UNC1549
Also known as Nimbus Manticore, TA455, COBALT SMOKEY
UNC1549 is an Iranian threat actor linked to Tortoiseshell and potentially the IRGC. They have been active since at least June 2022, targeting entities worldwide with a focus on the Middle East. UNC1549 uses spear-phishing and credential harvesting for initial access, deploying custom malware like MINIBIKE and MINIBUS backdoors. They have also been observed using evasion techniques and a tunneler named LIGHTRAIL in their operations.
CVEs in recent coverage
No CVEs named alongside this actor in the last 90 days.
Recent victims
No leak-site posts on record for this group.
ATT&CK techniques
Recent activity
No posts or advisories have named this actor recently.
References
- https://www.mandiant.com/resources/blog/suspected-iranian-unc1549-targets-israel-middle-east
- https://research.checkpoint.com/2025/nimbus-manticore-deploys-new-malware-targeting-europe
- https://blog.checkpoint.com/research/iranian-threat-actor-nimbus-manticore-expands-campaigns-into-europe-with-advanced-malware-and-fake-job-lures/
- https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G1059
- https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/threat-intelligence/analysis-of-unc1549-ttps-targeting-aerospace-defense
- https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/threat-intelligence/suspected-iranian-unc1549-targets-israel-middle-east
- https://research.checkpoint.com/2025/nimbus-manticore-deploys-new-malware-targeting-europe/
- https://research.checkpoint.com/2026/fast-and-furious-nimbus-manticore-operations-during-the-iranian-conflict/
- https://www.proofpoint.com/us/blog/threat-insight/crossed-wires-case-study-iranian-espionage-and-attribution
- https://www.sophos.com/en-us/threat-profiles/cobalt-smokey
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.
