# Fox Kitten: threat group profile

> Fox Kitten is a threat group thought to operate from Iran. Public reporting links it to 31 attack techniques. This free profile shows how it works, stage by stage, so you can judge the risk to you. It lists the other names the group goes by and links to every public report behind it.

Canonical page: https://www.edgeprotect.io/threat-actors/fox-kitten
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## At a glance

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Attack techniques | 31 (plus 23 sub-techniques) |
| Thought to operate from | Iran |
| Other names | 5 |
| Public reports | 9 |

## Who is Fox Kitten?

Fox Kitten is a threat group thought to operate from Iran. Public reporting links it to 31 attack techniques.

### Also known as

PIONEER KITTEN, PARISITE, UNC757, Lemon Sandstorm, RUBIDIUM

Security companies each give the same group their own name, so one group can have many.

### What public reporting says

> PIONEER KITTEN is an Iran-based adversary that has been active since at least 2017 and has a suspected nexus to the Iranian government. This adversary appears to be primarily focused on gaining and maintaining access to entities possessing sensitive information of likely intelligence interest to the Iranian government. According to DRAGOS, they also targeted ICS-related entities using known VPN vulnerabilities. They are widely known to use open source penetration testing tools for reconnaissance and to establish encrypted communications.

## How does Fox Kitten attack? Stage by stage

Each technique is a known way attackers research, get in, stay hidden or do damage. Here are the 31 linked to Fox Kitten. Some techniques belong to more than one stage. Public reporting also lists 23 more specific variations of them, called sub-techniques.

### 1. Research (0)

- None linked in public reporting.

### 2. Preparation (1)

- T1585: Establish Accounts

### 3. Getting in (2)

- T1078: Valid Accounts
- T1190: Exploit Public-Facing Application

### 4. Running code (2)

- T1053: Scheduled Task/Job
- T1059: Command and Scripting Interpreter

### 5. Staying in (5)

- T1053: Scheduled Task/Job
- T1078: Valid Accounts
- T1136: Create Account
- T1505: Server Software Component
- T1546: Event Triggered Execution

### 6. Taking control (3)

- T1053: Scheduled Task/Job
- T1078: Valid Accounts
- T1546: Event Triggered Execution

### 7. Hiding (3)

- T1027: Obfuscated Files or Information
- T1036: Masquerading
- T1078: Valid Accounts

### 8. Disabling defences (0)

- None linked in public reporting.

### 9. Stealing passwords (4)

- T1003: OS Credential Dumping
- T1110: Brute Force
- T1552: Unsecured Credentials
- T1555: Credentials from Password Stores

### 10. Looking around (6)

- T1012: Query Registry
- T1018: Remote System Discovery
- T1046: Network Service Discovery
- T1083: File and Directory Discovery
- T1087: Account Discovery
- T1217: Browser Information Discovery

### 11. Spreading (2)

- T1021: Remote Services
- T1210: Exploitation of Remote Services

### 12. Gathering data (5)

- T1005: Data from Local System
- T1039: Data from Network Shared Drive
- T1213: Data from Information Repositories
- T1530: Data from Cloud Storage
- T1560: Archive Collected Data

### 13. Keeping contact (4)

- T1090: Proxy
- T1102: Web Service
- T1105: Ingress Tool Transfer
- T1572: Protocol Tunneling

### 14. Taking data out (0)

- None linked in public reporting.

### 15. Causing damage (0)

- None linked in public reporting.

## Public reports about Fox Kitten

- https://youtu.be/pBDu8EGWRC4?t=2492
- https://www.dragos.com/threat/parisite
- https://www.dragos.com/wp-content/uploads/The-ICS-Threat-Landscape.pdf
- https://www.dragos.com/wp-content/uploads/NA-EL-Threat-Perspective-2019.pdf
- https://www.clearskysec.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ClearSky-Fox-Kitten-Campaign.pdf
- https://www.zdnet.com/article/fbi-says-an-iranian-hacking-group-is-attacking-f5-networking-devices
- https://www.crowdstrike.com/blog/who-is-pioneer-kitten
- https://www.zdnet.com/article/iranian-hackers-are-selling-access-to-compromised-companies-on-an-underground-forum
- https://us-cert.cisa.gov/ncas/alerts/aa20-259a

## Frequently asked questions

### Who is Fox Kitten?

Fox Kitten is a threat group thought to operate from Iran. Public reporting links it to 31 attack techniques.

### Where is Fox Kitten thought to be based?

Public reporting places Fox Kitten as operating from Iran. Attribution is never certain: it rests on the tools, infrastructure and targets researchers have seen.

### How does Fox Kitten attack?

Public reporting links Fox Kitten to 31 attack techniques. Most of them are about looking around, staying in and gathering data.

### How do I know if Fox Kitten is a risk to my business?

Create an account and tell us the software you run. We match it against known flaws, including those linked to threat groups, rank each one from 0 to 100 and tell you as soon as we spot something that affects you.

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