Imperial Kitten APT Claws at Israeli Industry With Multiyear Spy Effort

Imperial Kitten APT Claws at Israeli Industry With Multiyear Spy Effort

November 9, 2023 at 11:57AM

A state-sponsored advanced persistent threat group named “Imperial Kitten” has been conducting watering-hole attacks against Israeli transportation, logistics, and technology sectors. The group, believed to have links to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, infiltrates legitimate websites to redirect visitors to attacker-controlled locations and phishing sites. The compromised data is then used for further attacks. Imperial Kitten also uses email campaigns with malicious documents and scanning tools to target victims.

Based on the meeting notes, here are the key points:

– A state-sponsored advanced persistent threat (APT) named “Imperial Kitten” (aka Yellow Liderc, Tortoiseshell, TA456, and Crimson Sandstorm) has been conducting watering-hole attacks against Israeli transportation, logistics, and technology sectors.
– Imperial Kitten is suspected to have links to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
– The group infiltrates legitimate websites to redirect visitors to attacker-controlled locations, where personal information and credentials are phished.
– Compromised websites primarily targeted Israeli organizations.
– Imperial Kitten targets IT service providers for data exfiltration through strategic web compromise.
– The group also utilizes malware delivery through email campaigns, involving malicious Microsoft Excel documents.
– Imperial Kitten gains access to targets through scanning tools, stolen VPN credentials, and vulnerability exploits. They employ the PAExec utility for lateral movement and use custom and open source malware for data exfiltration.

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