Hacker groupG0059
Magic Hound
Also tracked as TA453, COBALT ILLUSION, Charming Kitten, ITG18, Phosphorus, Newscaster, APT35, Mint Sandstorm
Magic Hound is an Iranian-sponsored threat group that conducts long term, resource-intensive cyber espionage operations, likely on behalf of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. They have targeted European, U.S., and Middle Eastern government and military personnel, academics, journalists, and organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO), via complex social engineering campaigns since at least 2014.
- Known attack methods
- 78
- Origin
- Iran
- Motive
- Espionage
- First seen
- 2014
- Source
- MITRE ATT&CK
How they break in
Techniques MITRE has documented this group using, mapped onto the ATT&CK matrix. Each one is a behaviour you can look for in your own logs, and a control you can test.
Used by this groupNot documented for this groupIn brackets: sub-techniques this group uses, of those that exist.
Reconnaissance
12 techniques · 6 used
Resource Development
9 techniques · 5 used
Initial Access
11 techniques · 3 used
Execution
20 techniques · 4 used
Persistence
22 techniques · 4 used
Privilege Escalation
13 techniques
Stealth
30 techniques · 6 used
Defense Impairment
18 techniques · 3 used
Credential Access
17 techniques · 1 used
Discovery
34 techniques · 10 used
Lateral Movement
9 techniques · 2 used
Collection
17 techniques · 5 used
Command and Control
18 techniques · 7 used
Exfiltration
9 techniques · 1 used
Impact
15 techniques · 1 used
Reconnaissance8
Resource development7
Initial access4
Execution7
Persistence5
Stealth11
- T1027.010Command Obfuscation
- T1027.013Encrypted/Encoded File
- T1036.004Masquerade Task or Service
- T1036.005Match Legitimate Resource Name or Location
- T1036.010Masquerade Account Name
- T1070.003Clear Command History
- T1070.004File Deletion
- T1078.001Default Accounts
- T1078.002Domain Accounts
- T1218.011Rundll32
- T1564.003Hidden Window
Defense impairment4
Credential access1
Discovery12
- T1016System Network Configuration Discovery
- T1016.001Internet Connection Discovery
- T1016.002Wi-Fi Discovery
- T1018Remote System Discovery
- T1033System Owner/User Discovery
- T1046Network Service Discovery
- T1049System Network Connections Discovery
- T1057Process Discovery
- T1082System Information Discovery
- T1083File and Directory Discovery
- T1087.003Email Account
- T1482Domain Trust Discovery
Lateral movement2
Collection7
Command and control8
Exfiltration1
Malware
Families MITRE records this group deploying. Detection names for these are a reasonable place to start.
CharmPowerDownPaperPowerLess
Tools
Legitimate or dual-use software the group is documented using. Most of it is software your own administrators use too, which is the point.
FRPImpacketMimikatzNetPingPsExecPupySysteminfoipconfignetsh