Threats Feed|Flying Kitten|Last Updated 02/06/2025|AuthorCertfa Radar|Publish Date05/12/2017

Flying Kitten to Rocket Kitten: Persistent Phishing Threats from Iran

  • Actor Motivations: Espionage,Exfiltration
  • Attack Vectors: Keylogger,Malware,Spear Phishing
  • Attack Complexity: Medium
  • Threat Risk: Low Impact/High Probability

Threat Overview

The Iranian cyber groups Flying Kitten and Rocket Kitten exhibited overlapping tactics in credential theft and spearphishing, targeting entities in sectors like media, education, and technology across the UK, US, and Iran. Utilizing domains that mimicked legitimate services, such as Google and Microsoft, they orchestrated phishing campaigns to harvest user credentials. Their operations involved shared phishing toolkits and malware, including a keylogger, with connections back to Iranian infrastructure. Despite cessation of Flying Kitten activities post-2014, their tools and tactics were resurrected by Rocket Kitten, highlighting the persistent threat posed by these actors.

Detected Targets

TypeDescriptionConfidence
CaseAsharq Al-Awsat
Asharq Al-Awsat is an Arabic international newspaper headquartered in London. A pioneer of the "off-shore" model in the Arabic press, the paper is often noted for its distinctive green-tinted pages. Asharq Al-Awsat has been targeted by Flying Kitten as the main target.
Verified
CaseGEM TV
GEM TV is an Iranian group of entertainment satellite channels. Its headquarters is located in Istanbul, Turkey. This group also launched various channels in Arabic, Kurdish and Persian to expand its viewers. GEM TV has been targeted by Flying Kitten as the main target.
Verified
SectorHuman Rights
Verified
SectorJournalists
Verified
SectorMedical
Verified
SectorMedia
Verified
SectorUniversity
Verified
RegionIran
Verified
RegionTurkey
Medium
RegionUnited Kingdom
Verified
RegionUnited States
Verified

Extracted IOCs

  • account-signin-myaccount-users[.]ga
  • change-mail-accounting-register-single[.]com
  • change-user-account-mail-permission[.]com
  • display-error-runtime[.]com
  • display-ganavaro-abrashimchi[.]com
  • drive-google.com[.]co
  • drive-sigin-permissionsneed[.]ml
  • drive-useraccount-signin-mail[.]ga
  • dropebox[.]co
  • ghalpaq[.]com
  • google-setting[.]com
  • google-verify[.]com
  • hangouting-signin-to-chat[.]ga
  • iforget-memail-user-account[.]com
  • iraniannuk[.]com
  • iranianuknews[.]com
  • mg5-myfile-available-signin[.]ga
  • profiles-verify[.]com
  • qooqle.com[.]co
  • security-supportteams-mail-change[.]ga
  • singin-your-drive[.]ga
  • telegrem[.]org
  • userfile-need-permission-download-signin[.]com
  • verify-account-for-secure[.]ga
  • verify-ycervice[.]com
  • verify-your-password-for-secure-your-account[.]cf
  • verify-yservice[.]com
  • ymail-service[.]com
  • your-file-drive-permission-for-download[.]cf
  • aol.userfile-need-permission-download-signin[.]com
  • changepassword.userfile-need-permission-download-signin[.]com
  • cox.userfile-need-permission-download-signin[.]com
  • drive.signin-account-privacymail[.]com
  • durham-ac-uk.userfile-need-permission-download-signin[.]com
  • network.us14-userfile-permission-account-signin[.]com
  • onedrive.signin-useraccount-mail[.]com
  • verify-google-password.userfile-need-permission-download-signin[.]com
  • www.drive-useraccount-signin-mail[.]ga
  • www.google-setting[.]com
  • www.google-verify[.]com
  • yahoodrive.signin-account-privacymail[.]com
  • yahoo-drive.signin-useraccount-mail[.]com
  • yahoo-reset.signin-useraccount-mail[.]com
  • 8ad0485fd3509042b0a477f65507f711
  • 178[.]162.203.56
  • 5[.]9.244.137
  • 81[.]91.146.232
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Tip: 47 related IOCs (3 IP, 43 domain, 0 URL, 0 email, 1 file hash) to this threat have been found.