Microsoft — Peach Sandstorm (Iran) deployed Tickler malware with AI-assisted social engineering
Date: 2024-08
Affected: US satellite, government, defense, education sectors
Attack vector: tool-abuse
Category: threat-report
Severity: Critical

Iran's Peach Sandstorm (APT33 / Refined Kitten) deployed the Tickler backdoor against US satellite, government and defense targets after AI-assisted reconnaissance, persona-development and tailored LinkedIn outreach to gain initial access.


Mitigations:

Architectural layers (MAESTRO):