Use this skill when investigating Mimecast threat activity — TTP logs for URL clicks, malicious attachment analysis, impersonation attempts, threat remediation incidents, and audit events.
Scanned 5/27/2026
Install via CLI
openskills install wyre-technology/msp-claude-plugins---
name: "Mimecast Threat Intelligence"
description: >
Use this skill when investigating Mimecast threat activity — TTP logs for
URL clicks, malicious attachment analysis, impersonation attempts, threat
remediation incidents, and audit events.
when_to_use: "When investigating Mimecast threat activity — TTP logs for URL clicks, malicious attachment analysis, impersonation attempts, threat remediation incidents, and audit events"
triggers:
- mimecast threat
- TTP
- mimecast URL protection
- mimecast attachment protection
- mimecast impersonation
- mimecast incident
- mimecast threat remediation
- mimecast targeted threat protection
- mimecast phishing
- mimecast malware
---
# Mimecast Threat Intelligence
## Overview
Mimecast's Targeted Threat Protection (TTP) is an advanced security layer that inspects URLs and attachments in real time and detects impersonation attempts. When TTP events occur — a user clicking a suspicious URL, a malicious attachment being sandboxed, or an impersonation attempt being identified — Mimecast logs these as TTP events that feed into threat remediation incidents. This skill covers reading TTP logs, reviewing threat remediation incidents, and using audit events to investigate security events.
## Key Concepts
### Targeted Threat Protection (TTP)
TTP has three components:
1. **URL Protection** — Rewrites URLs in emails and checks them at click time against reputation databases. Tracks every URL click attempt, whether blocked or permitted.
2. **Attachment Protection** — Sandboxes email attachments before delivery. Detects malware, zero-day exploits, and suspicious macros.
3. **Impersonation Protection** — Detects emails that spoof trusted senders — executives, trusted domains, or known contacts.
### Threat Remediation Incidents
When TTP identifies a confirmed threat (e.g. a URL classified as malicious after delivery, or a sandboxed attachment containing malware), Mimecast can create a threat remediation incident — a structured record of the threat and recommended remediation actions, such as removing emails from user mailboxes.
### Audit Events
The Mimecast audit log records all administrative actions and significant security events — policy changes, user login events, held message releases, and API operations. Useful for compliance investigations and detecting unauthorized admin activity.
## API Patterns
### Get TTP Logs
```
mimecast_get_ttp_logs
```
Retrieves TTP event logs across URL protection, attachment protection, and impersonation protection.
Parameters:
- `type` — Log type: `url`, `attachment`, or `impersonation`
- `start` — Start datetime (ISO 8601)
- `end` — End datetime (ISO 8601)
- `pageToken` — Pagination cursor
**Example — URL click logs:**
```json
{
"type": "url",
"start": "2026-03-01T00:00:00Z",
"end": "2026-03-02T23:59:59Z"
}
```
**Example URL TTP response:**
```json
{
"meta": {
"status": 200,
"pagination": {
"pageSize": 25,
"totalCount": 18,
"next": null
}
},
"data": [
{
"date": "2026-03-01T14:35:22Z",
"url": "https://malicious-site.com/payload",
"action": "block",
"userEmail": "user@client.com",
"from": "phishing@external-domain.com",
"subject": "Your account needs attention",
"messageId": "<abc123@external-domain.com>",
"scanResult": "malicious",
"category": "phishing"
},
{
"date": "2026-03-01T09:12:05Z",
"url": "https://legitimate-site.com/page",
"action": "allow",
"userEmail": "another@client.com",
"from": "newsletter@legitimate-site.com",
"subject": "Monthly Update",
"messageId": "<def456@legitimate-site.com>",
"scanResult": "clean",
"category": null
}
]
}
```
Key fields:
- `action` — `block` (URL blocked) or `allow` (URL permitted)
- `scanResult` — `malicious`, `suspicious`, or `clean`
- `category` — Threat category (phishing, malware, spam, etc.)
**Example — Attachment TTP response:**
```json
{
"meta": { "status": 200 },
"data": [
{
"date": "2026-03-01T11:20:00Z",
"filename": "invoice_march.xlsm",
"result": "malicious",
"definition": "Macro dropper — Emotet variant",
"from": "billing@fake-vendor.net",
"to": "accountspayable@client.com",
"messageId": "<ghi789@fake-vendor.net>",
"action": "block"
}
]
}
```
**Example — Impersonation TTP response:**
```json
{
"meta": { "status": 200 },
"data": [
{
"date": "2026-03-01T16:44:00Z",
"from": "ceo@c1ient.com",
"to": "cfo@client.com",
"subject": "Urgent Wire Transfer",
"action": "hold",
"definition": "Domain lookalike — executive impersonation",
"similarDomain": "client.com"
}
]
}
```
### Get Threat Remediation Incidents
```
mimecast_get_threat_incidents
```
Returns threat remediation incidents — confirmed threats requiring mailbox remediation.
Parameters:
- `start` — Start datetime (ISO 8601)
- `end` — End datetime (ISO 8601)
- `pageToken` — Pagination cursor
**Example response:**
```json
{
"meta": { "status": 200 },
"data": [
{
"id": "TRI-20260301-001",
"created": "2026-03-01T15:00:00Z",
"type": "url",
"status": "open",
"severity": "high",
"reason": "URL reclassified as malicious post-delivery",
"url": "https://malicious-site.com/payload",
"affectedUsers": [
"user@client.com",
"manager@client.com"
],
"affectedMessages": 4,
"remediationAction": "remove_from_mailbox",
"remediationStatus": "pending"
}
]
}
```
### Get Audit Events
```
mimecast_get_audit_events
```
Retrieves the Mimecast audit log for administrative and security events.
Parameters:
- `start` — Start datetime (ISO 8601)
- `end` — End datetime (ISO 8601)
- `category` — Event category filter (optional): `authentication`, `policy`, `message`, `user`
- `pageToken` — Pagination cursor
**Example response:**
```json
{
"meta": { "status": 200 },
"data": [
{
"id": "audit-001",
"timestamp": "2026-03-01T08:00:00Z",
"category": "authentication",
"action": "admin_login",
"user": "admin@client.com",
"ip": "203.0.113.10",
"result": "success"
},
{
"id": "audit-002",
"timestamp": "2026-03-01T08:45:00Z",
"category": "message",
"action": "held_message_release",
"user": "admin@client.com",
"messageId": "<abc123@external-domain.com>",
"result": "success"
}
]
}
```
## Common Workflows
### Daily Threat Review
1. Call `mimecast_get_ttp_logs` with `type=url` for the past 24 hours
2. Filter for `action=block` and `scanResult=malicious` — these are confirmed threats
3. Identify users who clicked blocked URLs — they attempted to access malicious content
4. Call `mimecast_get_ttp_logs` with `type=attachment` for same period
5. Check for `result=malicious` — these are blocked malware attachments
6. Call `mimecast_get_threat_incidents` to see any new post-delivery reclassifications
7. Create PSA tickets for affected users requiring security awareness follow-up
### Investigate a Specific Phishing Campaign
1. Identify the phishing domain or URL from a user report
2. Call `mimecast_get_ttp_logs` with `type=url` and a broad time range
3. Filter results for the phishing domain across all users
4. Identify all recipients who received the phishing URL
5. Check `action` field — `allow` means the URL was not blocked at click time (user may have visited)
6. If users accessed the URL, escalate to credential compromise investigation
7. Call `mimecast_find_message` to trace all emails containing that domain to understand campaign scope
### Detect BEC / Executive Impersonation
1. Call `mimecast_get_ttp_logs` with `type=impersonation` for the past 7 days
2. Look for `action=allow` entries — impersonation attempts that were not blocked
3. Identify sender domains in `similarDomain` field — these are lookalike domains
4. Cross-reference with `mimecast_find_message` to confirm if those emails reached inboxes
5. Alert affected executives and implement additional impersonation policy rules
### Post-Delivery Threat Remediation
1. Call `mimecast_get_threat_incidents` to identify open incidents
2. For each incident, note `affectedUsers` and `affectedMessages`
3. Review `remediationAction` — typically `remove_from_mailbox`
4. Confirm `remediationStatus` — if `pending`, Mimecast may require administrator approval in the console
5. Notify affected users that suspicious emails have been or will be removed from their mailboxes
### Compliance Audit Investigation
1. Call `mimecast_get_audit_events` with `category=authentication` for a time range
2. Review admin logins — unexpected IP addresses or off-hours access are suspicious
3. Call with `category=policy` to identify configuration changes
4. Document findings with timestamps and actor email addresses for the compliance report
## Error Handling
### No TTP Data Returned
**Cause:** TTP is not enabled for the tenant, or the date range has no events.
**Solution:** Verify TTP is licensed and enabled in the Mimecast Administration Console under **Services > Targeted Threat Protection**.
### Incident Remediation Status Stuck at Pending
**Cause:** Threat remediation incidents may require manual approval in the Mimecast console depending on the tenant's remediation policy.
**Solution:** Log into the Mimecast Administration Console and navigate to **Security > Threat Remediation** to manually approve pending remediations.
### Audit Log Returns Empty for Recent Events
**Cause:** Audit log propagation can have a short delay (up to 15 minutes).
**Solution:** Retry with a slight delay; also verify the correct region is configured.
## Best Practices
- Check TTP URL logs daily — blocked clicks indicate active threats targeting your users
- `action=allow` URL entries where `scanResult=malicious` mean Mimecast reclassified the URL after the click — treat these as confirmed user exposures
- Always cross-reference TTP attachment detections with `mimecast_find_message` to confirm whether other users received the same attachment
- Impersonation TTP logs with `action=allow` are the most dangerous — the email reached the inbox despite being flagged
- Use audit event logs to detect unauthorized admin activity, especially after a security incident
- Export TTP logs weekly for trend analysis — increasing block counts may indicate a targeted campaign
## Related Skills
- [api-patterns](../api-patterns/SKILL.md) - Authentication, pagination, error codes
- [message-tracking](../message-tracking/SKILL.md) - Trace and manage specific messages
- [queue-management](../queue-management/SKILL.md) - Delivery queue monitoring
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