- Category
- State · Attributed to a state or working for one.
- Origin
- Iran(high confidence)
- Sponsor
- State-sponsored
- Motivation
- Espionage; Information theft and espionage
- Seen
- 2010–2026
- Status
- Active
- ATT&CK
- G0130 · 6 techniques
- Sources
- 6 sources carry it
- Identifier
- GINC-APT-0266 · ajax-security-team
IranWhat it is
Ajax Security Team is a group that has been active since at least 2010 and believed to be operating out of Iran. By 2014 Ajax Security Team transitioned from website defacement operations to malware-based cyber espionage campaigns targeting the US defense industrial base and Iranian users of anti-censorship technologies.
Names
The names each vendor, agency and source gives it. Naming differs by who tracks the actor, so one group carries many.
- CrowdStrike
- Flying Kitten, Rocket Kitten
- Mandiant
- TEMP.Beanie
- MITRE ATT&CK
- G0130
- Talos and others
- Group 26
- Operations
- Operation Saffron Rose, Operation Woolen Goldfish, Operation Woolen-Goldfish, Operation “Saffron Rose”
- Other names
- AjaxSecurityTeam, AjaxTM, Flying Kitten, Ajax Security Team, Saffron Rose, SaffronRose, Sayad, Thamar Reservoir, Timberworm
Attribution
Each attribution is a claim: who makes it, and to whom. Western and Eastern sources are kept apart, as they often disagree.
Western sources
- ETDA / ThaiCERTIran
- MISP Galaxy (CFR tagging)Iran
- ThreatActor.info (Malpedia et al.)Iran · high
Targets
- Countries
- Afghanistan, Canada, Egypt, Iran, Iranian internet activists, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Türkiye, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Venezuela, Yemen
- Sectors
- Academia - University, Activists, Aerospace, Civil society, Defense, Gas, Government, Government, Administration, Journalist, Military, Oil, Research - Innovation
Tools
The tools and malware families the sources tie to it.
- Havij
- sqlmap
Sources
- MITRE ATT&CK attack.mitre.org
- ETDA Threat Group Card apt.etda.or.th
- Malpedia malpedia.caad.fkie.fraunhofer.de