APT35

Also known as Newscaster Team, Magic Hound, G0059, Phosphorus, Mint Sandstorm, TunnelVision, COBALT MIRAGE, Agent Serpens, RICH ION

FireEye has identified APT35 operations dating back to 2014. APT35, also known as the Newscaster Team, is a threat group sponsored by the Iranian government that conducts long term, resource-intensive operations to collect strategic intelligence. APT35 typically targets U.S. and the Middle Eastern military, diplomatic and government personnel, organizations in the media, energy and defense industrial base (DIB), and engineering, business services and telecommunications sectors.

Recent activity

No posts or advisories have named this actor recently.

References

• https://www.fireeye.com/content/dam/collateral/en/mtrends-2018.pdf
• https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G0059/
• https://www.cfr.org/interactive/cyber-operations/magic-hound
• https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/unit42-magic-hound-campaign-attacks-saudi-targets/
• https://securityaffairs.co/wordpress/56348/intelligence/magic-hound-campaign.html
• https://www.cfr.org/cyber-operations/apt-35
• https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2019/03/27/new-steps-to-protect-customers-from-hacking/
• https://research.checkpoint.com/2022/apt35-exploits-log4j-vulnerability-to-distribute-new-modular-powershell-toolkit/
• https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/blog/2021/11/16/evolving-trends-in-iranian-threat-actor-activity-mstic-presentation-at-cyberwarcon-2021/
• https://www.sentinelone.com/labs/log4j2-in-the-wild-iranian-aligned-threat-actor-tunnelvision-actively-exploiting-vmware-horizon/
• https://www.secureworks.com/blog/cobalt-mirage-conducts-ransomware-operations-in-us
• https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/iranian-attackers-impersonate-model-agency/

From the MISP threat-actor galaxy, MITRE ATT&CK and RansomLook (CC BY 4.0). Activity is any post or advisory Watch Floor collected that names the actor or one of its aliases.