T1114.002sub-technique of T1114 Email Collection
Remote Email Collection
Office Suite · Windows2 pieces on this siteT1114.002 on attack.mitre.org
Adversaries may target an Exchange server, Office 365, or Google Workspace to collect sensitive information. Adversaries may leverage a user's credentials and interact directly with the Exchange server to acquire information from within a network. Adversaries may also access externally facing Exchange services, Office 365, or Google Workspace to access email using credentials or access tokens.
If this is happening now
Checklists and playbooks to open while the alert is still live.
A leaver's account is still being used
Sign-ins, mailbox activity or VPN sessions on the account of somebody who has left, or of a contractor whose engagement has ended.
Read
Analyses, case studies, guides, references and interview questions.
Evidence Gap Challenge No. 1: the laptop was reimaged on Tuesday
A supplier is out €96,000 and the only endpoint that mattered was wiped on day one, by a helpdesk following the documented process correctly. Here is every artefact that still exists. Work out what you can prove, what you can only say is consistent, and the one collection change that would have moved the most from the second column to the first.
how MITRE says to see it
Detect Remote Email Collection via Abnormal Login and Programmatic Access
- Detects adversaries accessing remote mail systems (e.g., Exchange Online, O365) using stolen credentials or OAuth tokens, followed by scripted access to mailbox contents via PowerShell, AADInternals, or unattended API queries.
- Monitors programmatic access to user mailboxes in cloud-based email systems (e.g., O365, Exchange Online) using APIs or tokens. Focuses on OAuth misuse, suspicious MailItemsAccessed patterns, scripted keyword searches, and connections from untrusted agents or locations.
what reduces it
- M1060 Out-of-Band Communications Channel. Use secure out-of-band authentication methods to verify the authenticity of critical actions initiated via email, such as password resets, financial transactions, or access requests. For highly sensitive information, utilize out-of-band communication channels instead of relying solely on email. This reduces the risk of sensitive data being collected through compromised email accounts.
- M1032 Multi-factor Authentication. Use of multi-factor authentication for public-facing webmail servers is a recommended best practice to minimize the usefulness of usernames and passwords to adversaries.
- M1041 Encrypt Sensitive Information. Use of encryption provides an added layer of security to sensitive information sent over email. Encryption using public key cryptography requires the adversary to obtain the private certificate along with an encryption key to decrypt messages.