Cleaver is an espionage group thought to operate from Iran, with suspected state backing. Public reporting links it to 5 attack techniques, and to attacks on private sector and government organisations, with 15 countries and victims named. This free profile shows how it works and who it targets, so you can judge the risk to you.
Cleaver has 7 other names in security research. Below is what published reporting says about it, with a link to every report so you can check the detail yourself.
Also known as
Security companies each give the same group their own name, so one group can have many.
What public reporting says
A group of cyber actors utilizing infrastructure located in Iran have been conducting computer network exploitation activity against public and private U.S. organizations, including Cleared Defense Contractors (CDCs), academic institutions, and energy sector companies. This threat actor targets entities in the government, energy, and technology sectors that are located in or do business with Saudi Arabia.
Public reports about Cleaver (15)
Each technique is a known way attackers research, get in, stay hidden or do damage. Here are the 5 linked to Cleaver, laid out from first look to final blow. Some techniques belong to more than one stage. Pick a stage to see them. Public reporting also lists 5 more specific variations of them, called sub-techniques.
Setting up accounts, servers and tools to use in the attack.
The sectors and places named in public reporting about this group. If yours is on the list, it is worth knowing how they work and which flaws they use.
Countries and victims named (15)
A public profile tells you who a group is. Your account tells you whether it matters to you: we match the software you run to the flaws threat groups use, and we keep watching, so you hear about anything that affects you as soon as we know.
Cleaver is an espionage group thought to operate from Iran, with suspected state backing. Public reporting links it to 5 attack techniques, and to attacks on private sector and government organisations, with 15 countries and victims named.
Public reporting places Cleaver as operating from Iran, with suspected state backing. Attribution is never certain: it rests on the tools, infrastructure and targets researchers have seen.
In public reporting, sectors named include private sector and government, and 15 countries and victims are named, including Canada, France, Israel and Mexico.
Public reporting links Cleaver to 5 attack techniques. Most of them are about preparing tools and infrastructure, stealing passwords and gathering data.
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.
Create a free account and tell us the software you run. We match the software you run against flaws threat groups use, rank them 0 to 100 and keep watching, so you hear about it as soon as we know.
No card neededNothing to installIntelligence and alerts free