Charming Kitten
aka APT35, Mint Sandstorm, Magic Hound, Educated Manticore, TA453, Phosphorus
A spy group believed to work for Iran's IRGC. It approaches journalists, academics and experts with fake meeting or interview requests to steal their logins.
- Alert level
- 1/ 5
- Reports & advisories (90 days)
- 0
- Known exploited CVEs
- 0
- Personal data leaked (disclosed)
- None confirmed
Attribution
- Iranian-sponsored group likely operating on behalf of the IRGC — MITRE ATT&CK
- Linked Educated Manticore (overlapping APT35) to the IRGC Intelligence Organization — Check Point
How they attack
Entry
Posing as interviewers or meeting hosts
Like a 'secretary' of a famous researcher inviting you to a meeting and asking for your badge PIN at the door.
Entry
Fake login pages
Like a fake reception desk that asks visitors to write down their name and password, then keeps the slip.
Goal
Long-term spying
Like leaving a tiny bug in the meeting room and listening in for months.
Sources
Attributions are quoted as assessed by governments and security vendors. VulnPulse does not make attributions itself.
Leak counts only add up figures disclosed by the affected companies or authorities, never the attackers' own claims. We do not list victim names or link to leak sites.
The alert level is calculated automatically from reports and advisories in the last 90 days, known exploited vulnerabilities, and whether the group has targeted Japan.
Updated 2026-10-23 · daily