Investigating a Phishing Email

Artefacts to collect

  • Sending Email Address (can be used to identify other emails that have been received)

  • Subject Line (can be used to identify or block other phishing emails)

  • Recipient Email Address

  • Sending server IP and Reverse DNS https://mxtoolbox[.]com/ReverseLookup.aspx

  • Reply-to address (often an attacker controlled account)

  • Date and Time

  • Attachment Name

  • SHA256 Hash Value (check against virus total and talos file reputation)

  • Full URLs (copy and not written by hand)

  • Root Domain (can show if a site has been created for malicious purposes or if its a legitimate site that has been compromised).

Email Artefacts

Text Editor Extraction - Sending server IP and Reply-to address

  • Open email file in a text editor

  • CTRL + F

  • Search for IP and look for X-Sender-IP (record this)

  • Look up this IP using whois http://whois.domaintools.com/

  • Record Resolve Host field (if sending address and the host domain does not match up, it means the address has been spoofed)

  • Now record Reply-to address > CTRL + F and search for ‘Reply’

Web Artefacts

Need to collect Full URL

  • Right click and copy hyperlink

Get screenshots from virus total, URLScan.io, ect.

File Artefact

Windows

Powershell > get-filehash .\FILE

The above will get a sha-256 hash

To get md5 or sha1 do this:

Get-filehash -algorithm md5 .\FILE

Linux

sha256sum <file>

sha1sum <file>

md5sum <file>

Get filename and file size as well

Can use phish tool to automate the process

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