E-mail spoofing
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
E-mail spoofing is the practice of making e-mail appear like it came from someone or somewhere else. It is a type of computer hacking, is almost always done in mischievous or malicious intent, and is considered a cybercrime in most locales.
Reasons
Fraud
Phishing
See main article on phishing.
Spam
Practical Jokes
Sending a friend, who doesn't know how to forge e-mail headers, a message from "George W. Bush" commending him for his effort to strengthen the economy with his beer consumption might be a way to increase the awareness of the non-reliability of the "From:" field.
Characteristics
Email headers
Techniques
Illegality
Defenses
A direct defense is to use PGP or some other tool for digital signatures on important email.