investigating-phishing-email-incident

name	investigating-phishing-email-incident
description	Investigates phishing email incidents from initial user report through header analysis, URL/attachment detonation, impacted user identification, and containment actions using SOC tools like Splunk, Microsoft Defender, and sandbox analysis platforms. Use when a reported phishing email requires full incident investigation to determine scope and impact.
domain	cybersecurity
subdomain	soc-operations
tags	["soc","phishing","incident-response","email-security","splunk","defender","sandbox"]
version	1.0
author	mahipal
license	Apache-2.0

Investigating Phishing Email Incident

When to Use

Use this skill when:

• A user reports a suspicious email via the phishing report button or helpdesk ticket
• Email security gateway flags a message that bypassed initial filters
• Automated detection identifies credential harvesting URLs or malicious attachments
• A phishing campaign targeting the organization requires scope assessment

Do not use for spam or marketing emails without malicious intent — route those to email administration for filter tuning.

Prerequisites

• Access to email gateway logs (Proofpoint, Mimecast, or Microsoft Defender for Office 365)
• Splunk or SIEM with email log ingestion (O365 Message Trace, Exchange tracking logs)
• Sandbox access (Any.Run, Joe Sandbox, or Hybrid Analysis) for URL/attachment detonation
• Microsoft Graph API or Exchange Admin Center for email search and purge operations
• URLScan.io and VirusTotal API keys

Workflow

Step 1: Extract and Analyze Email Headers

Obtain the full email headers (.eml file) from the reported message:

import email
from email import policy

with open("phishing_sample.eml", "rb") as f:
    msg = email.message_from_binary_file(f, policy=policy.default)

# Extract key headers
print(f"From: {msg['From']}")
print(f"Return-Path: {msg['Return-Path']}")
print(f"Reply-To: {msg['Reply-To']}")
print(f"Subject: {msg['Subject']}")
print(f"Message-ID: {msg['Message-ID']}")
()


 header  (msg.get_all(, [])):
    ()


()
()