If there is one thing that is certain in the cyber threat landscape, it is that every year attackers are intensifying their activity, looking for ways to attract more victims and obtain better results.
Between 2020 and 2021, reported cases of smishing and vishing have increased by more than 20% worldwide, underlining the eagerness of cybercriminals to attack by different means and with different techniques.
Last year, nine out of 10 workers in Spain received at least one suspicious message in their inbox. However, according to Proofpoint’s ‘State of the Phish 2022’ report, 57% of users trust that their organization will automatically block any malicious email; and this is not the case.
For all these reasons, it is important for users to be aware of the types of techniques cybercriminals use to carry out cyber-attacks. Most Internet users are already familiar with the term phishing, but there is another type of attack that also occurs very frequently and is less well known: Spoofing.
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What is Spoofing and how does it differ from phishing?
Phishing and spoofing are two different types of computer attacks that may seem very similar because sometimes cybercriminals use them together in the same attack to be more successful. But there are differences between them.
Spoofing can be defined as an impersonation that consists of the use of hacking techniques, i.e., techniques used maliciously to impersonate the identity of a website, entity, or person on the network, with the aim of obtaining the user’s private information.
The main difference between spoofing and phishing is that phishing seeks to obtain sensitive information from a person by impersonating a trusted agent, involving social engineering techniques, and aiming for an emotional response from the victim by creating urgency or pity.
A spoofing attack occurs when a person (referred to as a spoofer) pretends to be someone else to induce the target to share personal data or to take some action on behalf of the spoofer.
There are multiple spoofing techniques through technological means, such as cell phone impersonation, sending fraudulent emails, forging devices and addresses, etc.
The truth is that spoofing as a technique is not illegal if the purpose is not fraudulent. However, whoever uses such activity for a fraudulent purpose, depending on the type of fraud, can be fined and/or even sentenced to prison.
What types of spoofing techniques are there?
1. E-mail spoofing
Email spoofing is the most common of all the modalities found on the network today.
This technique has similar traits to phishing as it is a technique through which the spoofer sends emails to many email addresses impersonating real identities, using official logos and headers.
The most common form is emails with attached links to fake web pages where it is the victim who, by entering their log-in credentials, sends the information to the scammer.
2. Spoofing by IP address
All devices that are connected to the network have a unique IP address. This code is used to maintain order in the forwarding of packets requested for communication on the public network. In short, the IP address is what allows traffic to be routed.
The purpose of IP address spoofing is to falsify the IP address by assigning a reliable IP address that does not belong to it, causing the security system to admit the incoming packets and a cyberattack to be carried out.
As mentioned above, not all spoofing practices are illegal, and this is one of them. For example, the use of a VPN is based on this spoofing technique, but its main purpose is to protect the user’s identity, allow access to restricted content and prevent cyber-attacks.
3. DNS Spoofing
The Domain Name System (DNS) is a protocol for translating website names into their respective IP addresses. It is the easiest way for the user to access each site they wish to visit without the need to remember their IP address.
For example, when you type a web address into your browser, your computer contacts a DNS server and asks it to translate the domain name into an IP address. The DNS server responds with the IP address of the website’s server, and your browser connects to the server using that IP address to retrieve the website.
DNS Spoofing is the method by which IP addresses contained in DNS servers are modified to redirect the user to fake or malicious websites.
This practice is also known as cache poisoning: cybercriminals introduce corrupted DNS data into the user’s terminal, which results in the user not accessing the web pages he/she wants to visit.
4. Website Spoofing
This technique may be the simplest to understand, since it consists of spoofing a website to obtain the data of users who browse it, whether email addresses, passwords, or even their digital identity data.
This fake website usually has the same design as the original and even has a similar URL. The cracker imitates the website in such a way that the user is not able to recognize that it is unofficial.
Caller ID Spoofing
Caller ID Spoofing occurs when the caller deliberately falsifies the information transmitted to the caller ID screen so that the person receiving the call or text message believes they are in contact with the person, financial institution, company, or official body making the call.
It is possible and not at all complex to spoof the SIP header of the call and impersonate a person, entity, or company for fraudulent use. Moreover, telephone spoofing is relatively unknown, even though it is not new, which poses a great threat to companies and users.
How can Caller ID Spoofing be avoided?
Spoofing methods become more complex the more secure the identification method is. As we have seen, hacking a password, creating fake or malicious websites, or impersonating a customer in a phone call is relatively simple for a cybercriminal.
Therefore, companies must ensure that their identity verification methods are the most sophisticated and secure.
One of the best tools to counter spoofing attacks, especially telephone spoofing, is the use of identity verification technologies based on biometrics and Artificial Intelligence.
These systems make it possible to verify people’s identities quickly and securely through their voices. However, there are also spoofing methods that try to trick identity verification systems with prerecorded or synthetic voices.
Having comprehensive voice biometrics solutions, such as Recordia, that have anti-fraud capabilities capable of detecting these attacks is important when it comes to achieving the highest possible security.
Recordia Voice Biometric Authentication allows associating a voiceprint with a phone number and detecting whether the caller’s voice matches the one stored in the database.
In addition, Recordia allows managing blacklists containing voice records of individuals previously identified as fraudulent. By comparing the user’s voice with that on the blacklist, it can be determined if a caller is attempting to access a system or perform an unauthorized transaction. These lists are constantly updated to reflect the latest cases of fraud.
Best practices to avoid spoofing
Here are some best practices that can be used by companies and users to avoid spoofing.
- Incorporate double authentication for users and systems.
- Do not have the same password in different portals and changing them periodically will avoid that if you have been a victim of spoofing the cracker can access all your accounts.
- Have the anti-spam filter activated in both calls and e-mails, which will help us to identify spoofing, alerting us of those e-mails or calls in which we should be suspicious.
- When we receive a suspicious email, it is worth spending a few minutes to examine the message well, usually, they contain spelling mistakes, incorrect grammar, or unusual linguistics.
- Check every time you access a web page, to see if the URL begins with ‘HTTPS’ or if an e-mail is valid.
- Be cautious when downloading attachments in emails from an unknown sender. If necessary, type the link manually in the browser.
- Keep both the operating system and the antivirus updated for all attacks.
Find out more about how to avoid Caller ID Spoofing with Recordia Voice Biometric Authentication by clicking here.
