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Headers: Fake in-reply-to with wildcard sender and missing thread context

Sublime Rules

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Summary
This detection rule identifies potentially fraudulent emails that use deceptive 'In-Reply-To' headers. It specifically targets messages that suggest they are part of a conversation thread (due to the presence of 'In-Reply-To' headers) but do not have the accompanying context from previous thread messages. Such messages are sent from email addresses that include multiple wildcard characters in the local part of the sender's email address, which is indicative of spoofing behavior. The rule examines the inbound emails to ensure that they are indeed replies (based on the presence of headers) while verifying that the subject line does not indicate forwarding or replying and that the body lacks any previous thread context. It warns that the email's legitimacy is very questionable, making the detection of this pattern critical for preventing Business Email Compromise (BEC), credential phishing, and other forms of fraud, using header and content analysis as the primary methods.
Categories
  • Endpoint
  • Web
  • Application
  • Identity Management
Data Sources
  • User Account
  • Application Log
  • Network Traffic
Created: 2026-01-24