MuddyWater Operations in Lebanon and Oman

Abstract MuddyWater is an Iranian high-profile threat actor that’s been seen active since 2017. The group is known for espionage campaigns in the Middle East. Over the past year, we’ve seen the group extensively targeting a wide gamut of entities in various sectors, including Governments, Academy, Crypto-Currency, Telecommunications and the Oil sectors. MuddyWater has recently […]

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Charming Kitten: Iranian Cyber Espionage Against Human Rights Activists, Academic Researchers and Media Outlets

Charming Kitten is an Iranian cyberespionage group operating since approximately 2014. This report exposes their vast espionage apparatus, active during 2016-2017. We present incidents of company impersonation, made up organizations and individuals, spear phishing and watering hole attacks. We analyze their exploitation, delivery, and command-and-control infrastructure, and expose DownPaper, a malware developed by the attackers, […]

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Operation Wilted Tulip – Exposing a Cyber Espionage Apparatus

CopyKittens is a cyberespionage group that has been operating since at least 2013. In November 2015, ClearSky and Minerva Labs published the first public report exposing its activity [1]. In March 2017, ClearSky published a second report exposing further incidents, some of which impacted the German Bundestag [2]. In this report, Trend Micro and ClearSky expose […]

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Operation DustySky – Part 2

Operation DustySky – Part 2 is a follow-up on our DustySky operation report from January 2016. It analyses new attacks by Molerats against targets in Israel, The United States, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and The Palestinian Authority. We elaborate on the scope and targeting of the DustySky campaign and expose new infrastructure and […]

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Operation DustySky

DustySky (called “NeD Worm” by its developer) is a multi-stage malware in use since May 2015. It is in use by the Molerats (aka Gaza cybergang), a politically motivated group whose main objective, we believe, is intelligence gathering.  Operating since 2012, the group’s activity has been reported by Norman [1], Kaspersky[2] [3], FireEye[4], and PwC[5]. This […]

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Report: The CopyKittens are targeting Israelis

CopyKittens is an espionage group that has been attacking Israeli targets since at least August 2014. Among the targets are high ranking diplomats at Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and well-known Israeli academic researchers specializing in Middle East Studies. Matryoshka is the name we gave the malware built by CopyKittens. It is a multi-stage framework, with each […]

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