A previously undocumented attack group is using both custom and off-the-shelf malware to target IT providers in Saudi Arabia in what appear to be supply chain attacks with the end goal of compromising the IT providers’ customers. The group, which we are calling Tortoiseshell, has been active since at least July 2018. Symantec has identified a total of 11 organizations hit by the group, the majority of which are based in Saudi Arabia. In at least two organizations, evidence suggests that the attackers gained domain admin-level access.
The same group is tracked under different names by different vendors.
| Vendor | Name |
|---|---|
| OSINT | IMPERIAL KITTEN |
| OSINT | Yellow Liderc |
| OSINT | TA456 |
| OSINT | DUSTYCAVE |
| OSINT | Crimson Sandstorm |
| OSINT | Cuboid Sandstorm |
| OSINT | Smoke Sandstorm |
| OSINT | CURIUM |
| OSINT | Tortoise Shell |
Sectors: Defense, Government, Military, Finance, Energy, Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals, Telecoms, High-Tech, Media, NGOs, Civil Society, Legal, Rail, Transportation
Victim countries: United States, Israel, Middle East, Europe
No IOCs extracted yet from reports naming this actor.
Every report in the Global Intel Library that names Tortoiseshell, newest first. Open any report to see the full analysis with provenance.
No reports in the Lore library name this actor yet.
Indicators from free threat feeds (abuse.ch ThreatFox, AlienVault OTX) attributed to Tortoiseshell. Each row shows why it was linked and where it came from.
No feed indicators linked to this actor yet. Feeds are checked every hour.
Open-source reports about this actor collected from MISP Galaxy and MITRE ATT&CK.