When you return to your desk after a lunch break, you notice a strange email in your inbox. The sender is someone you did business with recently, but the subject line has strange characters in it. Wha

Forwarding the suspicious email to the security response team allows trained analysts to safely examine headers, links, and attachments for indicators of compromise. Permanently deleting the original afterward removes the threat from your mailbox while ensuring the security team retains the evidence they need for investigation and broader organizational response.

Replying to a potentially spoofed or compromised sender confirms your email address is active, may trigger malicious content, and could expose you to further social engineering.

Deleting without reporting denies the security team visibility into a potential active threat against the organization.

A supervisor is unlikely to have the technical expertise to handle a potential security incident and is not the correct escalation path compared to a dedicated security response team.