Infy threat group

Infy is an espionage group thought to operate from Iran, with suspected state backing. Public reporting links it to attacks on government and private sector organisations, with 15 countries and victims named. This free profile brings together what is known about it, so you can judge the risk to you.

Attack techniques
0
Countries and victims named
15
Thought to operate from
Iran
Suspected backing
Iran
Motive
Espionage
Other names
3
Built from public reporting, with every source listed below.
Overview

Who is Infy?

Infy has 3 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

Operation MermaidPrince of PersiaFoudre

Security companies each give the same group their own name, so one group can have many.

What public reporting says

Infy is a group of suspected Iranian origin. Since early 2013, we have observed activity from a unique threat actor group, which we began to investigate based on increased activities against human right activists in the beginning of 2015. In line5with other research on the campaign, released prior to publication of this document, we have adopted the name “Infy”, which is based on labels used in the infrastructure and its two families of malware agents. Thanks to information we have been able to collect during the course of our research, such as characteristics of the group’s malware and development cycle, our research strongly supports the claim that the Infy group is of Iranian origin and potentially connected to the Iranian state. Amongst a backdrop of other incidents, Infy became one of the most frequently observed agents for attempted malware attacks against Iranian civil society beginning in late 2014, growing in use up to the February 2016 parliamentary election in Iran. After the conclusion of the parliamentary election, the rate of attempted intrusions and new compromises through the Infy agent slowed, but did not end. The trends witnessed in reports from recipients are reinforced through telemetry provided by design failures in more recent versions of the Infy malware.

Targets

Who does Infy go after?

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.

Sectors (2)

GovernmentPrivate sector
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Countries and victims named (15)

  1. 01Israel
  2. 02Iran
  3. 03France
  4. 04China
  5. 05Sweden
  6. 06United States
  7. 07United Kingdom
  8. 08Germany
  9. 09Syria
  10. 10Italy
  11. 11Denmark
  12. 12Canada
  13. 13Russia
  14. 14Saudi Arabia
  15. 15Bahrain
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Is Infy a risk to you?

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FAQ

Questions about Infy

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Infy is an espionage group thought to operate from Iran, with suspected state backing. Public reporting links it to attacks on government and private sector organisations, with 15 countries and victims named.

Public reporting places Infy 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 government and private sector, and 15 countries and victims are named, including Israel, Iran, France and China.

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