Threat Actor Profile
Description
CURIUM is an Iranian threat group, first reported in September 2019 and active since at least July 2018, targeting IT service providers in the Middle East.(Citation: Symantec Tortoiseshell 2019) CURIUM has since invested in building relationships with potential targets via social media over a period of months to establish trust and confidence before sending malware. Security researchers note CURIUM has demonstrated great patience and persistence by chatting with potential targets daily and sending benign files to help lower their security consciousness.(Citation: Microsoft Iranian Threat Actor Trends November 2021)
Confidence Score
Known Aliases
Tags
First Seen
Unknown
Last Updated
Unknown
Active Status
ActiveCreated
April 29, 2026
MITRE ATT&CK Techniques (19)
Indicators of Compromise
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IOC KQL for Sentinel
STIX Data
{'aliases': ['CURIUM',
'Crimson Sandstorm',
'TA456',
'Tortoise Shell',
'Yellow Liderc'],
'created': '2023-01-13T20:51:13.494Z',
'created_by_ref': 'identity--c78cb6e5-0c4b-4611-8297-d1b8b55e40b5',
'description': '[CURIUM](https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G1012) is an Iranian '
'threat group, first reported in September 2019 and active '
'since at least July 2018, targeting IT service providers in '
'the Middle East.(Citation: Symantec Tortoiseshell 2019) '
'[CURIUM](https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G1012) has since '
'invested in building relationships with potential targets via '
'social media over a period of months to establish trust and '
'confidence before sending malware. Security researchers note '
'[CURIUM](https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G1012) has '
'demonstrated great patience and persistence by chatting with '
'potential targets daily and sending benign files to help '
'lower their security consciousness.(Citation: Microsoft '
'Iranian Threat Actor Trends November 2021)',
'external_references': [{'external_id': 'G1012',
'source_name': 'mitre-attack',
'url': 'https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G1012'},
{'description': '(Citation: Microsoft Threat Actor '
'Naming July 2023)',
'source_name': 'Crimson Sandstorm'},
{'description': '(Citation: Microsoft Threat Actor '
'Naming July 2023)',
'source_name': 'Tortoise Shell'},
{'description': '(Citation: Microsoft Threat Actor '
'Naming July 2023)(Citation: '
'Proofpoint TA456 Defense Contractor '
'July 2021)',
'source_name': 'TA456'},
{'description': '(Citation: PWC Yellow Liderc 2023)',
'source_name': 'Yellow Liderc'},
{'description': 'Microsoft . (2023, July 12). How '
'Microsoft names threat actors. '
'Retrieved November 17, 2023.',
'source_name': 'Microsoft Threat Actor Naming July '
'2023',
'url': 'https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/security/intelligence/microsoft-threat-actor-naming?view=o365-worldwide'},
{'description': 'Miller, J. et. al. (2021, July 28). '
'I Knew You Were Trouble: TA456 '
'Targets Defense Contractor with '
'Alluring Social Media Persona. '
'Retrieved March 11, 2024.',
'source_name': 'Proofpoint TA456 Defense Contractor '
'July 2021',
'url': 'https://www.proofpoint.com/us/blog/threat-insight/i-knew-you-were-trouble-ta456-targets-defense-contractor-alluring-social-media'},
{'description': 'MSTIC. (2021, November 16). Evolving '
'trends in Iranian threat actor '
'activity – MSTIC presentation at '
'CyberWarCon 2021. Retrieved January '
'12, 2023.',
'source_name': 'Microsoft Iranian Threat Actor '
'Trends November 2021',
'url': 'https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/blog/2021/11/16/evolving-trends-in-iranian-threat-actor-activity-mstic-presentation-at-cyberwarcon-2021'},
{'description': 'PwC Threat Intelligence. (2023, '
'October 25). Yellow Liderc ships its '
'scripts and delivers IMAPLoader '
'malware. Retrieved August 14, 2024.',
'source_name': 'PWC Yellow Liderc 2023',
'url': 'https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/issues/cybersecurity/cyber-threat-intelligence/yellow-liderc-ships-its-scripts-delivers-imaploader-malware.html'},
{'description': 'Symantec Threat Hunter Team. (2019, '
'September 18). Tortoiseshell Group '
'Targets IT Providers in Saudi Arabia '
'in Probable Supply Chain Attacks. '
'Retrieved May 20, 2024.',
'source_name': 'Symantec Tortoiseshell 2019',
'url': 'https://symantec-enterprise-blogs.security.com/blogs/threat-intelligence/tortoiseshell-apt-supply-chain'}],
'id': 'intrusion-set--3ea7add5-5b8f-45d8-b1f1-905d2729d62a',
'modified': '2024-10-02T12:13:42.278Z',
'name': 'CURIUM',
'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_contributors': ['Denise Tan', 'Wirapong Petshagun'],
'x_mitre_deprecated': False,
'x_mitre_domains': ['enterprise-attack'],
'x_mitre_modified_by_ref': 'identity--c78cb6e5-0c4b-4611-8297-d1b8b55e40b5',
'x_mitre_version': '3.0'}