Threat Actor

CURIUM

Also known as: CURIUM, Crimson Sandstorm, TA456, Tortoise Shell, Yellow Liderc

[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)

19
Techniques
1
Software

Properties

stix_id
intrusion-set--3ea7add5-5b8f-45d8-b1f1-905d2729d62a
signal_observed_at
2026-09-11T17:54:59+00:00
type
intrusion-set

MITRE ATT&CK Techniques (19)

Data from Local System

Adversaries may search local system sources, such as file systems, configuration files, local databases, virtual machine files, or process memory, to

Domains

Adversaries may acquire domains that can be used during targeting. Domain names are the human readable names used to represent one or more IP addresse

Drive-by Compromise

Adversaries may gain access to a system through a user visiting a website over the normal course of browsing. Multiple ways of delivering exploit code

Drive-by Target

Adversaries may prepare an operational environment to infect systems that visit a website over the normal course of browsing. Endpoint systems may be

Email Accounts

Adversaries may create email accounts that can be used during targeting. Adversaries can use accounts created with email providers to further their op

Exfiltration Over Asymmetric Encrypted Non-C2 Protocol

Adversaries may steal data by exfiltrating it over an asymmetrically encrypted network protocol other than that of the existing command and control ch

Exfiltration Over C2 Channel

Adversaries may steal data by exfiltrating it over an existing command and control channel. Stolen data is encoded into the normal communications chan

Malicious File

An adversary may rely upon a user opening a malicious file in order to gain execution. Users may be subjected to social engineering to get them to ope

PowerShell

Adversaries may abuse PowerShell commands and scripts for execution. PowerShell is a powerful interactive command-line interface and scripting environ

Server

Adversaries may buy, lease, rent, or obtain physical servers that can be used during targeting. Use of servers allows an adversary to stage, launch, a

Social Media Accounts

Adversaries may create and cultivate social media accounts that can be used during targeting. Adversaries can create social media accounts that can be

Spearphishing Attachment

Adversaries may send spearphishing emails with a malicious attachment in an attempt to gain access to victim systems. Spearphishing attachment is a sp

Spearphishing Link

Adversaries may send spearphishing messages with a malicious link to elicit sensitive information that can be used during targeting. Spearphishing for

Spearphishing via Service

Adversaries may send spearphishing messages via third-party services in an attempt to gain access to victim systems. Spearphishing via service is a sp

System Information Discovery

An adversary may attempt to get detailed information about the operating system and hardware, including version, patches, hotfixes, service packs, and

System Time Discovery

An adversary may gather the system time and/or time zone settings from a local or remote system. The system time is set and stored by services, such a

Virtual Private Server

Adversaries may rent Virtual Private Servers (VPSs) that can be used during targeting. There exist a variety of cloud service providers that will sell

Web Services

Adversaries may compromise access to third-party web services that can be used during targeting. A variety of popular websites exist for legitimate us

Web Shell

Adversaries may backdoor web servers with web shells to establish persistent access to systems. A Web shell is a Web script that is placed on an openl

Software & Tools (1)

IMAPLoader [malware]

[IMAPLoader](https://attack.mitre.org/software/S1152) is a .NET-based loader malware exclusively associated with [CURIUM](https://attack.mitre.org/gro

Explore this actor's full graph with Ninja Signal