Email spoofing is when a scammer forges an email header’s “from” address to make it appear as if it was sent out by somebody else.
If you’re reading this sentence, you have probably heard about the internet phenomenon of email spoofing. Email spoofing is when a scammer forges an email header’s “from” address to make it appear as if it was sent out by somebody else, typically a contact like a higher-level executive or trusted vendor. This type of identity deception is used in phishing scams and spam attacks to help boost the open rate and overall efficacy of malicious emails. In many email attacks, embedded links can lead to phishing sites designed to swipe away sensitive information or login credentials from any recipients. Some of them contain malware-filled attachments or employ social engineering to bamboozle any well-researched targets out of money in some spear-fishing or business email compromise scams. In today’s writing piece, we are going to cover just how email spoofing works and how to protect yourself against it.
What Goes into Email Spoofing
In order to spoof emails, all a fraudster has to do is set up or compromise a server. From there, they can go in and manipulate the “from,” “reply-to,” and “return-path” email addresses to make their own phishing emails seem legitimate from the individual or company they’re impersonating. This deception is made entirely possible by the fact that SMP, or simple message transfer protocol used by email systems to receive, send, or outgoing relay emails – lacks a reliable mechanism for authenticating any email addresses.
Because of how common these emails can be at times, phishing attacks launched from cloud email accounts are less likely to be detected and blocked than those that are sent from a lookalike domain.
The Effects of Email Spoofing
There are a few different negative effects of email spoofing attacks. One is financial, as fraudulent emails being sent that appear real can lead to billions of dollars lost. Reputational effects exist too. If customers start getting emails that appear to come from your company but have malicious links or lack credulity, they might begin to think twice about doing business with you. If they do happen to fall victim to a scam impersonating your business or one of its top executives, the damage can be brutal for brand reputation and ruinous for professional relationships all across your industry.
How to See a Spoofed Email
Being able to notice a spoofed email can stop your employees from clicking links or putting company data at risk. We at En-Net can help with educational cybersecurity training too, but look out for mismatched “from” addresses and display names, message content that is out of the ordinary, and “reply-do” headers that do not match the source of the sender.
En-Net Services Can Help Today
Experience a superior method of getting the public sector technology solutions you need through forming a partnership with En-Net Services. Our seasoned team members are familiar with the distinct purchasing and procurement cycles of state and local governments, as well as Federal, K-12 education, and higher education entities. En-Net is a certified Maryland Small Business Reserve with contract vehicles and sub-contracting partnerships to meet all contracting requirements.