URLScan.io is a free service for scanning and analyzing suspicious URLs. It captures screenshots, DOM content, HTTP transactions, JavaScript behavior, and network connections of web pages in an isolat
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Use analyzing-malicious-url-with-urlscan to analyze the suspicious URL [URL] in URLScan’s isolated environment; assess redirects, rendered content, credential-harvesting indicators, network activity, certificates, and extracted IOCs, then cross-reference findings with at least two threat-intelligence sources and deliver a concise incident-ready report.
Required inputs
[URL]
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SKILL.md
name: analyzing-malicious-url-with-urlscandescription: URLScan.io is a free service for scanning and analyzing suspicious URLs. It captures screenshots, DOM content, HTTP transactions, JavaScript behavior, and network connections of web pages in an isolatdomain: cybersecuritysubdomain: phishing-defensetags: - phishing- email-security- social-engineering- dmarc- awareness- url-analysis- threat-intelligenceversion: '1.0'author: mahipallicense: Apache-2.0atlas_techniques: - AML.T0052nist_csf: - PR.AT-01- DE.CM-09- RS.CO-02- DE.AE-02mitre_attack: - T1566.002- T1204.001- T1598.003
Analyzing Malicious URL with URLScan
Overview
URLScan.io is a free service for scanning and analyzing suspicious URLs. It captures screenshots, DOM content, HTTP transactions, JavaScript behavior, and network connections of web pages in an isolated environment. This skill covers using URLScan's web interface and API to investigate phishing URLs, credential harvesting pages, and malicious redirects without exposing the analyst's system to risk.
When to Use
When investigating security incidents that require analyzing malicious url with urlscan
When building detection rules or threat hunting queries for this domain
When SOC analysts need structured procedures for this analysis type
When validating security monitoring coverage for related attack techniques
Prerequisites
URLScan.io account (free tier available, API key for automation)
Python 3.8+ with requests library
Understanding of HTTP protocols and web technologies
Familiarity with phishing URL patterns
Key Concepts
URLScan Capabilities
Safe browsing: Renders URLs in isolated Chromium instance
Screenshot capture: Visual snapshot of the rendered page
DOM analysis: Full HTML content after JavaScript execution
Network log: All HTTP requests made by the page (HAR format)
Certificate analysis: SSL/TLS certificate details
Technology detection: Identifies web frameworks and libraries
Web: Navigate to https://urlscan.io and submit the suspicious URL
API: POST https://urlscan.io/api/v1/scan/
Header: API-Key: your-api-key
Body: {"url": "https://suspicious-url.com", "visibility": "private"}
Step 2: Analyze Results
Review screenshot for brand impersonation
Check redirects and final destination URL
Examine DOM for credential input forms
Review network requests for data exfiltration endpoints
Check SSL certificate validity and issuer
Step 3: Extract IOCs
Domains and IPs contacted
URLs in redirect chain
SHA-256 hashes of page resources
JavaScript file hashes
Step 4: Cross-Reference with Threat Intelligence
Use the scripts/process.py to automate URL scanning, extract IOCs, and cross-reference with VirusTotal, PhishTank, and Google Safe Browsing.