Spoofing in Cyber Security: Examples, Detection, and Prevention (2024)

In this article, we will talk about spoofing attack, which is ruling the cyber security domain nowadays and let’s see how spoofing plays a major role in an attacker’s life cycle to spoof the person’s identity like email address, spoofing call, phone numbers, content spoofing, home address, social media accounts, IP address, DNS information etc. So without further ado, let us jump to the definition of Spoofing in cybersecurity. Cyber security certification programs are the best source of information on spoofing and other cyber threats.

What is Spoofing in Cyber Security?

An attackthatappears like a legitimate one that traps people to fall intotheir handsandgives way to steal confidential informationor data iscalledSpoofing.In simple words, Spoofing is not but a method to gain important or sensitive information from people behaving like genuine people or genuine customers. Cyber attackers often use well-known names and products while simulating these spoofing attacks.

How Does Spoofing Happen

Spoof termis often referredtoasanykind oftampering orforging.Nowadays,the termspoofing isaverypopular andprominent terminthecybersecurity domain.Spoofing can be performed in various waysthroughmultiple methods& channelsdependingonthe attackscenario.For a victorious attempt,aspoofingattackmust beexecuted withthe help ofsocial engineering. Attackers use socialengineering togatherusers'personalinformation and usethe same against thevictims toblackmail,threaten,andfear themwithstolen personalinformation.This makes thevictim do whatever theattackerdemands.Inrecentdays,therehas beena scamthathas beenfoundto be the talk ofthetown.i.e.,grandchildren scam. Grandchildren scam is nothing,but theattacker pretends to be a memberof the familyand allegedly statesthattheyare introuble andrequirealot of money tosave them.Thesekindsof attacksaremainlyframedtofocus onthevictims’emotions and familysituations.

How Does Spoofing Works? with Examples

Cybercriminals use deception techniques for spoofing attacks to portray as another user.The reason is simple, to hide their true identity to gain some sort of profit from the end users. Also, spoofing appears like some information followed by action items related to payment or financial actions.Spoofing works based on the attack scenario on how an adversary can target individual users. For example, the attacker will not be using his own mail server to send emails to users as his identity will be revealed. So he will use the mail server, which is already compromised. Also, he willbe using public wifi’s in order to send emails to users to avoid track of him.Below are some common examples for your insights.

Example 1: Common Scenarios using Spoofed Emails

Let’s consider a scenario where the spoofing criminals can target you by sending a fake email that seems to originate from Amazon or Flipkart stating your last payment is not processed properly. Eventually, this could tempt some people to react to that email and respond to any links or attachments available in the email. From that link or attachment, the possibility of downloading malicious files or software prompts you to enter the login credentials, and you have responded. This is how Spoofing criminals steal your login credentials and gain your credit or debit card information, personal information, phone number, etc.

Example 2: Common Scenarios using Fake SMS

I hope everyone has faced this type of spoofed SMS where the sender's information is hidden, and the message will be appeared like “Dear, you have passed the interview, and the salary is Rs.15000 per month. For more details, please visit here (://https[SomeMaliciousURL].com)”.Ifaperson is seriouslyattending walk-in interviewsandwaitingfor the result, these messageswillmake the person fallintothis trap which could lead tolosinghis sensitive information.

Types of Spoofing and How to Prevent It

1. Email Spoofing

Email spoofing is a common technique of threat actors to send emails with fake sender addresses, like aphishingattack designed to steal your data, demand money, or infect your system with viruses or malware. This tactic of spoofing is used by cybercriminals as an initial phase of the cyber attack, like the Information gathering stage.

Spoofed emails will appear in a fashion that will promptauser to respondtothe email or click the link embedded in the email, etc.

For example, cybercriminals will create an email that looks like it originated from PayPal where the body of the email is designed as “Response Required” and states that your account will be suspended if you are not responding to the link, which is embedded in the login word. The attacker will gain useful information and steal the money if the user is tricked successfully.

How to protect from Email Spoofing?

• Always check the below components of the email twice or thrice.
  • Sender Address
  • Recipient Address
  • Body of the email
  • The returnpathof theemail(Reply-To Configured bySender)
  • Sender Policy Framework
  • Domain-Based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance
• Never click any link in the email which asks you to authenticate. Check URLs before clicking by hovering over them with your cursor.
• Always check the official website for more detailed information.
• Analyze the email headers for the received SPF section and see whether it is PASS or FAIL.
• Copy the body of the email and paste it into google to check whether these kinds of emails are already reported by any user. Most of the spoofed emails are designed and targeted in a similar fashion only.
• Look for spelling or grammar mistakes in the body of the email.
• Avoid opening attachments in the email until you verify the authenticity of thesender'saddress.
• If you find any information related toafinancial transaction, always check with the sender by calling directly andconfirmingto avoidconfusion.
• Don’t fall into the trap of advertisem*nt / promotional emails, as there are high chances of attackers gaining an advantage.
  

As you enroll in CEHcertificationcourses, you can prepare for the certification exam along with learning ways to deal with email spoofing and other spoofing techniques discussed below.

2. Text Message Spoofing

Source

Text Message or SMS spoofing is a technique of changing the originator details likeaphone number or the source user identity for cheating or fraudulent purposes. You will not be able to block the SMS or reply to the message.The main motto of SMS spoofing is Impersonation. Scammers optforthis technique to hide theirtrue identityandposeas alegitimate organization or company. These spoofed texts will often trick the users into responding to the URLs present, and there is the possibility of downloading the malicious file on mobile phones. Fake job offers, fake banking-related messages, fake lottery messages, money refund scams, and password reset messages are some examples of Text Message Spoofing.

Spoofed messages are difficult to identify until the person is aware of where to look for them. The sender’s name cannot be clicked and replied. A lot of spelling mistakes will be there in the spoofed texts. Since you cannot reply to the email, you will be informed to contact them over email or phone.

How to prevent Text Message Spoofing

• Do not click the links in the SMS.
• Look forthe Sender'sinformation.
• If you find any information related toafinancial transaction, always check with the sender by calling directly andconfirmingto avoid severalconfusion.
• Look for spelling or grammar mistakes in thereceived text messages.
• Don’t fell for urgent or immediate action messages.

3. Caller ID Spoofing

Caller ID spoofing can be performed easily. Changing the Caller ID to any other number which does not belong to the actual calling number is calledCaller ID spoofing. For example, callcenterswill use theclient’sname and telephone numberon behalf of the client’s company. Unfortunately, attackers will change the caller id information and misrepresent themselves asgenuine personto getdata from you. This spoofing attack will happen if and only if when the attacker has your phone number with him.Yourcontact number of yours might be leaked orgiven by someonewhois usedfor spoofingpurposes.

How to prevent Caller ID Spoofing

• Don’t share your phone number with anyone until it is mandatory or necessary.
• Accept the terms and conditions after readingthemcarefully.
• Be awareoflotteryticketsandonlineprizedraws.
• Before providing your confidential / sensitive information, always remember to check the identity of the caller person.

4. Neighbour Spoofing

This is a type of spoofing attack where the attacker will behave like a person whom you trust or who lives nearby and knows all the information about you. But the attacker will hide his identity from you and act like your neighbor giving the attacker gain an advantage over you. Many callers will act like bank officers where you hold your bank account and contact you to provide confidential information, sensitive information like OTP, etc. Also, you would experience scam calls like Charitable calls to donate money on your birthdays. All these types of spoofing attacks happen based on the information available in the attacker's hands.

How to prevent Neighbour Spoofing

• Register your number in the Do-Not-Call or Do-Not-Disturb List.
• Block the numbers which you faceunnecessarilyto avoid repeated calls.
• If you suspect the call is suspicious, do not answer the phone. If the phone call is legitimate, they will reach you through other modes of communication.

5. URL or Website Spoofing

Source

URL or Website spoofing isnothing,but the website is designed in a fashion which looks like a legitimate one to steal information about the users, installmalwareon their machine, record the session over the internet etc.These fake websites are often used for delivering phishing attacks. A fake login page could lead users to enter their login information. Spoofed websites can also be used for pranksandhoaxes.

How to prevent URL or Website Spoofing

1. Check the URL source and its origin.
2. Check URLs before clicking by hovering over them with your cursor.
3. Make sure the website hasanSSLcertificate.Look whether the URL starts withHTTP:// orHTTPS://
4. Bookmark the important websites which youtraversefrequently.
5. Spoofedwebsiteswill notuse yourauto-savedcredentialsstoredin yourbrowser.
6. Look for terms and conditions on the website.

6. GPS Spoofing

Source

GPS spoofing is an unusual spoofing technique until the attacker targets you withaspecific motto or purpose. This technique will broadcastabogus GPS location ratherthan the actual GPS location,which could lead the user to fallintothetrap.Nowadays,GPS spoofing is used in gamingapplications leading users to make vulnerable.The mainmotto of the attack is to override the original location of the device.Shipping companies, Construction companies,andTaxi services are most vulnerable to GPS spoofing attacks.

How to prevent GPS spoofing

1. Companies should hide the GPS antenna, which is visible to the public.
2. GPS should be turned off whenconnectivity is not required.
3. GPS locations should be verified before taking any actions.

7. Man-in-the-middle Attacks

This attack involves threepeople: the source user, the destinationuser,acriminal who is in the middle ofthesource user andthedestinationuser. This cybercriminal will eavesdroponallthe communication happening betweenthe source user & destination user andwaitfor theright time to perform theattack. The motto of the attacker is to interceptimportant& sensitive information. This stolen information will be used to perform financial transactions, approvetransactions,and process that will be an advantage to him,not the actualuser.Sniffing,Packet injection, Session hijacking,andSSL stripping are common techniques of Man-in-the-middle attacks.

How to preventaMan-in-the-middle attack

1. Keep strong router login credentials
2. Enable Public key pair-based authentication
3. Install browser plugins to enforce requestsusingonly HTTPS
4. Use Virtual Private Network while sharing the sensitive information
5. Have strong WEP/WAP encryption on access points

8. IP Spoofing

Source

IP or IP address spoofing refers to the creation of an IP address with fake Source IP details. This type of spoofing attack will happen when the attacker wants to hide the IP address information while sending requests or requesting information. The spoofed IP address will look like an IP address from a trusted source, but the actual source will stay remain. This spoofing technique will be used by attackers to perform cyber attacks like DDoS against a target device or target organization so that the actual source will not be identified. Since this attack is happening at the network level, the user will not be aware that IP is tampered with or IP is spoofed. Using botnets, attackers can easily perform an IP spoofing attack.

How to prevent IPSpoofing

1. Don’t use Public Wi-Fi connections
2. Ensure the home network setup is safe and secure.
3. While browsing, go forHTTPS-encryptedwebsites.
4. Install Antivirus on your machine and ensure it is patched to the latest security features.

9. Facial Spoofing

The latest and most advanced form of spoofing is facial spoofing. Cybercriminals will use the person’s face and generate facial biometrics with the help of photos or video to replace the identity. This facial spoofing will be performed in banking frauds and attacks. Nowadays, it is also used in money laundering.

How to prevent facial spoofing

1. Show proof of life in digital mode.
2. Always carry government IDs with you when visiting banks.

10. Extension Spoofing

Extension spoofing isatechnique wherethatcybercriminals use to runexecutablefiles which are malicious. Example:ifthe“test.txt” file is savedas .exe with it, the file becomes an executable one. Most of themare usingthis techniquesincethe file extension is hidden and notvisible in the system until the userchecksthe file properties for thefile extension. Hence thisbecomes an advantage to the attackersto disguise executable malware files.

How to prevent Extension spoofing

1. Ensure the file & its extension is genuine before you open it.
2. While downloading the files fromtheinternet, always check the file extension and file properties forsecurity purposes.
3. Install Antivirus on your machine and ensure it is patched to the latest security features.

How to Detect Spoofing

Detecting spoofing attacks are easy when you haveanideaofthe below things.

• Where to check?
• What to check?
• How to check?

The top 10 telltale signs to look for spoofing attacks

1. While visiting websites, look for a lock symbol or green bar in the browser’s address bar. All secured websites will have an SSL certificate in place.
2. Spoofedwebsiteswill notuse yourauto-savedcredentialsstoredin yourbrowser.Keep thisin mind.
3. Do a detailed check on the sender’s email address along with the originated domain, as the display name & username will look legitimate, but the domain is something else.
4. Check URLs before clicking by hovering over them with your cursor.
5. Always check the official website for more detailed information.
6. Look for spelling and grammatical mistakes.
7. If you find any information related toafinancial transaction, always check with the sender by calling directly andconfirmingto avoid severalconfusion.
8. If any attachment is present in the email, look for the file properties with the file extension. Also,have a check onthefile author and the timestamp to ensure when the file is created, changed, and saved.
9. Sense of urgency. Don’t fell for urgent or immediate action messages.
10. Always trust your instinct if you feel something is weird or suspicious.

How can I Protect Against Spoofing Attacks

Do’s:

1. Enable two-factor or multifactor authentication wherever possible.
2. Use strong passwords with high password complexity.
3. Update thespoofingsoftware to the latest version,whichis updated tothelatest security patches.
4. Do turn on your spam filter in your email configuration.
5. Install Antivirus solutionsonyour machine& do regularscansand update to ensure the machine is protected againstthelatestthreats.
6. Do check each email / SMS / call before sharing the confidential information.
7. Do attend cyber security certificationsfor a better understanding of spoofing attacks. A few of these certification preparation courses areCISA Training course,CISM Training course,CISSP Training Course, andCCSP Training Course.

Don’ts:

1. Don’t reveal personal information until it is necessary.
2. Don’t use Public Wi-Fi connections
3. Don’tclick the links in the SMS.
4. Don’t fallintothe trapofadvertisem*nt/promotional emails. Thereare highchancesofattackersgainingtheadvantage.
5. Don’t share your phone number with anyone until it is mandatory or necessary.
6. If you suspect the call is suspicious, do not answer the phone. If the phone call is legitimate, they will reach youthroughother modes ofcommunication.

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Best Practices to Avoid Spoofing

1. Never give out personal or sensitive information based on an email request.
2. Don't trust links or attachments in unsolicited emails.
3. Hover over links in email messages to verify a link's actual destination, even if the link comes from a trusted source.
4. Type in websiteaddressesrather than using linksfrom unsolicited emails.
5. Enable email protection for alldevicesto identify theemailsthatare related to spamor malicious category.
6. Clear spam emails from your mailbox regularly.
7. Educate users and people about these spoofing attacks and ensure proper training is provided to overcometheseattacks.
8. Always change the password periodically and ensure the password complexity is met.
9. Always call the user before youmakeany kind of financialtransaction.
10. Use a secured browser to prevent malicious ads andpop-ups.
11. Install antivirus solutions in your machine to protect the information against cyber threats and attacks.

Conclusion

By the end of the article, we came to know what is spoofingattackisandhow to detect &avoidthis spoofing attacks. Always keep in mind these spoofing attacks willbe executed successfullyif you respond or react tothem. Ensure twice or thrice before sharing any confidential informationwithanyone or anything. Think before you act.