What is Email Header - Understanding Email Anatomy
- 1. What is Email Header?
- 2. Definition of Email Header A header is the section of code attached to each email, containing information about; from where the e-mail came and how the message reached its destination.
- 3. Preview of Email Header
- 4. Types of Email Header 1. Partial Header. 2. Full Header.
- 5. What is Partial Header? Partial header is the most eminent in our daily task, such header contains:- i. From address. ii. To address. iii. Subject. iv. Date and time. v. reply to Add. vi. CC & BCC.
- 6. What is Full Header? Compared to a partial header, a full header there is more technical information that a user can check in their email with: Different email program revealing extended headers. HaltAbuse.org (the utility website used to catch unauthorized header)
- 7. Goal of Email Header Analysis Blocking spammers. Solving problems related to message delivery or receipt. Surpassing troubleshoot issue invoking fake “from” address.
- 8. Contents of an Email Header 1. MSG ID:-Automatic generated field and prevent multiple delivery. 2. In-Reply To Msg:-Used to link related message together. 3. To:-It is a part of the email header plus depicting the recipient. 4. Subject:-A brief summary of the message topic.
- 9. 5. BCC:-Blind carbon copy, address added to the SMTP delivery list but not listed in the message data and invisible to others. 6. CC:- Many email clients will mark email in one inbox differently depending on whether they are in the To: or CC list. 7. Content Type:-Information about how message is displayed. Usually MIME type.
- 10. 8. SMTP:-Defines the trace information of a message which is also saved in the header by using these field. i) Received-When an SMTP server accepts a message it inserts in the trace record at the top of header. ii) Return-Path-When the delivery of SMTP server makes the final delivery of message, it inserts this field at the top of the header.
- 11. 9. Precedence:-To prevent vacation(junk) notice from being sent to all other subscribers of a mailing list. 10. Reply To:-Address that should be used to reply to the message. 11. Sender:-Address of the actual sender acting on behalf of the author listed in the form file(secretary, list manager, etc). 12. Archived:-A direct link to the archived, from an individual email message.
- 12. Role of Email Header for Email Investigator Investigate possible spoofing and determine the source of the forensic image. Analyze timestamp along with the delivery route and identify the source of any delay. Examine any of the mail servers in the path to see if they are on a blacklist. Review spam assassin score.
- 13. Conclusion Whenever user receives an email, they typically pay attention on from address, subject line and body of the message, there are a number of information available “under the hood” of each email. For depth analysis regarding email header Try MailXaminer