🏆
checkthis from grok:
Muddy waters and a bunch of other names they go by is an Iranian hacking froup raising hell with us,israel and who knows who else.
Maybe some of you know how to look into this:
4:40 PM (0 minutes ago)
to me
Below is a summary of a really long analysis I got from Grok
Here’s a concise **summary** of MuddyWater’s (aka Seedworm, Mango Sandstorm, Boggy Serpens, etc.) latest campaigns as of early 2026:
### 1. RustyWater Campaign (January 2026)
- **Delivery**: Spear-phishing with malicious Word documents (icon spoofing + macros).
- **Targets**: Diplomatic, maritime, financial, and telecom organizations, primarily in the Middle East (including Israel).
- **Malware**: New **RustyWater** (Rust-based RAT/implant) — features asynchronous C2, anti-analysis, registry persistence, and modular capabilities.
- **Significance**: Shows the group’s shift toward custom, low-footprint tooling in Rust for better evasion and flexibility.
### 2. Operation Olalampo (Observed from January 26, 2026)
- **Delivery**: Spear-phishing emails with weaponized Microsoft Office documents (macros that decode and drop payloads).
- **Targets**: Multiple organizations and individuals mainly in the **MENA region** (Middle East and North Africa), aligned with geopolitical tensions.
- **New Malware**:
- **GhostFetch** and **HTTP_VIP**: Downloaders.
- **CHAR**: Rust-based backdoor.
- **GhostBackDoor**: Advanced implant.
- **Notes**: Evidence of AI-assisted development in components; uses Telegram for some C2; continues evolution away from heavy reliance on legitimate RMM tools.
### 3. U.S. & Western-Targeted Activity (Early February 2026 onward)
- **Targets**: U.S. bank, U.S. airport, U.S./Canadian non-profit, and the Israeli operations of a U.S. defense/aerospace software supplier.
- **Timing**: Footholds established weeks before U.S.-Israeli military strikes on Iran (late February 2026); activity continued/intensified afterward.
- **New Malware**:
- **Dindoor**: Previously unknown backdoor that executes via the Deno JavaScript/TypeScript runtime (signed with “Amy Cherne” certificate).
- **Fakeset**: Python-based backdoor (signed with certificates linked to prior MuddyWater activity; staged via Backblaze cloud).
- **Additional Activity**: Attempts at data exfiltration using **Rclone** to cloud storage (e.g., Wasabi). Also observed living-off-the-land techniques like SSH/RDP tunneling and DLL side-loading in related incidents.
### Overall Trends in Early 2026
- **Focus**: Long-term **cyber espionage** and intelligence gathering (not financial theft or destruction) to support Iranian interests amid regional conflicts.
- **Evolution**: Faster development of custom implants (Rust, Python, Deno-based), reduced use of public RMM tools, sophisticated social engineering, and potential AI assistance.
- **TTPs**: Consistent spear-phishing as entry point, followed by loaders, backdoors, credential access, tunneling, and stealthy persistence/exfiltration.
These operations reflect MuddyWater’s role as a persistent Iranian MOIS-linked actor “muddying the waters” with evolving tradecraft, often pre-positioning access in critical sectors (gov, finance, telecom, aviation, defense) tied to Middle East tensions.
If this ties back to your earlier context (”where we were”), or if you have specific IOCs, logs, or a sector you’re concerned about, share more details for a tighter mapping or defensive advice!