We have provided two versions of the model answer for this task:
(1) A version using the task template; and
(2) An annotated version
Email 1:
Is this email Safe or Malicious? My Analysis
Safe • It’s clearly not spam as the reply indicates a previous
relationship and that the email was expected and
welcome. The date and time could indicate that the
conversation was anticipated, as there is next to no
delay in a reply.
• This email is non malicious. It’s a typical conversation
between friends and contains no potentially
dangerous artefacts.
Email 2:
Is this email Safe or Malicious? My Analysis
Malicious • The email claims to be from one drive but the email sender
is from a Russian domain which is well known for malicious
emails.
• The email tries to get the user to download a file,
without providing information about the file’s content,
or the sender.
• The email’s format is unprofessional and contains
poor grammar & spelling. Y
• ou would not expect an email from an official
Microsoft service to be formatted and presented like
this.
Email 3:
Is this email Safe or Malicious? My Analysis
Malicious • The email is presented as a question from a friend who
cannot access Facebook, and asks the recipient to follow a
link to see if Facebook is working for them. But the link
provided is actually a phishing link make to look like
facebook.com at first glance.
• The senders account could be compromised, so a
malicious email like this could still come from a
trusted friends account.
Email 4:
Is this email Safe or Malicious? My Analysis
Safe • This email is an example of generic marketing, it could be
regarded as Spam (unwanted or unrequested marketing
content). It’s been forwarded twice, but the original sender is
a mass mail service.
• If googled, the site can be seen as a sales site that
contains no malicious content.
• The email contains no links or requests for
information, just pure advertising.
Email 5:
Is this email Safe or Malicious? My Analysis
Malicious • The email is requesting the recipient’s credentials for
unusual reasons. They’ve tried to make the issue
seem urgent, which is a well-known persuasive
technique often used for phishing.
• The email lacks professionalism which gives more
reason to believe it’s a fake.
• Legitimate users/services would not ask for account
details. This is almost always a sign of malicious
activity.
Email 6:
Is this email Safe or Malicious? My Analysis
Safe • This email is non malicious. It is a typical workplace email.
There are no files, links or suspicious requests within the
emails, and for the most part internal work emails can be
trusted to be safe.
• The senders email address matches the name on the
signature, and appears to be well formatted and
professional.
Email 7:
Is this email Safe or Malicious? My Analysis
Malicious • The email claims to be from Geico Insurance but the
sender doesn’t have an official Geico email address,
and the URL provided is not linked to Geico in any
way.
• The email sender claims to be someone called "Mike
Ferris", but the display name of the sender is
Val.kill.ma.
• Legitimate companies would use HTTPS for any
financial transactions. The link provided is just http,
which is another indicator that this is a fake. HTTPS is
secured and encrypted where as HTTP is not.
