Email Collection T1114
Tactic: Collection
Adversaries may target user email to collect sensitive information. Emails may contain sensitive data, including trade secrets or personal information, that can prove valuable to adversaries. Emails may also contain details of ongoing incident response operations, which may allow adversaries to adjust their techniques in order to maintain persistence or evade defenses. Adversaries can collect or forward email from mail servers or clients.
Events covered
8 catalog events are tagged with this technique by at least one rule.
| Provider | Event | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Sysmon | Event ID 1 | Process creation |
| Sysmon | Event ID 11 | FileCreate |
| Security-Auditing | Event ID 4624 | An account was successfully logged on. |
| Security-Auditing | Event ID 4625 | An account failed to log on. |
| Security-Auditing | Event ID 4688 | A new process has been created. |
| Security-Auditing | Event ID 4776 | The domain controller attempted to validate the credentials for an account. |
| PowerShell | Event ID 4103 | Payload Context: ContextInfo User Data: UserData. |
| PowerShell | Event ID 4104 | Creating Scriptblock text (MessageNumber of MessageTotal). |
Authoring guide
These 69 rules share fields, values, and exclusions.
Fields filtered most (103 distinct)
These fields appear most often in rule filters.
Top indicator values (309 distinct)
These values appear most often in rule predicates.
Exclusions (167 distinct)
These values appear most often in top-level exclusions.
Rules under this technique
These vendors publish rules tagged with this technique.
Sigma 11 rules
- Exchange PowerShell Snap-Ins Usage
- Google Workspace Out Of Domain Email Forwarding
- Hacktool Ruler
- Inbox Rules Creation Or Update Activity in O365
- Inbox Rules Creation Or Update Activity Via ExchangePowerShell Cmdlet
- Mail Forwarding/Redirecting Activity In O365
- Mail Forwarding/Redirecting Activity Via ExchangePowerShell Cmdlet
- Powershell Local Email Collection
- PST Export Alert Using eDiscovery Alert
- PST Export Alert Using New-ComplianceSearchAction
- Suspicious Inbox Forwarding Identity Protection
Elastic 13 rules
- Accessing Outlook Data Files
- Exchange Mailbox Export via PowerShell
- Exporting Exchange Mailbox via PowerShell
- Google Workspace Gmail Routing or Forwarding Rule Created or Modified
- M365 Exchange Inbox Forwarding Rule Created
- M365 Exchange Mail Flow Transport Rule Created
- M365 Exchange Mailbox Accessed by Unusual Client
- M365 Exchange Mailbox Items Accessed Excessively
- M365 Purview DLP Signal
- Microsoft Graph Email Access by Unusual User and Client
- New ActiveSyncAllowedDeviceID Added via PowerShell
- PowerShell Mailbox Collection Script
- Suspicious Inter-Process Communication via Outlook
Splunk 26 rules
- Email files written outside of the Outlook directory
- Email servers sending high volume traffic to hosts
- Exchange New Export Request (PowerShell)
- Hosts receiving high volume of network traffic from email server
- Mailsniper Invoke functions
- O365 Compliance Content Search Exported
- O365 Compliance Content Search Started
- O365 Email Access By Security Administrator
- O365 Email New Inbox Rule Created
- O365 Email Password and Payroll Compromise Behavior
- O365 Email Receive and Hard Delete Takeover Behavior
- O365 Email Send and Hard Delete Exfiltration Behavior
- O365 Email Send and Hard Delete Suspicious Behavior
- O365 Email Suspicious Behavior Alert
- O365 Email Suspicious Search Behavior
- O365 Email Transport Rule Changed
- O365 Mailbox Email Forwarding Enabled
- O365 Mailbox Inbox Folder Shared with All Users
- O365 Mailbox Read Access Granted to Application
- O365 Multiple Mailboxes Accessed via API
- O365 New Email Forwarding Rule Created
- O365 New Email Forwarding Rule Enabled
- O365 New Forwarding Mailflow Rule Created
- O365 OAuth App Mailbox Access via EWS
- O365 OAuth App Mailbox Access via Graph API
- O365 PST export alert
Kusto 16 rules
- Exchange workflow MailItemsAccessed operation anomaly
- GWorkspace - An Outbound Relay has been added to a G Suite Domain
- High risk Office operation conducted by IP Address that recently attempted to log into a disabled account
- Mail redirect via ExO transport rule
- Mimecast Secure Email Gateway - Attachment Protect
- Mimecast Secure Email Gateway - Attachment Protect
- Mimecast Secure Email Gateway - Impersonation Protect
- Mimecast Secure Email Gateway - Impersonation Protect
- Mimecast Targeted Threat Protection - Impersonation Protect
- Multiple users email forwarded to same destination
- NRT Multiple users email forwarded to same destination
- Powershell Empire Cmdlets Executed in Command Line
- Rare and potentially high-risk Office operations
- Server Oriented Cmdlet And User Oriented Cmdlet used
- Threat Essentials - Mail redirect via ExO transport rule
- VIP Mailbox manipulation