A Comprehensive Comparison of Phishing and Spoofing
Even though the majority of emails that appear to be phishing and spoofing are automatically identified as spam and discarded, understanding the distinction between phishing and spoofing is still crucial. Spoofing and phishing are two common types of cyberattacks, and today we’ll learn about them and how to recognize them. Gain expertise in phishing and spoofing through our Cybersecurity Training in Chennai with IBM Certification at Softlogic Systems.
Overview of Phishing
Phishing is a social engineering method that uses emails that appear to be authentic but are really just a ruse to get people to click on a dangerous link or open an attachment that might contain malware. This method is used by cybercriminals to obtain victims’ sensitive or confidential data, such as credit card details or login credentials. The main goal of a phishing assault is to trick a target into divulging personal information.
The sorts of phishing to be on the lookout for are as follows:
- Phone Phishing: The attacker conducts this sort of phishing using the phone instead of emails to attack online
- Clone Phishing: It is a whaling attack on senior company leaders.
- Spear Phishing: When a malicious email is delivered to a specific target, it is known as spear phishing.
- Angler Phishing: This type of social media fraud deceives users into disclosing personal information or taking data that has been placed on a site.
- Smishing and Vishing: Smishing is text message-based phishing, whereas vishing includes using telephone conversations.
Examples of Phishing
Here are a few instances of how phishing might be done:
- The phrase “Click Here” is frequently used in emails that request that recipients confirm their personal information by clicking on a link.
- Calls or emails claiming to be from the bank and asking for the PIN, password, or OTP
- An email informing you that a certain payment you made has failed
- An email that deceives the recipient by bringing up tax refunds
- When a user’s router’s DNS is altered without their awareness when they input the web address of a bank in the browser, causing them to be directed to a fake site.
Overview of Spoofing
Spoofing is a hack when a questionable or unreliable communication method is presented as a reliable source. Obtaining users’ personal information is the goal of this type of attack.
While phishing may occasionally use some form of spoofing (through a phone number, email address, or website domain) to make the attack appear legitimate, other types of cyberattacks may also use spoofing to hide their true origin. Homograph assaults and DDoS attacks are two examples of this.
There are several spoofing techniques to be aware of:
Email Spoofing
When an attacker fakes an email’s “from address,” it is referred to as email spoofing. This kind of spoofing is frequently used in phishing attacks and compromised business emails. In most cases, email spoofing seeks to steal information, infect a user’s device with malware, or make a money request.
Website Spoofing
Website spoofing is when attackers create false websites that look authentic but may include malware or an effort to steal personal information. For instance, a website might ask for your login information while impersonating a reputable banking website in order to steal money from your real account. This spoofing type involves email spoofing, in which the email contains a link to a fake website.
Caller ID Spoofing
Caller ID spoofing is the practice of faking a phone number to appear to be a reputable or local number in order to increase the likelihood that the intended victims will give their personal information. This spoofing type frequently employs in robocalls, the everyday nuisance calls from unknown numbers.
IP Spoofing
To disguise computer IP (Internet Protocol) addresses, cybercriminals utilize IP spoofing. It can be used to pretend to be another computer system or hide the sender’s real identity. DDoS attacks utilize IP spoofing to mask the origin of malicious traffic.
DNS Server Spoofing
Attackers who use DNS server spoofing direct traffic to malicious websites with a different IP address.
Examples of Spoofing
Here are some instances of spoofing:
- When an entire website is compromised by altering the site’s IP address
- A website that seems like a banking website and asks you to check in, but is actually a tool to access your account information
- After discussing the terms, variations, and instances of spoofing and phishing, let’s go on to learn how they differ from one another.
Major Differences Between Phishing and Spoofing
Let’s discuss how phishing and spoofing differ based on several factors.
Purpose
When it comes to phishing, the main goal is to obtain the recipient’s sensitive personal information, while the goal of spoofing is to take someone’s identity.
The Type of Scam
Surprisingly, spoofing is not regarded as fraud because the victim’s email or phone number is not being accessed by the attacker, and no data is being taken. However, because data theft is involved, phishing is a sort of internet scam or fraud.
Sub Category
Because attackers frequently steal the identity of a trustworthy user online before engaging in a phishing scam, spoofing is a subcategory of phishing. Spoofing, however, does not include phishing.
Types
Email phishing, vishing, smishing, clone phishing, phone phishing, spear phishing, and angler phishing are examples of phishing types. Email spoofing, caller ID spoofing, DNS server spoofing, website spoofing, and IP spoofing are all examples of spoofing.
Method
Phishing is accomplished via utilizing social engineering techniques rather than harmful software. Malicious software is loaded on the target computer during spoofing.
The Best Ways to Avoid Phishing Attacks
Among the precautions to take to avoid phishing attacks are:
- Hover over links you get through emails to confirm their destination before clicking.
- Emails with dramatic subject lines like “Hurry” or “Must Act Now” should be deleted, as should emails with unprofessional-looking misspellings in the body of the message.
- Only open attachments that come from reliable sources.
- Always try to phone the sender to confirm that the email came from them if you have any doubts.
The Best Way to Avoid a Spoofing Attack
Paying great attention to the nuances in the message is an excellent approach to defend against spoofing attacks:
- Verify the spelling of emails, URLs, and websites.
- Watch out for grammar mistakes in the communication’s content.
- Pay particular attention to any strange sentence construction or phrase.
- The aforementioned warning signals all point to potential spoofing of the email, website, phone call, or another form of contact.
The same safeguards that are in place for phishing can be taken a step further. To do this, you must be wary of any message from an unknown source, especially if you are being asked for any kind of personal data.
Delete the message, close the browser, or, if the sender is well-known, try calling them to verify the email’s legitimacy if the sender is unfamiliar or something simply seems strange.
Conclusion
Cybercriminals are modifying how they employ phishing and spoofing in their strategies as technology and cyber security advance. As a result, it’s critical that we maintain vigilance while dealing with technology and always maintain security at the forefront of our minds. It is always preferable to stay vigilant for symptoms of an attack than to regret something after the fact.
Enroll at Softlogic to learn more about Phishing and Spoofing. Our Cybersecurity Training Course in Chennai is offered with IBM Certification to add value to your profile.
