Email spoofing is a cybercrime where a malicious actor forges an email header’s ‘From’ address to impersonate a legitimate sender, a tactic that has plagued brands for decades. Whenever an email is sent, the ‘From’ address doesn’t inherently display the server it originated from; instead, it shows the domain entered during the address creation process. This makes it very hard to detect spoofing without specific anti-spoofing measures in place, contributing to the success of these attacks.

Spoofing is commonly used by cyber actors for spamming and phishing, with phishing incidents reportedly rising by 220% compared to yearly averages during major global events like the pandemic. Phishing is a fraudulent attempt to obtain sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, credit card details (including PIN numbers), often for malicious ends; the term itself evokes ‘fishing’ for a victim by feigning trustworthiness. These spoofed emails often contain malicious links or attachments designed to trick victims into revealing such sensitive details. They can also manipulate victims into downloading malware, viruses, and can be a vector for ransomware delivery.

Key Takeaways

Email spoofing forges sender addresses to impersonate trusted sources, enabling phishing, malware distribution, and significant financial/reputational damage.
Robust defense involves a multi-layered approach: implement email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC, BIMI), use email filters, secure gateways, and educate employees.
Proper SPF record management (staying within lookup limits, keeping IP lists updated) and DMARC enforcement (p=reject/quarantine) are critical for authentication effectiveness.
Attackers use various techniques including display name forgery, legitimate domain exploitation (via SMTP vulnerabilities), and lookalike domains to deceive recipients.
Individuals can help detect spoofed emails by scrutinizing sender details, checking for unusual content/links, and verifying suspicious requests through separate channels.

How to Stop Spoofing Emails?

1. Implement Email Authentication Protocols

Beyond the core three, other protocols like MTA-STS (SMTP MTA Strict Transport Security) and TLS-RPT (TLS Reporting) also contribute to a more secure email ecosystem by enforcing encryption and providing reports on TLS connection issues.

SPF (Sender Policy Framework): One of the basics of email authentication protocols, when used alongside DKIM and DMARC, helps prevent email spoofing. SPF records have a limit of 10 DNS lookups, designed to keep the cost of processing each email low. While configuring SPF is often straightforward, maintaining it is a challenge. There is a significant risk of exceeding this 10 DNS lookup limit, especially when using multiple third-party email senders. If this limit is exceeded, SPF breaks, legitimate emails can fail authentication, and your domain becomes more vulnerable to spoofing and Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks.
DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail): An email authentication protocol to sign all outgoing messages to help prevent email tampering. By using DKIM, your outbound mail integrity can be preserved, aiding in the battle against email spoofing attacks.
DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance): DMARC is an email authentication protocol that allows organizations to protect themselves from spoofing and phishing attacks. It works as a layer on top of SPF and DKIM, enabling domain owners to publish a policy for how receiving mail servers should handle messages that fail SPF or DKIM authentication and alignment checks. This helps email receivers recognize when an email isn’t legitimately coming from a company’s approved domains and provides instructions (e.g., quarantine, reject) on how to safely dispose of such unauthorized emails.

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2. Regularly Monitor Email Traffic

Keep an eye on your email traffic and sending sources by reviewing your domain’s DMARC reports. These comprehensive reports give a thorough overview of your email channels, domain activity, email headers, and message sources. They can help quickly detect spoofing attempts made on your domain so you can take immediate action.

However, reading these reports can be a challenge. Due to the complicated XML format of raw DMARC reports, non-technical users often find them hard to decipher. We recommend using a DMARC report analyzer tool to parse these reports into a human-readable format. This takes away the technical complexities, making them easy for anyone to understand.

There are also tools available that allow you to perform a person search by email can help uncover more details about the sender and provide insights to stop these attacks effectively.

3. Use Anti-Spoofing Email Filters

Anti-spoofing filters analyze incoming emails for suspicious characteristics and signs of spoofing. These may include mismatched sending addresses, phishing signatures, malicious email attachments, etc. The filters need to be applied in your email clients and services and correctly configured to reduce spoofed emails from reaching your inbox.

4. Set Up a Custom “From” Address

Set up a custom “From” address with email authentication protocols like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC enabled for it. These prevent unauthorized senders from abusing your domain and signing tokens on your behalf. To prevent email spoofing, your company’s domain must be using an enforced DMARC policy of “quarantine” or “reject”.

5. Educate Employees on Email Security

Your employees are the weakest link in your organization, who can unintentionally expose your domain to spoofing. Educating your employees can transform this weak link into the strongest defense against email fraud! Free email security courses offer great insight into attack vectors, best practices, and warning signs, helping your employees stay informed and vigilant.

6. Implement BIMI (Brand Indicators for Message Identification)

BIMI is a visual email security feature that requires an enforced DMARC policy to display your brand logo directly in recipients’ inboxes next to your authenticated messages. By affixing a brand’s logo to their emails, BIMI builds trust and credibility. If an attacker were to send an email appearing to be from your domain but it fails DMARC (and thus BIMI validation), their email wouldn’t display your logo, making it easier for recipients to spot a fake. This not only helps stop email spoofing but also boosts brand recognition each time a legitimate email is received. Note that to properly configure BIMI, your domain needs an enforced DMARC policy (p=quarantine or p=reject) and a BIMI-compliant SVG logo.

7. Leverage Email Gateway Solutions

Email gateways filter out phishing emails to enhance inbound email security. These gateways assemble a concoction of artificial intelligence, sandboxing, and threat intelligence technologies to actively detect and prevent email threats.

How Do Hackers Spoof Your Email Address?

If your answer to ‘Am I being spoofed’ is affirmative, then you must know how threat actors trick you. This way, you’ll be more careful the next time.

Spoofing is possible because the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), by default, doesn’t inherently validate that the sender address in an email is legitimate; outbound email servers often have no way to tell if it’s genuine or forged. Attackers exploit this by faking email syntax, sometimes using scripts or manipulating email client APIs to configure the sender address. This allows them to send thousands of fake messages from what appears to be an authentic email domain, often without needing deep programming expertise. Here are some common methods:

Spoofing Via Display Name

In this, only the email sender’s display name is forged by creating a new email account with the same name as the contact they’re imitating. However, the displayed sender’s email address will be different.

These emails aren’t labeled as spam because they look legitimate.

Spoofing Via Legitimate Domains

In this method, bad actors use a trusted email address in the ‘From’ header (for example- [email protected]). In this case, both display name and email address will show forged details.

Hackers don’t hijack an internal network; instead, they exploit the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) to manually specify ‘To’ and ‘From’ addresses.

Spoofing Via Lookalike Domains

If a domain is protected, it isn’t possible to spoof domains. That’s why spoofers have to create a lookalike domain. For example, using 0 (zero) instead of O (the 15th letter of the English alphabet). Say, instead of www.amazon.com, they can create www.amaz0n.com.

The trick works as most recipients don’t notice such minor spelling alterations.

Recognizing the Signs of Spoofing

Signs of Spoofed Emails

You must be wary if:

you’re seeing emails in your ‘sent box’ that aren’t sent by you.
you’re receiving replies to emails not initiated by you.
your password has changed, and it’s not done by you.
people are receiving fraudulent emails in your name.

Tips for Recipients to Identify Spoofed Emails

While organizations implement technical defenses, individuals also play a role in spotting potentially malicious emails. Be cautious if you receive an email and notice:

Mismatched Sender Information: Check the sender’s domain name carefully. Does it look slightly off (e.g., “example.co” instead of “example.com”) or completely different from what you expect?
Poor Grammar and Typos: Many phishing emails contain noticeable spelling or grammatical errors.
Suspicious Links or Attachments: Hover over links (without clicking!) to see the actual destination URL. Be wary of unexpected attachments, especially from unknown senders.
Urgent or Threatening Language: Emails creating a false sense of urgency or fear to compel immediate action are a common tactic.
Requests for Sensitive Information: Legitimate organizations rarely ask for passwords, social security numbers, or full credit card details via email.
Generic Greetings: Emails starting with “Dear Customer” instead of your name can be a red flag, though not always definitive.
If unsure, do not click any links or open attachments. Contact the supposed sender through a known, separate communication channel (e.g., their official website or phone number) to verify the email’s authenticity, or report it to your IT department.

How Spoofed Emails Can Harm You

Spoofed emails are like Pandora’s box, as a high percentage of cyber attacks (some studies suggest over 70%) begin with a malicious email, and many data breaches involve social engineering tactics like spoofing. They can unleash a whole heap of trouble, resulting in dangerous consequences such as:

Spoofing can lead to phishing emails sent on your behalf to steal sensitive information like login and credit card details.
Spoofing can result in BEC attacks. Cybercriminals impersonate legitimate company executives to wire money or share confidential information.
Spoofed emails can lead to malware and spyware distribution, and ransomware attacks.
Repeated spoofing attacks on your domain can lead to significant reputation damage and reduced brand trust, potentially causing customers to become reluctant to open even legitimate emails. This can also involve trademark or intellectual property violations. Such attacks can result in substantial financial losses for organizations.
Continued successful spoofing attempts can lead to identity theft and unauthorized access to accounts.
Organizations failing to secure their email domains may face regulatory fines or legal consequences, under several compliance frameworks.
Spoofed emails targeting suppliers or vendors can compromise business relationships, leading to fraudulent transactions, data breaches, or operational disruptions.

What Should I Do If My Domain Is Being Spoofed?

If you suspect your email address has been used in a spoofing attack, you can follow the best practices given below for handling domain spoofing incidents:

Check DMARC reports for spoofing attempts
Strengthen your DMARC policy (e.g., moving from none to quarantine or reject)
Notify any affected users and internal teams
Report spoofing incidents to your email provider or security teams
Use tools to track and analyze spoofing attempts

Best Practices to Avoid Email Spoofing

Some tried and tested best practices that can help you avoid email spoofing are as follows:

Raise Awareness Among Employees

Employees play a crucial role in preventing email spoofing, as they are often the first line of defense against attacks. Organizations should provide training on recognizing phishing attempts, verifying sender details, and responding appropriately to suspicious emails. Educating employees on what to look for and how to respond to spoofing attempts can significantly reduce the risk of falling victim to these attacks.

Maintain Accurate Sender Lists (SPF Records)

Regularly review and update your SPF record to ensure it only lists currently authorized IP addresses and third-party vendors permitted to send emails on your behalf. If you discontinue services with a vendor, promptly remove their IPs from your SPF record. An outdated record could allow a compromised ex-vendor’s system to be used for sending spoofed emails that pass SPF checks for your domain.

Implement Practical Email Security Tips

Encourage users to avoid opening attachments from unknown senders, check for inconsistencies in email addresses, and report suspicious messages. These small but effective habits can minimize the risk of spoofing attacks.

Disable Non-Delivery Reports (NDRs)

Preventing NDRs from spam or spoofed emails ensures that attackers don’t receive feedback that could help refine their tactics. This simple step can reduce exposure to future spoofing attempts.

Tools and Resources to Combat Email Spoofing

There are several tools you can deploy to aid in your battle against spoofing. They are:

SPF Flattening Tools

SPF records can break as a result of too many DNS lookups. This can be prevented using SPF flattening tools with SPF macros optimization capabilities. While traditional or dynamic flattening solutions might offer temporary relief, advanced SPF flattening tools, often utilizing SPF macros, can be more effective. Some tools also offer features like periodical checks to monitor for changes in IP addresses by your email service providers, helping to keep your SPF record accurate and up-to-date.

DMARC XML Readers

DMARC reports are sent in XML format, which can be difficult to interpret manually. DMARC XML readers parse these reports into an easy-to-read format, providing insights into authentication failures, unauthorized senders, and domain spoofing attempts. This helps organizations monitor their email security posture and take corrective actions.

Third-Party Email Security Solutions

Advanced email security solutions use advanced AI-driven Threat Intelligence to detect and predict attack patterns and trends. These newer technologies can prevent spoofing emails before they can even reach inboxes! For example, PowerDMARC uses Predictive Threat Intelligence analysis to predict email-based cyber threats before their onset.

Final Words

While email spoofing is one of the most persistent threats in the cyber world, businesses can implement the right tools and strategies to prevent it. Through consistent monitoring, following email authentication best practices, and investing in anti-spoofing tools, a majority of the risk can be mitigated.

By preventing email spoofing, you can protect your brand from large-scale financial losses and the next big data breach. It’s time to get proactive by signing up for a free DMARC trial, and start protecting your domains against spoofing!

About
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Yunes Tarada

Domain & Email Security Expert at PowerDMARC

Yunes is an Operations Team Lead at PowerDMARC with expert knowledge in email authentication and security. Yunes is a Microsoft-certified Azure Administrator Associate with certifications in CompTIA A+ and many more.

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