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by | Mar 15, 2018 | Taxus Baccata

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Helix Kitten (also known as APT34 by FireEye, OILRIG, Crambus, Cobalt Gypsy, Hazel Sandstorm,[1] or EUROPIUM)[2] is a hacker group identified by CrowdStrike as Iranian.[3][4]

History

The group has reportedly been active since at least 2014.[3] It has targeted many of the same organizations as Advanced Persistent Threat 33, according to John Hultquist.[3]

In April 2019, APT34's cyber-espionage tools' source code was leaked through Telegram.[5][6]

Targets

The group has reportedly targeted organizations in the financial, energy, telecommunications, and chemical industries, as well as critical infrastructure systems.[3]

Techniques

APT34 reportedly uses Microsoft Excel macros, PowerShell-based exploits and social engineering to gain access to its targets.[3]

References

  1. ^ "How Microsoft names threat actors". Microsoft. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  2. ^ "Iranian State-Sponsored OilRig Group Deploys 3 New Malware Downloaders".
  3. ^ a b c d e Newman, Lily Hay (December 7, 2017). "APT 34 Is an Iran-Linked Hacking Group That Probes Critical Infrastructure". Wired. Archived from the original on December 10, 2017.
  4. ^ Sardiwal, Manish; Londhe, Yogesh; Fraser, Nalani; Fraser, Nicholas; O'Leary, Jaqueline; Cannon, Vincent (December 7, 2017). "New Targeted Attack in the Middle East by APT34, a Suspected Iranian Threat Group, Using CVE-2017-11882 Exploit". FireEye. Archived from the original on December 10, 2017.
  5. ^ Catalin Cimpanu (April 17, 2019). "Source code of Iranian cyber-espionage tools leaked on Telegram; APT34 hacking tools and victim data leaked on a secretive Telegram channel since last month". ZDNet. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
  6. ^ "How companies – and the hackers themselves – could respond to the OilRig leak". 18 April 2019.
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