How Email Spoofing Can Destroy Your Brand (and How to Stop It)

More than 3 billion spoof emails are sent every day. Brand impersonation constitutes 83% of all phishing attacks. While well-renowned brands are the most susceptible and vulnerable to cyberattacks, smaller businesses can also be targets of such attacks.

Regardless of your business size, spoofing can have detrimental effects on all. Not only may it bring financial losses, but it can also cause significant long-term reputational damage.

Thankfully, today, numerous tools let you check your SPF record completely free of charge. A quick Google search with the keyword SPF checker will give you a variety of options you can choose from. Many businesses overlook the importance of such tools and fall victim to email spoofing.

What Is Email Spoofing?

Email is the most common phishing method. The main reason why spoofing attacks occur is the intrinsic weakness of Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP). SMTP does not have a built-in mechanism for authenticating a sender before they send an email. So, in case the mail server has an open SMTP port and no email authentication protocols in place, it creates a vulnerable ground for hackers to target.

In spoofing, hackers manipulate people into thinking that the email is from a legitimate domain. While the email looks safe to open at first sight, it may actually contain malicious content and links, clicking on which may result in installing malware or giving sensitive personal or business data to hackers.

Some phishing emails aim to impersonate individuals, while others impersonate brands. In the case of the first one, the HR’s or another employee’s email domain may be targeted. While significant losses may result from this type of phishing email, it will not lead to reputational damage.

The second, however, targets not just the individuals within the company but the company itself. Hackers make the email header and other email components appear to be from a legitimate and trusted brand that the recipients trust and interact with. Then, spoofed emails may direct the victims to a legitimate-looking yet fake website where they will be prompted to reveal credit card or other valuable information. The reputational damage to the brand may be huge and require years to recover.

3 Email Spoofing Examples and Methods

Below are some renowned examples and techniques of email spoofing.

1. Fake Emails That Look Real

Hackers might craft an email that looks exactly like one PayPal would send. Such emails often contain FOMO or involve a sense of urgency. They might threaten to suspend a user’s account if they don’t click on a given link or don’t change their password. If the recipient of this notification believes that the email is from PayPal, they would most likely engage with the email and do whatever the email requires them to do in order not to lose their PayPal account.

When they click on the malicious link or change their password or take any other required action, the hacker may gain access to their sensitive financial data and thereby move the victim’s money to their own PayPal account.

2. Impersonating High-Level Personnel

A few years ago, Seagate employees fell victim to a phishing scam where an email impersonating the CEO requested their W-2 forms. Believing the email to be safe and legitimate internal communication, many employees shared sensitive information (e.g., their yearly salaries).

Such emails are especially dangerous since they appear to be from someone we know and trust. If several employees trust such emails and reveal their personal and/or business details, hackers may gain access to crucial pieces of information and documents that the organization would otherwise not be willing to disclose.

3. Email Spoofing that Targets Both Individuals and Brands

A few years ago, Snapchat fell victim to an email phishing attack when a scammer impersonated CEO Evan Spiegel and sent a fake request for employee payroll information. Trusting the email to be legitimate, an employee complied, thereby unwillingly disclosing sensitive data about current and former staff.

Email Spoofing and Brand Reputation

Some companies do not pay enough attention to email security, relying on the fact that an organization is usually not legally responsible in case the attackers impersonate their brand and exploit the victims (e.g., clients, employees, partners, etc.). While it is true that an organization cannot be sued for email spoofing (except in the case of data breaches), the security of its business domain is still of paramount importance.

In fact, over 42% of clients are less likely to trust a business and use its services after a phishing incident. This is logical since no customer wants their data to be stolen by hackers because of an organization’s negligence or oversight. Thus, by implementing email security measures, you protect not only your customers but also your brand reputation, revenues, and marketing efforts.

The Role of Email Authentication Protocols

The following email authentication protocols will help you protect your email domain and recipients’ data, improve email deliverability, boost ROI, and enjoy a more positive brand reputation.

SPF: Sender Policy Framework

SPF is an email authentication protocol that allows the servers of an organization to specify who is authorized to send emails on behalf of their domain. It determines which IP addresses have the authority to send messages from your domain, thereby enabling domain owners to distinguish authorized addresses from unauthorized ones and potentially prevent spoofing.

When you have the correct SPF setup, hazardous emails will be prevented from reaching your inbox. If you don’t have an SPF record and need to create one from scratch, you can use a free SPF generator.

DKIM: DomainKeys Identified Mail

Domain Keys Identified Mail (DKIM) helps ensure that the email has not been forged in transit. Thus, DKIM enables organizations to safeguard their domain against spoofing by authenticating the emails with a dedicated DKIM signature. You can set up DKIM simply by generating a public DKIM key and then adding this key to your domain. Once the recipients’ servers get the public DKIM key, they use it for authenticating the email by reading the DKIM signature.

DMARC: Domain-Based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance

DMARC is the email authentication protocol that helps check if a message is authorized, thereby helping protect domains from unauthorized use. You can view it as an email validation system. Additionally, DMARC instructs the receiving servers on how to handle messages that fail SPF or DKIM authentication.

While DMARC is highly beneficial, it can also cause many issues if configured the wrong way. To ensure you have the right DMARC setup in place, you can use a DMARC record checker to validate your DMARC record. Additionally, you can make use of a DMARC record generator tool to create your record in a free, quick, and effective manner.

Final Thoughts

While email spoofing has the potential to entirely destroy your brand image and push away even the most loyal customers, it is not an all-mighty vampire. There are many methods and tools that you can use to prevent the next spoofing attack on your domain. Using email authentication is one effective way to successfully protect your email communications and ensure the highest standards of security for you and your stakeholders alike.