Threat Actor Profile
High APT
Description

PROMETHIUM is an activity group focused on espionage that has been active since at least 2012. The group has conducted operations globally with a heavy emphasis on Turkish targets. PROMETHIUM has demonstrated similarity to another activity group called NEODYMIUM due to overlapping victim and campaign characteristics.(Citation: Microsoft NEODYMIUM Dec 2016)(Citation: Microsoft SIR Vol 21)(Citation: Talos Promethium June 2020)

Confidence Score
90%
Known Aliases
PROMETHIUM StrongPity
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 (11)
T1036.004 - Masquerade Task or Service
Defense Evasion
T1036.005 - Match Legitimate Resource Name or Locat…
Defense Evasion
T1078.003 - Local Accounts
Defense Evasion
T1205.001 - Port Knocking
Defense Evasion
T1553.002 - Code Signing
Defense Evasion
T1204.002 - Malicious File
Execution
T1189 - Drive-by Compromise
Initial Access
T1543.003 - Windows Service
Persistence
T1547.001 - Registry Run Keys / Startup Folder
Persistence
T1587.002 - Code Signing Certificates
Resource Development
T1587.003 - Digital Certificates
Resource Development
Indicators of Compromise

Loading IOCs…

IOC KQL for Sentinel
STIX Data
{'aliases': ['PROMETHIUM', 'StrongPity'],
 'created': '2018-01-16T16:13:52.465Z',
 'created_by_ref': 'identity--c78cb6e5-0c4b-4611-8297-d1b8b55e40b5',
 'description': '[PROMETHIUM](https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G0056) is an '
                'activity group focused on espionage that has been active '
                'since at least 2012. The group has conducted operations '
                'globally with a heavy emphasis on Turkish targets. '
                '[PROMETHIUM](https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G0056) has '
                'demonstrated similarity to another activity group called '
                '[NEODYMIUM](https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G0055) due to '
                'overlapping victim and campaign characteristics.(Citation: '
                'Microsoft NEODYMIUM Dec 2016)(Citation: Microsoft SIR Vol '
                '21)(Citation: Talos Promethium June 2020)',
 'external_references': [{'external_id': 'G0056',
                          'source_name': 'mitre-attack',
                          'url': 'https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G0056'},
                         {'description': '(Citation: Microsoft NEODYMIUM Dec '
                                         '2016) (Citation: Microsoft SIR Vol '
                                         '21)',
                          'source_name': 'PROMETHIUM'},
                         {'description': 'Anthe, C. et al. (2016, December '
                                         '14). Microsoft Security Intelligence '
                                         'Report Volume 21. Retrieved November '
                                         '27, 2017.',
                          'source_name': 'Microsoft SIR Vol 21',
                          'url': 'http://download.microsoft.com/download/E/B/0/EB0F50CC-989C-4B66-B7F6-68CD3DC90DE3/Microsoft_Security_Intelligence_Report_Volume_21_English.pdf'},
                         {'description': 'Mercer, W. et al. (2020, June 29). '
                                         'PROMETHIUM extends global reach with '
                                         'StrongPity3 APT. Retrieved July 20, '
                                         '2020.',
                          'source_name': 'Talos Promethium June 2020',
                          'url': 'https://blog.talosintelligence.com/2020/06/promethium-extends-with-strongpity3.html'},
                         {'description': 'Microsoft. (2016, December 14). Twin '
                                         'zero-day attacks: PROMETHIUM and '
                                         'NEODYMIUM target individuals in '
                                         'Europe. Retrieved November 27, 2017.',
                          'source_name': 'Microsoft NEODYMIUM Dec 2016',
                          'url': 'https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/mmpc/2016/12/14/twin-zero-day-attacks-promethium-and-neodymium-target-individuals-in-europe/'},
                         {'description': 'The name StrongPity has also been '
                                         'used to describe the group and the '
                                         'malware used by the group.(Citation: '
                                         'Bitdefender StrongPity June '
                                         '2020)(Citation: Talos Promethium '
                                         'June 2020)',
                          'source_name': 'StrongPity'},
                         {'description': 'Tudorica, R. et al. (2020, June 30). '
                                         'StrongPity APT - Revealing '
                                         'Trojanized Tools, Working Hours and '
                                         'Infrastructure. Retrieved July 20, '
                                         '2020.',
                          'source_name': 'Bitdefender StrongPity June 2020',
                          'url': 'https://www.bitdefender.com/files/News/CaseStudies/study/353/Bitdefender-Whitepaper-StrongPity-APT.pdf'}],
 'id': 'intrusion-set--efed95ba-d7e8-47ff-8c53-99c42426ee7c',
 'modified': '2024-04-19T19:35:15.637Z',
 'name': 'PROMETHIUM',
 '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': '2.1'}
Quick Actions
Related TTPs (11)
Masquerade Task or Service
Defense Evasion

Match Legitimate Resource Nam…
Defense Evasion

Local Accounts
Defense Evasion

Port Knocking
Defense Evasion

Code Signing
Defense Evasion