Email Intelligence
Email intelligence reveals employee information, organizational structure, and potential targets for social engineering. Understanding email naming conventions is crucial for credential attacks.
Naming Convention Discovery
Tool Installation
theHarvester
EmailEmail, subdomain, and hostname harvester from multiple sources.
Installation
pip install theHarvesterInfoga
EmailEmail information gathering from different public sources.
Installation
git clone https://github.com/m4ll0k/Infoga.git && pip install -r requirements.txtEmailFinder
EmailFind company emails from various public sources.
Installation
pip install emailfinderCrossLinked
LinkedInLinkedIn enumeration to extract valid employee names.
Installation
pip install crosslinkedlinkedin2username
LinkedInGenerate usernames from LinkedIn company employees.
Installation
pip install linkedin2usernameEmail Harvesting
# theHarvester - comprehensive harvesting
theHarvester -d target.com -b all
theHarvester -d target.com -b google,linkedin,twitter,bing
theHarvester -d target.com -b all -l 500 # Limit results
# Search specific sources
theHarvester -d target.com -b linkedin # LinkedIn profiles
theHarvester -d target.com -b hunter # Hunter.io (needs API)
theHarvester -d target.com -b anubis # Anubis DB
# EmailFinder
emailfinder -d target.com
# Infoga
python infoga.py --domain target.com --source all
python infoga.py --info email@target.com # Single email lookup
# h8mail for breach data
h8mail -t email@target.com
h8mail -t target.com -c h8mail_config.ini # With API keysEmail Discovery APIs
# Hunter.io API (free tier: 25 searches/month)
# Domain search - find all emails for a domain
curl "https://api.hunter.io/v2/domain-search?domain=target.com&api_key=YOUR_KEY"
# Email finder - find specific person's email
curl "https://api.hunter.io/v2/email-finder?domain=target.com&first_name=John&last_name=Smith&api_key=YOUR_KEY"
# Email verifier - check if email exists
curl "https://api.hunter.io/v2/email-verifier?email=john@target.com&api_key=YOUR_KEY"
# Snov.io API
curl "https://api.snov.io/v1/get-domain-emails-with-info" \
-d "domain=target.com" \
-d "type=all" \
-d "access_token=YOUR_TOKEN"
# Clearbit (enrichment)
curl "https://person.clearbit.com/v2/people/find?email=john@target.com" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY"
# Phonebook.cz - free (use browser or scrape)
# https://phonebook.cz - search domain for emailsEmail Format Discovery
Once you discover a few valid emails, you can deduce the naming convention and generate more.
# Common email naming conventions:
# first.last@company.com (john.smith@target.com)
# flast@company.com (jsmith@target.com)
# firstl@company.com (johns@target.com)
# first_last@company.com (john_smith@target.com)
# first@company.com (john@target.com)
# last.first@company.com (smith.john@target.com)
# lastf@company.com (smithj@target.com)
# Generate email list from names using CrossLinked
crosslinked -f '{first}.{last}@target.com' "Target Company"
crosslinked -f '{f}{last}@target.com' "Target Company"
# linkedin2username - scrapes LinkedIn for employee names
python linkedin2username.py -u USERNAME -c "Target Company" -s "target.com"
# Manual format testing (be careful - can alert target)
# Use email verification services or check responses
# Email permutator tools
# https://github.com/jakehaddard/email-permutator
# https://metricsparrow.com/toolkit/email-permutator/Breach Data Sources
Legal Considerations
# Have I Been Pwned - check if email was in breaches
# Website: https://haveibeenpwned.com
# API (requires subscription for domain search)
curl "https://haveibeenpwned.com/api/v3/breachedaccount/email@target.com" \
-H "hibp-api-key: YOUR_KEY"
# h8mail with local breach compilation
h8mail -t target.com -lb /path/to/breach_compilation/
# h8mail with APIs configured
h8mail -t email@target.com -c config.ini
# DeHashed (subscription required)
# https://dehashed.com - search by email, domain, username
# IntelX (Intelligence X)
# https://intelx.io - comprehensive breach search
# Snusbase
# https://snusbase.com - breach data search
# LeakCheck
# https://leakcheck.io - check email/username against leaks
# Check specific breaches via HIBP
curl "https://haveibeenpwned.com/api/v3/breach/Adobe" -H "hibp-api-key: KEY"Email Verification
# SMTP verification (may be logged/blocked)
# Check MX records first
dig target.com MX +short
# Manual SMTP check
nc -v mail.target.com 25
HELO test.com
MAIL FROM:<test@test.com>
RCPT TO:<target@target.com>
# 250 = exists, 550 = doesn't exist, 252 = can't verify
# Python email verifier script
python3 << 'EOF'
import smtplib
import dns.resolver
def verify_email(email):
domain = email.split('@')[1]
records = dns.resolver.resolve(domain, 'MX')
mx_host = str(records[0].exchange)
server = smtplib.SMTP(timeout=10)
server.connect(mx_host)
server.helo('verify.com')
server.mail('verify@verify.com')
code, msg = server.rcpt(email)
server.quit()
return code == 250
# verify_email('john@target.com')
EOF
# Online verification services (safer)
# https://hunter.io/email-verifier
# https://www.emailhippo.com/
# https://www.zerobounce.net/Google Dorking for Emails
# Search for emails on target site
site:target.com "@target.com"
site:target.com "email" | "contact"
# Search documents for emails
site:target.com filetype:pdf "@target.com"
site:target.com filetype:doc "@target.com"
site:target.com filetype:xls "@target.com"
# LinkedIn email hunting
site:linkedin.com "@target.com"
site:linkedin.com "target company" email
# GitHub leaks
site:github.com "@target.com"
site:github.com "target.com" password | api_key
# Pastebin leaks
site:pastebin.com "@target.com"
site:pastebin.com "target.com" email
# Conference presentations
site:slideshare.net "@target.com"
site:speakerdeck.com "@target.com"
# Support forums
site:stackoverflow.com "@target.com"
site:reddit.com "@target.com"External Resources
Hunter.io
Professional email finder with verification
Phonebook.cz
Free email and domain intelligence
Have I Been Pwned
Check if email was in data breaches
DeHashed
Breach data search engine
Intelligence X
Comprehensive breach and leak search
Epieos
Email address investigation tool