What is the “Equation Group”?

"The Shadow Brokers said earlier this month they were selling cyber-weapons they stole from a breach of the Equation Group"
https://www.eweek.com/security/shadow-brokers-allegedly-hack-nsa-s-equation-group

"Equation Group is the name Kaspersky Lab researchers gave to the hacking unit that was responsible for a string of hacks so sophisticated and audacious they were unlike almost any the world had seen before"
https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/03/after-nsa-hacking-expose-cia-staffers-asked-where-equation-group-went-wrong/

"In a report released on Monday, a spying program more pervasive and sophisticated than almost any other ever was uncovered by Kaspersky Labs, a Moscow-based cybersecurity firm that has helped dig up a variety of spying operations in the past. Kaspersky’s team calls the operation the “Equation Group” for the brilliant encryption techniques they’ve used to cloak their activities."
https://observer.com/2015/02/equation-group/

"The tools and scope of the Equation Group suggest that it is one of the most sophisticated threat actors operating in cyberspace. Many believe that Equation Group is a state-sponsored entity, such as the U.S. National Security Agency or a joint effort between it and its Five Eyes allies."
https://www.cfr.org/cyber-operations/equation-group

"The Equation Group, classified as an advanced persistent threat, is a highly sophisticated threat actor suspected of being tied to the Tailored Access Operations (TAO) unit of the United States"
https://wikimili.com/en/Equation_Group

"The attack appears to stem from the use of stolen hacking tools that have been published by a group called the Shadow Brokers. The ransomware attacks appear to be the latest fallout relating to the EquationGroup release, specifically the proliferation of Windows backdoors such as the Doublepulsar attack"
https://securityscorecard.com/blog/what-is-equation-group-shadow-brokers

"the Shadow Brokers claimed to have hacked the National Security Agency’s Equation Group, a team of American hackers that have been described as both “omnipotent” and “the most advanced” threat cyberspace has ever seen"
https://www.dailydot.com/debug/shadow-brokers-nsa-equation-group-hack/

"Whether the auction is truly placing the NSA-tied Equation Group's exploit tools for sale or whether this is an elaborate hoax is still unknown."
https://www.zdnet.com/article/shadow-brokers-launch-auction-for-equation-group-hacking-cache/

"News that a supposedly NSA-related hacking group known as The Equation Group had itself been hacked by a separate group known as The Shadow Brokers emerged Monday. A number of files and screenshots were leaked by the latter with the offer of making the supposedly more damning files available for a fee of 1 million bitcoins (currently in excess of $500 million).

The Equation Group has been linked to the NSA since a Kaspersky Lab report dated February 16, 2015. This report said the group has been active for almost two decades and that it is "a threat actor that surpasses anything known in terms of complexity and sophistication of techniques." It does not specifically associate the group with the NSA, but suggests "the Equation group has interacted with other powerful groups, such as the Stuxnet and Flame operators -- generally from a position of superiority. The Equation Group had access to zero-days before they were used by Stuxnet and Flame."

There is nothing currently known about the Shadow Brokers.

The files leaked so far appear to be genuine. How, where, when and from whom they were acquired remains unknown -- and there is no guarantee that there really is anything else. The ransom fee of $0.5 billion takes this beyond a normal extortion exercise since there are few who could pay this. If the Equation Group really is the NSA, then it could be an attempt to get the US government to 'buy back' their cyber weapons -- but that would be unlikely"
https://www.securityweek.com/shadow-brokers-claim-hack-nsa-linked-equation-group

"The group, who called the NSA Equation Group member as "doctor," threatened because of his/her "ugly tweets" targeting the Shadow Brokers."
https://thehackernews.com/2017/06/shadowbrokers-nsa-hacker.html?m=1

"The Shadow Brokers have popped up from time to time over the past 9 months leaking additional information, including IP addresses used by the Equation Group and additional tools"
https://blog.rapid7.com/2017/04/18/the-shadow-brokers-leaked-exploits-faq/