Threat Actor Profile
High APT
Description

CopyKittens is an Iranian cyber espionage group that has been operating since at least 2013. It has targeted countries including Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the U.S., Jordan, and Germany. The group is responsible for the campaign known as Operation Wilted Tulip.(Citation: ClearSky CopyKittens March 2017)(Citation: ClearSky Wilted Tulip July 2017)(Citation: CopyKittens Nov 2015)

Confidence Score
90%
Known Aliases
CopyKittens
Tags
mitre-attack stix-2.1 intrusion-set
First Seen

Unknown

Last Updated

Unknown

Active Status
Active
Created

April 29, 2026

MITRE ATT&CK Techniques (8)
T1560.001 - Archive via Utility
Collection
T1560.003 - Archive via Custom Method
Collection
T1090 - Proxy
Command and Control
T1218.011 - Rundll32
Defense Evasion
T1553.002 - Code Signing
Defense Evasion
T1564.003 - Hidden Window
Defense Evasion
T1059.001 - PowerShell
Execution
T1588.002 - Tool
Resource Development
Indicators of Compromise

Loading IOCs…

IOC KQL for Sentinel
STIX Data
{'aliases': ['CopyKittens'],
 'created': '2018-01-16T16:13:52.465Z',
 'created_by_ref': 'identity--c78cb6e5-0c4b-4611-8297-d1b8b55e40b5',
 'description': '[CopyKittens](https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G0052) is an '
                'Iranian cyber espionage group that has been operating since '
                'at least 2013. It has targeted countries including Israel, '
                'Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the U.S., Jordan, and Germany. The '
                'group is responsible for the campaign known as Operation '
                'Wilted Tulip.(Citation: ClearSky CopyKittens March '
                '2017)(Citation: ClearSky Wilted Tulip July 2017)(Citation: '
                'CopyKittens Nov 2015)',
 'external_references': [{'external_id': 'G0052',
                          'source_name': 'mitre-attack',
                          'url': 'https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G0052'},
                         {'description': '(Citation: ClearSky CopyKittens '
                                         'March 2017) (Citation: ClearSky '
                                         'Wilted Tulip July 2017) (Citation: '
                                         'CopyKittens Nov 2015)',
                          'source_name': 'CopyKittens'},
                         {'description': 'ClearSky Cyber Security and Trend '
                                         'Micro. (2017, July). Operation '
                                         'Wilted Tulip: Exposing a cyber '
                                         'espionage apparatus. Retrieved '
                                         'August 21, 2017.',
                          'source_name': 'ClearSky Wilted Tulip July 2017',
                          'url': 'http://www.clearskysec.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Operation_Wilted_Tulip.pdf'},
                         {'description': 'ClearSky Cyber Security. (2017, '
                                         'March 30). Jerusalem Post and other '
                                         'Israeli websites compromised by '
                                         'Iranian threat agent CopyKitten. '
                                         'Retrieved August 21, 2017.',
                          'source_name': 'ClearSky CopyKittens March 2017',
                          'url': 'http://www.clearskysec.com/copykitten-jpost/'},
                         {'description': 'Minerva Labs LTD and ClearSky Cyber '
                                         'Security. (2015, November 23). '
                                         'CopyKittens Attack Group. Retrieved '
                                         'November 17, 2024.',
                          'source_name': 'CopyKittens Nov 2015',
                          'url': 'https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/1903456/Whitepapers/CopyKittens.pdf'}],
 'id': 'intrusion-set--dcd81c6e-ebf7-4a16-93e0-9a97fa49c88a',
 'modified': '2024-11-17T12:44:07.637Z',
 'name': 'CopyKittens',
 'object_marking_refs': ['marking-definition--fa42a846-8d90-4e51-bc29-71d5b4802168'],
 'revoked': False,
 'spec_version': '2.1',
 'type': 'intrusion-set',
 'x_mitre_attack_spec_version': '3.2.0',
 'x_mitre_deprecated': False,
 'x_mitre_domains': ['enterprise-attack'],
 'x_mitre_modified_by_ref': 'identity--c78cb6e5-0c4b-4611-8297-d1b8b55e40b5',
 'x_mitre_version': '1.6'}
Quick Actions
Related TTPs (8)
Archive via Utility
Collection

Archive via Custom Method
Collection

Proxy
Command and Control

Rundll32
Defense Evasion

Code Signing
Defense Evasion