Spearphishing Attachment

Adversaries may send spearphishing messages with a malicious attachment to elicit sensitive information that can be used during targeting. Spearphishing for information is an attempt to trick targets into divulging information, frequently credentials or other actionable information. Spearphishing for information frequently involves social engineering techniques, such as posing as a source with a reason to collect information (ex: [Establish Accounts](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1585) or [Compromise Accounts](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1586)) and/or sending multiple, seemingly urgent messages. All forms of spearphishing are electronically delivered social engineering targeted at a specific individual, company, or industry. In this scenario, adversaries attach a file to the spearphishing email. In some cases, they may rely upon the recipient populating information, then returning the file.(Citation: Sophos Attachment)(Citation: GitHub Phishery) The text of the spearphishing email usually tries to give a plausible reason why the file should be filled-in, such as a request for information from a business associate. In other cases, adversaries may leverage techniques such as [HTML Smuggling](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1027/006) to harvest user credentials via fake login portals.(Citation: Huntress HTML Smuggling 2024) Adversaries may also use information from previous reconnaissance efforts (ex: [Search Open Websites/Domains](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1593) or [Search Victim-Owned Websites](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1594)) to craft persuasive and believable lures.

Linked Issues

Issuelinks
Linktyp	Issue
is related to	Techniques
is blocked by	User Training
is blocked by	Detection of Spearphishing Attachment
is blocked by	Software Configuration
is blocked by	Security, Compliance & Resilience Controls Oversight
is blocked by	Secure Baseline Configurations
is blocked by	Continuous Monitoring
is blocked by	Malicious Code Protection (Anti-Malware)
is blocked by	Phishing & Spam Protection
is blocked by	Identification & Authentication for Third-Party Technology Assets, Applications and/or Services (TAAS)
is blocked by	Detonation Chambers (Sandboxes)
is blocked by	Boundary Protection
is blocked by	Data Flow Enforcement – Access Control Lists (ACLs)
is blocked by	Domain Name Service (DNS) Resolution

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