CURIUM

Overview

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. 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.

Naming & attribution

CURIUM is tracked under 5 names across the industry. It uses 19 documented ATT&CK techniques — more than 51% of the 174 groups tracked here.

Closest groups by technique overlap

Computed from shared ATT&CK techniques. Overlap is not attribution — distinct actors converge on the same tradecraft — but a high share is a useful pivot.

• Moonstone Sleet North Korea — 9 shared techniques (23% overlap)
• Winter Vivern Russia — 8 shared techniques (21% overlap)
• EXOTIC LILY — 6 shared techniques (21% overlap)
• Star Blizzard Russia — 6 shared techniques (18% overlap)
• Transparent Tribe Pakistan — 5 shared techniques (18% overlap)
• Dragonfly Russia — 10 shared techniques (15% overlap)

Targets

Civil society · Defense · Energy · Finance · Government · Healthcare · High-Tech · Legal · Media · Military · NGOs · Pharmaceuticals · Rail · Telecommunications · Transportation

Regions

Europe · Israel · Middle East · United States

TTPs — 19 techniques across 8 tactics

Tools & malware (1)

IMAPLoader

Reporting (3)

• Yellow Liderc ships its scripts and delivers IMAPLoader malware — PwC Threat Intelligence
• How Microsoft names threat actors — Microsoft
• Evolving trends in Iranian threat actor activity – MSTIC presentation at CyberWarCon 2021 — MSTIC