Clone Phishing: A Deceptive Twist on Traditional Phishing Techniques
Clone phishing is an even more advanced and malicious attack type of traditional phishing, taking advantage of trusting users by disguising an attack as legitimate communication. While a standard phishing attack typically relies on sending completely new and suspicious-looking messages, clone phishing attacks rely on copying previous emails or communications sent to alter to include malicious content. Thus, it is very effective, taking advantage of a user’s trusting nature in the source, in that often it cannot be determined if this message was changed.
What is Clone Phishing?
Typically, a clone phishing attack is carried out by a cyber crook who takes an authentic email that some trusted entity had already sent, clones it and replaces the legal attachments, links, or content with malware alternative ones. The attacker forwards the cloned message to the victim, often claiming that the original message had already been updated or existed. Since the email appears to originate from a known source and is familiar, recipients feel that their guard should come down; thus, they interact with the malicious content.
Visualize this: You have received an email from your online payment provider with an invoice attached some time ago. A cybercriminal may capture that email, “clone” it, modify the attachment or link to a bad one, and send it back to you. Since it is so close to the actual email, it’s much easier to get fooled.
How Does Clone Phishing Work?
Clone phishing often occurs due to a three-step process:
- Cloning Legitimate Email: Hackers first access an email exchange chain between the victim and a trusted sender. Then, using the same branding, layout, and language, they copy the content and design of the email to make it appear genuine.
- Content Manipulation: It replaces the original email that it would duplicate by replacing regular links and attachments with malicious links and attachments. The links often take you to scam sites designed to steal sensitive information, or the attachments contain malware.
- Sending the cloned email: In this case, the message will be sent and viewed under the guise of originality as if it’s coming from the sender’s original email address. Occasionally, the attacker may use the original email address by hijacking the sender’s account or using spoofing techniques to raise the chances of success.
Why is Clone Phishing Effective?
Clone phishing takes advantage of trust and familiarity. If you have ever received an email or a chain of emails with the same theme, you likely won’t suspect this time. It is true that most people hardly scrutinize repeated communications from trusted sources because they perceive them to be safe. Thus, similar to an email clone, phishing is very effective in targeted attacks.
You may receive a cloned email from your boss asking you to download a report you already expected, so you download it without much of a second thought. This is why it’s dangerous- it melts into the background of your everyday communications.
How to Protect Yourself from Clone Phishing
Clone phishing is pretty sneaky to spot, but there are a few strategies that can keep you safe:
- Verify with Sender: Even if it is an automatic follow-up of something you didn’t anticipate, you should immediately contact the sender by any other means of communication, such as the phone or instant chat, for verification.
- Look for Red Flags: Be very watchful of the details when reading the email, including small changes to the address or domain of the sender. Clone emails use small changes that could be easily overlooked in the domain name.
- Utilize Advanced Security Tools: Anti-phishing and email filters can block malicious content from reaching the employee’s inbox. Companies can also implement email authentication protocols, such as DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance), that can ensure emails containing phishing attacks are not able to land in the inboxes of employees.
- Be very cautious about urgency: Most phishing emails are urgent or timely. If an email mentions that you have to take action ‘today,’ ‘yesterday,’ or at a particular time, then stop and think before acting.
- Educate Yourself and Others: Awareness is the key. Educate employees and individuals in training regularly on the identification of clone phishing tactics to avoid such attacks. Examples of clone phishing sent to your inbox can help get the message across your organization or network.
Conclusion:
Clone phishing is another malicious attack that uses trust since it almost looks like an authentic email. Thus, its detection is more challenging and risky than simple phishing attacks. One only needs to remain vigilant, check emails and engage in robust cybersecurity measures to guard against such an attack. Cybercriminals only get better with time. Awareness and proactive defences can safeguard your personal or business information from a clone phishing attack.
