type: attack-pattern
spec_version: 2.1
id: attack-pattern--2d3f5b3c-54ca-4f4d-bb1f-849346d31230
created: 2020-10-02T17:09:50.723Z
created_by_ref: identity--c78cb6e5-0c4b-4611-8297-d1b8b55e40b5
revoked: no
external_references: source_name: mitre-attack
url: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1598/003
external_id: T1598.003
source_name: ACSC Email Spoofing
description: Australian Cyber Security Centre. (2012, December). Mitigating Spoofed Emails Using Sender Policy Framework. Retrieved November 17, 2024.
url: https://web.archive.org/web/20210708014107/https://www.cyber.gov.au/sites/default/files/2019-03/spoof_email_sender_policy_framework.pdf
source_name: TrendMictro Phishing
description: Babon, P. (2020, September 3). Tricky 'Forms' of Phishing. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
url: https://www.trendmicro.com/en_us/research/20/i/tricky-forms-of-phishing.html
source_name: IAPP
description: IAPP. (n.d.). Retrieved March 5, 2024.
url: https://iapp.org/resources/article/web-beacon/
source_name: QR-campaign-energy-firm
description: Jonathan Greig. (2023, August 16). Phishing campaign used QR codes to target large energy company. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
url: https://therecord.media/phishing-campaign-used-qr-codes-to-target-energy-firm
source_name: PCMag FakeLogin
description: Kan, M. (2019, October 24). Hackers Try to Phish United Nations Staffers With Fake Login Pages. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
url: https://www.pcmag.com/news/hackers-try-to-phish-united-nations-staffers-with-fake-login-pages
source_name: Microsoft Anti Spoofing
description: Microsoft. (2020, October 13). Anti-spoofing protection in EOP. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
url: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/security/office-365-security/anti-spoofing-protection?view=o365-worldwide
source_name: Mr. D0x BitB 2022
description: mr.d0x. (2022, March 15). Browser In The Browser (BITB) Attack. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
url: https://mrd0x.com/browser-in-the-browser-phishing-attack/
source_name: Mandiant URL Obfuscation 2023
description: Nick Simonian. (2023, May 22). Don't @ Me: URL Obfuscation Through Schema Abuse. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
url: https://www.mandiant.com/resources/blog/url-obfuscation-schema-abuse
source_name: NIST Web Bug
description: NIST Information Technology Laboratory. (n.d.). web bug. Retrieved March 22, 2023.
url: https://csrc.nist.gov/glossary/term/web_bug
source_name: Proofpoint Human Factor
description: Proofpoint. (n.d.). The Human Factor 2023: Analyzing the cyber attack chain. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
url: https://www.proofpoint.com/sites/default/files/threat-reports/pfpt-us-tr-human-factor-report.pdf
source_name: Ryte Wiki
description: Ryte Wiki. (n.d.). Retrieved November 17, 2024.
url: https://en.ryte.com/wiki/Tracking_Pixel/
source_name: qr-phish-agriculture
description: Tim Bedard and Tyler Johnson. (2023, October 4). QR Code Scams & Phishing. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
url: https://www.proofpoint.com/us/blog/email-and-cloud-threats/cybersecurity-stop-month-qr-code-phishing
source_name: ZScaler BitB 2020
description: ZScaler. (2020, February 11). Fake Sites Stealing Steam Credentials. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
url: https://www.zscaler.com/blogs/security-research/fake-sites-stealing-steam-credentials
object_marking_refs: marking-definition--fa42a846-8d90-4e51-bc29-71d5b4802168
modified: 2025-10-24T17:48:34.880Z
name: Spearphishing Link
description: Adversaries may send spearphishing messages with a malicious link 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, the malicious emails contain links generally accompanied by social engineering text to coax the user to actively click or copy and paste a URL into a browser.(Citation: TrendMictro Phishing)(Citation: PCMag FakeLogin) The given website may be a clone of a legitimate site (such as an online or corporate login portal) or may closely resemble a legitimate site in appearance and have a URL containing elements from the real site. URLs may also be obfuscated by taking advantage of quirks in the URL schema, such as the acceptance of integer- or hexadecimal-based hostname formats and the automatic discarding of text before an “@” symbol: for example, `hxxp://google.com@1157586937`.(Citation: Mandiant URL Obfuscation 2023)

Adversaries may also embed “tracking pixels,” "web bugs," or "web beacons" within phishing messages to verify the receipt of an email, while also potentially profiling and tracking victim information such as IP address.(Citation: NIST Web Bug)(Citation: Ryte Wiki) These mechanisms often appear as small images (typically one pixel in size) or otherwise obfuscated objects and are typically delivered as HTML code containing a link to a remote server.(Citation: Ryte Wiki)(Citation: IAPP)

Adversaries may also be able to spoof a complete website using what is known as a "browser-in-the-browser" (BitB) attack. By generating a fake browser popup window with an HTML-based address bar that appears to contain a legitimate URL (such as an authentication portal), they may be able to prompt users to enter their credentials while bypassing typical URL verification methods.(Citation: ZScaler BitB 2020)(Citation: Mr. D0x BitB 2022)

Adversaries can use phishing kits such as `EvilProxy` and `Evilginx2` to perform adversary-in-the-middle phishing by proxying the connection between the victim and the legitimate website. On a successful login, the victim is redirected to the legitimate website, while the adversary captures their session cookie (i.e., [Steal Web Session Cookie](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1539)) in addition to their username and password. This may enable the adversary to then bypass MFA via [Web Session Cookie](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1550/004).(Citation: Proofpoint Human Factor)

Adversaries may also send a malicious link in the form of Quick Response (QR) Codes (also known as “quishing”). These links may direct a victim to a credential phishing page.(Citation: QR-campaign-energy-firm) By using a QR code, the URL may not be exposed in the email and may thus go undetected by most automated email security scans.(Citation: qr-phish-agriculture) These QR codes may be scanned by or delivered directly to a user’s mobile device (i.e., [Phishing](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1660)), which may be less secure in several relevant ways.(Citation: qr-phish-agriculture) For example, mobile users may not be able to notice minor differences between genuine and credential harvesting websites due to mobile’s smaller form factor.

From the fake website, information is gathered in web forms and sent to the adversary. 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.
kill_chain_phases: kill_chain_name: mitre-attack
phase_name: reconnaissance
x_mitre_attack_spec_version: 3.2.0
x_mitre_contributors: Philip Winther
Sebastian Salla, McAfee
Menachem Goldstein
Robert Simmons, @MalwareUtkonos
Elpidoforos Maragkos, @emaragkos
Joas Antonio dos Santos, @C0d3Cr4zy
Austin Herrin
Obsidian Security
Sam Seabrook, Duke Energy
x_mitre_deprecated: no
x_mitre_domains: enterprise-attack
x_mitre_is_subtechnique: yes
x_mitre_modified_by_ref: identity--c78cb6e5-0c4b-4611-8297-d1b8b55e40b5
x_mitre_platforms: PRE
x_mitre_version: 1.7