APT-C-23

Also known as: Mantis · Arid Viper · Desert Falcon · TAG-63 · Grey Karkadann · Big Bang APT · Two-tailed Scorpion

Overview

APT-C-23 is a threat group that has been active since at least 2014. APT-C-23 has primarily focused its operations on the Middle East, including Israeli military assets. APT-C-23 has developed mobile spyware targeting Android and iOS devices since 2017.

Naming & attribution

APT-C-23 is tracked under 8 names across the industry. It uses 0 documented ATT&CK techniques — more than 0% of the 174 groups tracked here. Activity attributed since at least 2014.

Who calls this group what — MITRE lists each alias with the report that used it, but not which vendor coined it.
Name	First reported by
Mantis	Symantec Threat Hunter Team
Arid Viper	Stefanko, L
Desert Falcon	Stefanko, L
Grey Karkadann	Hegel, T., Milenkoski, A
Big Bang APT	Kayal, A
Two-tailed Scorpion	Stefanko, L

Targets

Civil society · Defense · Education · Energy · Finance · Government · High-Tech · Legal · Media · Military · NGOs · Telecommunications · Transportation

Regions

Europe · Israel · Middle East · Palestine · United States

Tools & malware (1)

Micropsia

Reporting (3)

The Israel-Hamas War | Cyber Domain State-Sponsored Activity of Interest — Hegel, T., Milenkoski, A
Mantis: New Tooling Used in Attacks Against Palestinian Targets — Symantec Threat Hunter Team
Technical Paper // Taking Action Against Arid Viper — Flossman, M., Scott, M