Phishing And Social Engineering Campaigns

Phishing & Social Engineering Campaigns

When to Use

• During authorized red team engagements to test human security awareness
• When simulating APT initial access vectors for organizations
• When assessing email security controls (SPF, DKIM, DMARC, email gateways)
• When measuring organization's phishing susceptibility baseline
• When testing security awareness training effectiveness

⚠️ CRITICAL: NEVER execute social engineering attacks without explicit written authorization (Rules of Engagement). All attacks must be scoped, time-bound, and approved by organizational leadership.

Prerequisites

• Authorized scope and rules of engagement for the target environment
• Appropriate tools installed on the attack/analysis platform
• Understanding of the target technology stack and architecture
• Documentation template ready for findings and evidence capture

Workflow

Phase 1: OSINT & Target Profiling

# Gather intelligence on target organization
# LinkedIn enumeration
# - Employee names, roles, email format
# - Recent hires (more susceptible)
# - Organizational structure

# Email format discovery
# Test common patterns: first.last@, f.last@, first_last@
# Use hunter.io, phonebook.cz, or email-format.com

# Company intelligence
# - Recent news/events (pretexting material)
# - Technologies used (craft tech-specific pretexts)
# - Partner organizations (third-party pretexts)
# - Office locations (physical social engineering)

# Email validation
# Verify emails exist without sending
# Tools: verify-email, emailhippo, hunter.io verify

Phase 2: Infrastructure Setup

# GoPhish setup
docker pull gophish/gophish
docker run -d --name gophish -p 3333:3333 -p 8080:8080 gophish/gophish

# Access admin panel: https://localhost:3333
# Default creds: admin / <check docker logs>

# Domain setup for phishing
# 1. Register a look-alike domain (typosquatting)
#    target.com → target-security.com, targetsupport.com
# 2. Configure DNS records:
#    - A record → phishing server IP
#    - MX record → phishing server
#    - SPF record: v=spf1 ip4:YOUR_IP ~all
#    - DKIM: Generate and add DKIM record
#    - DMARC: v=DMARC1; p=none;
# 3. SSL certificate (Let's Encrypt)
sudo certbot certonly --standalone -d phish-domain.com

# Email sending setup
# Option 1: SMTP server (postfix)
# Option 2: Third-party email service
# Option 3: Office 365 compromised account (for bypass testing)

Phase 3: Pretext Development

# Effective pretext categories:

# 1. Urgency-based
- "Your account will be locked in 24 hours"
- "Suspicious login detected — verify now"
- "Payment failed — update your billing"

# 2. Authority-based  
- "IT Department: Mandatory security update"
- "CEO/CFO: Urgent wire transfer needed"
- "HR: Annual benefits enrollment deadline"

# 3. Curiosity-based
- "Your shared document is ready for review"
- "Q4 salary adjustment notification"
- "You received a new voicemail"

# 4. Fear-based
- "Your account has been compromised"
- "Legal notice: Action required"
- "Policy violation detected on your account"

# 5. Topical/seasonal
- "Tax season: Submit W-2/tax forms"
- "Open enrollment: Update benefits"
- "COVID/remote work policy update"

# 6. Third-party impersonation
- "Microsoft 365: Password expiry notice"
- "DocuSign: Please review and sign"
- "Zoom: Meeting recording available"

Phase 4: Credential Harvesting Pages

# Evilginx2 — Advanced MitM phishing (captures 2FA)
sudo evilginx2

# Configure phishlet (e.g., Office 365)
config domain phish-domain.com
config ip YOUR_IP
phishlets hostname o365 login-phish-domain.com
phishlets enable o365

# Create lure
lures create o365
lures get-url 0
# → https://login-phish-domain.com/xyz...
# Victim completes real login, session token captured

# GoPhish credential harvesting:
# 1. Create Landing Page (clone target login page)
# 2. Import Site → enter URL of target login
# 3. Check "Capture Submitted Data" and "Capture Passwords"
# 4. Set redirect to real site after capture

# Custom cloned page
# wget -r -l 1 https://target.com/login
# Modify form action to point to GoPhish
# Add hidden tracking pixel/JavaScript

Phase 5: Campaign Execution

# GoPhish campaign setup:
# 1. Sending Profile: Configure SMTP settings
# 2. Email Template: Craft the phishing email
#    - Use personalization: {{.FirstName}}, {{.Email}}
#    - Include tracking pixel: {{.TrackingURL}}
#    - Phishing link: {{.URL}}
# 3. Landing Page: Credential harvesting page
# 4. User Group: Import target email list
# 5. Campaign: Combine all elements, set launch time

# Campaign best practices:
# - Send in small batches (avoid spam filters)
# - Send during business hours (9-11 AM local time)
# - Personalize emails (spear phishing)
# - Use realistic display names
# - Match email template to pretext scenario
# - Include unsubscribe link (looks legitimate)

# Track metrics in GoPhish dashboard:
# - Emails sent
# - Emails opened (tracking pixel)
# - Links clicked
# - Credentials submitted
# - Reported to security team

Phase 6: Reporting & Metrics

Campaign Report Template:
=========================
Campaign: [Name]
Duration: [Start Date] — [End Date]
Targets: [Number of targets]

Results:
  Emails Sent:           500
  Emails Delivered:       487 (97.4%)
  Emails Opened:         312 (64.1%)
  Links Clicked:         156 (32.0%)
  Credentials Submitted:  78 (16.0%)
  Reported to IT:          23 (4.7%)

Department Breakdown:
  HR:        45% click rate
  Finance:   38% click rate
  IT:        12% click rate
  Engineering: 15% click rate

Recommendations:
1. Mandatory security awareness training (focus on HR, Finance)
2. Implement phishing-resistant MFA (FIDO2/WebAuthn)
3. Deploy email banner for external emails
4. Improve phishing report mechanism (one-click report button)
5. Conduct quarterly phishing simulations

🔵 Blue Team Detection

• Email security: SPF, DKIM, DMARC enforcement (reject policy)
• Link scanning: Real-time URL analysis for credential harvesting pages
• MFA: Deploy phishing-resistant MFA (FIDO2 keys, not SMS)
• User reporting: Easy phishing report button in email client
• SIEM alerts: Detect mass credential submissions from unknown domains
• Awareness training: Regular phishing simulations with follow-up training

Key Concepts

Output Format

Phishing And Social Engineering Campaigns — Assessment Report
============================================================
Target: [Target identifier]
Assessor: [Operator name]
Date: [Assessment date]
Scope: [Authorized scope]
MITRE ATT&CK: [Relevant technique IDs]

Findings Summary:
  [Finding 1]: [Severity] — [Brief description]
  [Finding 2]: [Severity] — [Brief description]

Detailed Results:
  Phase 1: [Phase name]
    - Result: [Outcome]
    - Evidence: [Screenshot/log reference]
    - Impact: [Business impact assessment]

  Phase 2: [Phase name]
    - Result: [Outcome]
    - Evidence: [Screenshot/log reference]
    - Impact: [Business impact assessment]

Risk Rating: [Critical/High/Medium/Low/Informational]
Recommendations:
  1. [Immediate remediation step]
  2. [Long-term hardening measure]
  3. [Monitoring/detection improvement]

📚 Shared Resources

For cross-cutting methodology applicable to all vulnerability classes, see:

• _shared/references/elite-chaining-strategy.md — Exploit chaining methodology and high-payout chain patterns
• _shared/references/elite-report-writing.md — HackerOne-optimized report writing, CWE quick reference
• _shared/references/real-world-bounties.md — Verified disclosed bounties by vulnerability class

References

• MITRE ATT&CK: T1566 — Phishing
• GoPhish: Official Documentation
• Evilginx2: GitHub