ESET, Positive Technologies, Cofense).

## Targeting

- **Sectors:** Government and military; defense; journalists and media; political activists, dissidents, and NGOs; lawyers and legal professionals; education; healthcare; financial institutions; energy; IT and technology firms.
- **Regions:** Middle East (Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Jordan), Latin America (Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador), Southeast Asia (Singapore, Indonesia), Europe (Germany, Switzerland, Cyprus, Italy), North America, Kazakhstan and Central Asia. Heavy recent focus on **Latin American Spanish-speaking enterprises** (2023-2025).