What is Spoofing?

In cybersecurity, ‘spoofing’ occurs when a threat actor pretends to be someone or something to gain a person’s trust so that it can deceive them. Malicious entities typically organise this operation to obtain access to systems, steal data or money, or deploy malware.

In this operation, a cybercriminal impersonates a trustworthy entity or device to deceive a target into doing something that would benefit them and be destructive to the victim at the same time. Moreover, Spoofing can occur over various communication channels and with various technological complications.

Spoofing attacks typically involve some form of social engineering tactics. Scammers psychologically mislead their victims by exploiting human error caused by fear, greed, or a lack of technical knowledge.

How Does Spoofing Work?

Spoofing usually consists of two components: the spoof itself, such as a bogus email or website, and the social engineering part.

Spoofers, for example, may send an email that appears to be from a trusted superior colleague or manager requesting that prompts a target to transfer money online while offering a convincing explanation for the request.

These attackers frequently know what tricks to use to persuade a victim to complete the desired action while avoiding detection.

A successful spoofing attack can have significant effects, such as stealing personal or commercial information, gathering credentials for use in future attacks, propagating malware, getting unauthorised network access, or bypassing access controls.

Spoofing attacks can take numerous forms, most commonly using emails, websites, and phone calls. The more sophisticated technological attacks use IP addresses, Address Resolution Protocol, and Domain Name System servers.

Types of Spoofing

1. Email spoofing: This spoofing method is one of the most common techniques. In this attack, the sender generates email headers so that the client software shows the false sender address, which most users accept as is. Email spoofing targets the user, whereas IP spoofing targets the network.
2. IP spoofing: IP spoofing occurs when an attacker attempts to obtain unauthorised access to a system by sending messages with a fake or impersonated IP address that appears to have come from a trustworthy source, such as one on the same internal computer system.
3. Web spoofing: competent users commonly know this type as URL spoofing. This is when scammers make a fake website that appears authentic. This phoney website will have a familiar login page, stolen logos and branding, and even a spoofed URL that seems legitimate at first sight. Hackers typically generate such websites to steal their target’s login information and maybe install malware on the computer.
4. Caller ID spoofing: Phone spoofing occurs when scammers purposely change the information supplied to a caller ID to conceal their identity. Attackers do this technique because they already know their target is more likely to answer the phone if they believe it is a local number rather than one they do not recognise.
5. Text message spoofing: SMS spoofing happens when the sender of a text message misleads users by displaying fake sender information. Legitimate firms occasionally use this for marketing purposes, replacing a long number with a short and catchy alphanumeric ID to simplify it for clients. However, scammers take advantage of this feature to conceal their identity behind an alphanumeric sender ID, frequently disguised as a reputable firm or organisation.
6. ARP spoofing: The Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) allows network communications to contact a specific device on a network. Experts commonly refer to this type as ARP poisoning, which happens when a hostile actor transmits false ARP packets through a local area network. This connects the attacker’s MAC address to the IP address of a genuine device or server on the network. This link indicates that the attacker can intercept, alter, or even block any data intended for the compromised IP address.
7. DNS spoofing: DNS cache poisoning is an attack in which updated DNS records redirect online traffic to a false website that closely resembles the original destination. Spoofers can accomplish this tactic by changing the IP addresses recorded in the DNS server to the ones they want to use.
8. GPS spoofing: GPS spoofing happens when a GPS receiver is misinformed into transmitting bogus signals that appear to be authentic. This means that the fraudsters appear to be in one place but are actually in another. Fraudsters can leverage this to hack a modern automobile’s GPS and direct a target to the wrong location. Additionally, many mobile apps rely on location data from smartphones, making them potential targets for this type of spoofing attack.
9. Facial spoofing: Facial recognition technology has been gaining traction, especially in law enforcement, airport security, healthcare, education, marketing, and advertising. Facial recognition spoofing can occur when biometric data is collected illegally, directly or covertly, from a person’s online accounts or compromised networks.

How to Stop Spoofing?

In general, the following online safety measures will help to minimise a user’s susceptibility to spoofing attacks:

1. Refrain from accessing links or opening attachments from unknown sources. They may contain malware or viruses that will infect your device.
2. Create strong passwords. A strong password is difficult to guess and ideally consists of upper and lowercase letters, special characters, and digits. Avoid using identical passwords on various accounts and change it frequently.
3. Review your internet privacy settings. Individuals who use social networking sites should be cautious about who they connect with and understand how to use privacy and security settings to keep safe.
4. Do not disclose personal information online. Avoid revealing personal and sensitive information online unless it is certain that the source is reliable.
5. Keep network and software updated. Software patches include security updates, bug fixes, and new features, which lower the chance of malware infection and security breaches.
6. Look for websites, emails, or communications with bad spelling, grammar, and other improper aspects. These details could indicate Spoofing.
7. The easiest method to be secure online is to use reliable AV software and security solutions. Therefore, organisations must employ such defence mechanisms to mitigate or prevent the effects of these spoofing campaigns.

How can iZOOlogic help my Company or Organisation?

Find out how iZOOlogic can protect against spoofing attacks through our anti-phishing services.

To find out more about how iZOOlogic can help protect your company’s cyber security, schedule a demo.