The Kittens Strike Back: Rocket Kitten Continues Attacks on Middle East Targets

View research paper: The Spy Kittens Are Back: Rocket Kitten 2

A targeted attack is one of the worst things that can happen to an organization. To have a dedicated group putting all their time and resources into breaking into a specific network—it’s a threat that could  potentially cost the organization millions of dollars in damages, along with the perils that come with having operations-critical data being stolen or published online. Add to this the potential disasters that could result from public-facing systems being hacked into and controlled remotely through these same targeted attacks, and you’ve got a worst-case scenario that needs to be addressed.

Trend Micro and its engineers have been keeping track of targeted attacks—specifically, the groups that perform them—in order to provide not only clearer and more detailed information to potential victims, but also for protection. This latest paper, titled “The Spy Kittens are Back: Rocket Kitten 2” details the findings made so far about Rocket Kitten, a threat actor group famous for their activities with GHOLE Malware and Operation Woolen-Goldfish (as reported by Trend Micro last March). In the research paper, Trend Micro along with ClearSky, seeks to answer the following questions:

• What has Rocket Kitten been up to?
• What is Rocket Kitten after?
• Have their tools and methods changed?

The answers:

• Rocket Kitten has certainly not been dormant. Ever since their discovery last March, Rocket Kitten has been after multiple targets in the Middle East.
• Based on collected findings, Rocket Kitten seems to be part of a foreign political espionage campaign. The group does not seem to be after monetary gain, but rather keeping tabs on key personalities that have personal affiliation with foreign policy and defense actors.
• Rocket Kitten’s tools and methodologies do not appear as if they have changed much from their previous run-in with security vendors. However, their persistence offers a new dimension to their attacks.

Get the full details and in-depth analysis in “The Spy Kittens are Back: Rocket Kitten 2”.