Spoofed Domain Prevention

Over 932,000 unique phishing sites were detected worldwide in the third quarter of 2024. Threat actors constantly create new spoofed domains for their cyberattacks. Organizations must take a proactive approach to spoofed domains as part of their security posture.

What is a spoofed domain?

A spoofed domain is a fake website address or email address that mimics an authentic source. Threat actors use spoofed domains to manipulate victims into thinking they are talking with a trusted source. The false sense of trust can cause victims to send money, share private details, or download malicious software.

For example, an organization’s HR department may use the email address [email protected]. An attacker could mimic this email by using a similar address like [email protected]. Employees may not notice the subtle switch between “.com” and “.net” and then respond thinking they are speaking to the real HR department.

The phishing attempt can have disastrous consequences such as:

Malware installation
Data breach
Identity theft
Reputational damage
Financial losses

How does a spoofed domain work?

Spoofed domains require little technical expertise, but they need a strong grasp of social engineering to work successfully. While techniques may vary slightly, spoofed domains are usually used like this:

Hackers target an organization and research its executives.
Hackers register a spoofed domain similar to the organization’s real domain.
A website looks similar to the authentic site is created
Phishing emails are created to make it appear from a chosen executive. The message requests that all passwords need to be updated. Sometimes AI is used to make the tone sound convincing.
Phishing emails are sent using the spoofed domain and impersonating the chosen executive.
Victims interact with the email thinking it’s authentic. They click the link and enter login details to “update” their password. However, the site is tracking the password.
Hackers use the password to access the victim’s account. They may gain access to private data to sell on the dark web or install ransomware into the system.

Hackers use spoofed domains as part of their phishing attacks. Even a cautious employee might rush to respond to an important email and accidentally overlook a misspelling in the domain. Once an attacker is inside an account, the threat actor can cause further damage to an organization.

What are examples of a spoofed domain?

One of the most notable examples of using a spoofed domain to conduct an attack happened in 2020, when hackers attacked Twitter, now known as X. The threat actors managed to gain control of several high-profile accounts and made posts to trick people into buying the hacker’s bitcoin.

The attack began by tricking employees into thinking they were speaking to the company help desk when it was actually the hackers. By using a spoofed website, the hackers were able to manipulate an employee into sharing their login credentials. The attack resulted in several compromised accounts and over $118,000 worth of bitcoin stolen.

Spoofed domains are a crucial component of phishing attacks. Some other examples of popular spoofed domain attacks include:

Email spoofing: Victims receive an email that their passwords need to be updated. Clicking the link leads to a spoofed website where threat actors can collect login credentials.
Financial transactions: Threat actors may pose as important executives and convince an employee to wire funds to their account.
Supply chain attacks: Employees may receive emails from trusted third-party vendors. But the emails are not from a legitimate source and contain malware or requests to pay fake invoices.

What are solutions for spoofed domain prevention?

One of the biggest challenges of spoofed domain prevention is that it’s easy for threat actors to create a lookalike website.

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Threat actors can use a variety of techniques to spoof a website or email address. It’s easy for them to register new domains and mimic the look of a website. The simple process makes it more difficult for organizations to keep up with new threats.

With these challenges in mind, organizations need to prepare themselves for spoofed domains by using robust monitoring services, investing in employee security training, and maintaining relevant threat intelligence.

Let’s take a deeper look at solutions for spoofed domain prevention for emails and websites.

Email spoofing

Email filters usually do a good job of detecting spam or malicious emails and sending them to a junk folder. However, some emails can slip through and reach primary inboxes. Employees should receive training on how to spot email phishing and spoofing by looking for these warning signs:

Errors, like misplaced letters, in an email address.
A tone of urgency to quickly send money or share personal information.
Check links by highlighting them, so you can view the URL before clicking on them.
Don’t download files from unverified senders.

Teams should also consider providing additional protections such as requiring two-factor authentication (2FA), implementing DMARC for email authentication, and using firewalls to block unauthorized access.

Domain spoofing

Employees should also receive training on how to verify the authenticity of a website. Some red flags include:

Slightly wrong URL address like using “.net” instead of “.com”.
No SSL certificate which appears as a red lock on the address bar.
Inspect websites for errors like broken links or misspellings.
Use tools like WHOIS Lookup to find the owner of the domain. Recently registered domains may be more likely to be phishing sites.

Organizations may also want to consider employing domain takedowns to spot spoofed sites and remove them. The strategy can help protect their people from convincing lookalike websites. Incorporating domain takedowns as part of an incident response plan is also necessary for a holistic cybersecurity approach.

Flare and Spoofed Domain Prevention

What roles does domain takedown play in domain protection?

While employee awareness is crucial, there are ways to control misuse of your domain. Protecting your domain includes finding dupe websites and removing them from the internet. Domain takedown can automatically search for lookalike domains and notify your team. Once a malicious domain is verified, a domain takedown service can send a request to the domain registrar to remove the site.

What do you get with Flare’s protection solution?

The Flare platform can automate the process of finding and removing lookalike domains. Security analysts will no longer need to manually search and verify domain threats. It frees up their time to work on other important tasks. By taking a proactive approach, organizations can protect vendors, employees, and consumers from malicious sites.

Some key benefits include:

Identify suspicious domains: Flare continuously searches for potentially harmful domains.
Automated scanning and evaluation: Your team receives automatic notifications of lookalike domains and the information they need to verify the threat.
Takedown services: Flare requests and monitors the takedown of spoofed domains.