Top 8 Ways to Stop Email Spoofing

Those looking to exploit transformative technologies ethically or otherwise are always present when they arrive. The digital communication era is no exception. Email spoofing and forgery are a nuisance that threatens digital security at all levels of society, from personal email to corporate communications.

What is email spoofing?

Email spoofing is when the user receives emails where the sender’s address has been forged. These are fraudulent messages meant to deceive and misguide the reader. Email spoofing takes advantage of how email systems are designed as they have no way of telling apart a legitimate email id or a spoofed one. Over the years, spoofed emails have closely resembled legitimate ones, leaving the receiver at a greater risk of malicious links, malware, and even transmission of sensitive data. If you can’t log in to your email or face the error 192.168.0.20 try restarting your device.

How to identify fake emails?

First, check the subject line. The subject line, the sender’s email address, and the mail’s footer are all indicators that the email is invalid. A mail from a trusted source does not contain errors in the subject line and is grammatically correct. The domain of the sender’s email address includes the name of the sender’s company. The postal address in the footer would, in a valid mail, be the headquarter address of the sending company instead of the personal address/details. The email’s main content consists of a structured rather than a vague call to action.

The purpose of spam filters is to prevent gullible recipients from falling into the trap of fake emails. Spam filters can sometimes be overzealous, so essential emails like order confirmations and shipping update softens end up in the Spam folder. Thanks to Google Security System.

Spoofers use a variety of techniques in their attacks. A malefactor frequently sends a forged text purporting to be from a company executive. It could include a request for an aggressive campaign or another type of response from an employee or group. It may necessitate the transmission of restricted data, which may result in sensitive data leakage. It may also direct an employee to send a large sum of money via bank transfer.

How can email spoof harm individuals and businesses?

Cyber threats are rampant since sensitive information like passwords, financial records, and bank transactions are all up for grabs by parties who intend to misuse them. These data breaches have cost businesses millions of money and missed out on market opportunities. They also affect the brand value negatively. Email spoofing was responsible for causing more than $1 billion loss for businesses worldwide in 2020.

Some tips and tricks to avoid spoofing in your inbox:

1. Before blindly clicking on any link, observe it. If the address looks suspicious to you, chances are it is an illegitimate site, and the best option would be not to click it. If you are still curious, you may open an incognito tab and paste the link to see accurate information. If you receive a link to a site or keyword you have never used before, it is best to avoid it. Most of the time, these websites lead to a completely unrelated page with fishy text and poor-quality images indicative of a fake website.
2. Try to look at the salutations and analyze them. They will almost always address you by name since they have the relevant information in their database. Spoofed emails will contain a generalized salutation like customer, reader, or winner, which can be a dead giveaway. Vague greetings can mean the sender doesn’t have enough data about you to send a customized email. They are looking around to extract sensitive data or plugin something harmful in your computer.
3. This one should be easy to follow, but never answer those emails that ask for personal details such as bank account numbers or credit card details. Your bank has reminded you never to share sensitive financial information with others, so anytime you come across an email pretending to be your bank and asking you for such information, stay away from that.
4. You can also opt to use facets of cybersecurity such as sender framework policy (SPF) and domain-based message authentication to protect your emails and domain recognition. This is prevalent, especially for businesses who might have their domain stolen by these sites and used to mimic legitimacy and send emails to others.
5. Another tip for businesses to ensure that their reputation and authenticity stay intact would be to use an email signing certificate available only to the employees and email systems within the company.
6. Taking a good look at an email header can also give away a lot of information regarding spoofing the email. Apart from a subject line and the sender addresses, there are other sources of valuable metadata there. Using this, you can watch for browser, time of delivery, and suspicious flag data.
7. Don’t trust every domain name in your inbox. It is important to remember that most public organizations and corporates use their address, and you will never find a public domain associated with them. These tend to be a third party mimicking the organization and are fraudulent.
8. Opting for identity-based software can also reduce the chances of being phished. These are equipped with the technology to automatically detect fraudulent emails and tackle them before reaching the receiver’s inbox. These can track spoofing even from compromised or cloud account sources.

Conclusion

It may seem challenging to keep spoof emails at bay, considering the daily volume of data that transpires within our inboxes, but keeping a few of the pointers in mind can go a long way when protecting your account. A little can go a long way in cybersecurity, and the same applies to protecting your email address and sensitive information. A vigilant eye is the first step toward detecting anomalies within a spoofed email. So, keep all spoofed emails at bay to ensure a seamless inbox experience.