SYMBOLCOMMON_NAMEaka. SYNONYMS

AridViper  (Back to overview)

aka: APT-C-23, Arid Viper, Bearded Barbie, Desert Falcon

AridViper is a state-sponsored APT primarily targeting military personnel, journalists, and dissidents in the Middle East, with a focus on Israel and Palestine. The group employs custom-developed mobile malware, including variants like AridSpy, GnatSpy, and Micropsia, often delivered through spear-phishing emails and deceptive applications. Their operations involve sophisticated social engineering tactics, including the use of fake social media profiles and weaponized apps masquerading as legitimate services. AridViper's activities are characterized by a blend of technical sophistication and psychological manipulation, aiming to exfiltrate sensitive data from compromised systems.


Associated Families
apk.glancelove apk.gnatspy apk.spyc23 apk.unidentified_004 ios.phenakite win.aridgopher win.aridhelper win.barbie win.barbwire win.micropsia

References
2023-12-14SentinelOneAleksandar Milenkoski
Gaza Cybergang | Unified Front Targeting Hamas Opposition
BarbWire Micropsia Pierogi AridViper
2023-04-04SymantecThreat Hunter Team
Mantis: New Tooling Used in Attacks Against Palestinian Targets
Arid Gopher Micropsia
2022-04-06CybereasonCybereason Nocturnus
Operation Bearded Barbie: APT-C-23 Campaign Targeting Israeli Officials
Barb(ie) Downloader BarbWire
2022-03-22The RegisterJeff Burt
What does Go-written malware look like? Here's a sample under the microscope
Arid Gopher
2022-03-21DeepInstinctAsaf Gilboa, Simon Kenin
What is Arid Gopher? An Analysis of a New, Never-Before-Seen Malware Variant
Arid Gopher AridHelper
2022-02-02CiscoAsheer Malhotra, Vitor Ventura
Arid Viper APT targets Palestine with new wave of politically themed phishing attacks, malware
Micropsia
2021-05-04malware4allmalware4all
Grab your own copy of Phenakite iOS malware today
Phenakite
2021-04-21FacebookMichael Flossman, Michael Scott
Technical Paper // Taking Action Against Arid Viper
Viper RAT Micropsia
2020-09-30ESET ResearchLukáš Štefanko
APT‑C‑23 group evolves its Android spyware
SpyC23
2020-02-16Check Point ResearchCheck Point Research
Hamas Android Malware On IDF Soldiers-This is How it Happened
Unidentified APK 004
2019-08-15Github (jeFF0Falltrades)Jeff Archer
MICROPSIA (APT-C-23)
Micropsia
2018-07-08Check Point ResearchCheck Point Research
APT Attack In the Middle East: The Big Bang
Micropsia The Big Bang
2018-07-03HaaretzYaniv Kubovich
Hamas Cyber Ops Spied on Hundreds of Israeli Soldiers Using Fake World Cup, Dating Apps
GlanceLove
2018-07-03ClearSkyClearSky Research Team
Infrastructure and Samples of Hamas’ Android Malware Targeting Israeli Soldiers
GlanceLove
2017-12-18Trend MicroEcular Xu, Grey Guo
New GnatSpy Mobile Malware Family Discovered
GnatSpy
2017-06-19Cisco TalosEmmanuel Tacheau, Martin Lee, Paul Rascagnères, Vanja Svajcer, Warren Mercer
Delphi Used To Score Against Palestine
Micropsia AridViper
2017-06-14ThreatConnectThreatConnect Research Team
Phantom of the Opaera: New KASPERAGENT Malware Campaign
KasperAgent AridViper
2017-04-05Palo Alto Networks Unit 42Tom Lancaster, Tomer Bar
Targeted Attacks in the Middle East Using KASPERAGENT and MICROPSIA
KasperAgent Micropsia
2017-02-16Kaspersky LabsIDF C4I, Ido Naor
Breaking The Weakest Link Of The Strongest Chain
GlanceLove
2017-02-16LookoutMichael Flossman
ViperRAT: The mobile APT targeting the Israeli Defense Force that should be on your radar
Viper RAT AridViper
2017-02-16Kaspersky LabsIDF C4I, Ido Naor
Breaking The Weakest Link Of The Strongest Chain
Viper RAT AridViper
2017-02-05IDFIDF
Hamas Uses Fake Facebook Profiles to Target Israeli Soldiers
GlanceLove
2015-09-18ProofpointProofpoint Staff
Operation Arid Viper Slithers Back into View
AridViper
2015-02-25Trend MicroTrend Micro Threat Research Team
OPERATION ARID VIPER: Bypassing the Iron Dome
AridViper
2015-02-19Security AffairsPierluigi Paganini
Arid Viper – Israel entities targeted by malware packaged with sex video
AridViper
2015-02-18Trend MicroTrendmicro
Sexually Explicit Material Used as Lures in Recent Cyber Attacks
AridViper
2015-02-17Kaspersky LabsGhareeb Saad, Mohamad Amin Hasbini
The Desert Falcons targeted attacks
AridViper
2015-02-01Kaspersky LabsGReAT
The Desert Falcons Targeted Attacks
AridViper

Credits: MISP Project