WIRTE

Overview

WIRTE is a cyberespionage actor, believed to be a subgroup of the Hamas-affiliated Gaza Cybergang, that has been active since at least August 2018. WIRTE has targeted diplomatic, financial, military, legal, and technology organizations across the Middle East, North Africa, and in Europe to gather intelligence. WIRTE has remained persistently active despite the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict and has expanded their operations to include wiper malware attacks against Israeli targets.

Naming & attribution

WIRTE is tracked under 2 names across the industry. It uses 26 documented ATT&CK techniques — more than 60% of the 174 groups tracked here.

Closest groups by technique overlap

Computed from shared ATT&CK techniques. Overlap is not attribution — distinct actors converge on the same tradecraft — but a high share is a useful pivot.

• TA505 — 15 shared techniques (33% overlap)
• APT-C-36 — 15 shared techniques (31% overlap)
• LazyScripter — 11 shared techniques (31% overlap)
• TA2541 — 12 shared techniques (29% overlap)
• Sidewinder India — 12 shared techniques (27% overlap)
• Storm-1811 — 12 shared techniques (27% overlap)

Capabilities

• Custom malware/implant development — ATT&CK: 6 attributed custom malware families

TTPs — 26 techniques across 7 tactics

Tools & malware (8)

LitePower · SameCoin · Ferocious · Empire · IronWind · Rclone · Havoc · AshTag

Reporting (3)

• Hamas-Affiliated Ashen Lepus Targets Middle Eastern Diplomatic Entities With New AshTag Malware Suite — Unit 42
• Hamas-affiliated Threat Actor WIRTE Continues its Middle East Operations and Moves to Disruptive Activity — Check Point
• WIRTE’s campaign in the Middle East ‘living off the land’ since at least 2019 — Yamout, M