What is typosquatting, and how is it used for phishing and impersonation attacks?

The human tendency to skimp through or glance over things that look familiar is not much of a big deal until it is misused by the bad guys. This applies even in the context of cybersecurity, wherein cybercriminals try to dupe you by exploiting small mistakes or oversights—like a typo in a web address. They very well understand that users generally tend to follow their instincts and trust patterns unless something seems glaringly out of place. Taking advantage of this psychological vulnerability, these hackers pull off a deceptive technique called typosquatting. 

The main motive of cyberattackers employing this technique is to not just dupe you but to execute even more sophisticated and severe attacks like phishing and impersonation attacks. What they do is register a fraudulent domain that closely resembles the original but with minute differences, such as a misplaced letter, an extra character, or a different domain name extension. Such minor differences are intended to pass through your sight unnoticed and trick them into believing that you are dealing with a trusted entity.

In this article, we will look at how cyberattackers employ typosquatting to execute state-of-the-art phishing attacks and deceive unsuspecting users. But before we delve into the strategies, we will understand what exactly is typosquatting. 

What is typosquatting?

How often do you carefully scrutinize each domain you explore? Usually, we merely glance at the domain, trust our gut, and move ahead with it, especially if it all looks familiar. Cybercriminals know this is the Achilles’ heel of most internet users and hit exactly there through typosquatting.

Typosquatting involves registering domains that are almost similar to legitimate websites but often with slight differences, such as a misplaced letter, added character, or a different domain extension. The differences are so minute that they are often overlooked, creating the impression that users are interacting with the real website or email domain.

Let’s explain this through an example. For instance, you’re heading over to ‘amazon.com’ but in haste, type amaz0n.com or amazon.co. You will be redirected to a phishing site that parodies the real one. These malicious sites are so similar to the legitimate ones that you might hardly notice any difference and might as well go on to sensitive information, such as login credentials or credit card details. Once the attacker has your personal information, things go downhill from there.

Sometimes, typosquatting isn’t even about fake websites. Instead, the threat actor will use a nearly identical-looking email address to impersonate someone you know and trust. For example, if an email arrives in your inbox from ‘support@paypa1.com’- rather than ‘support@paypal.com,’ notice the use of a ‘1’ where there should be an ‘L. It looks fine, but it is an attempt to steal all your information through a phishing scam.

How is it leveraged to execute phishing and impersonation attacks?

Typosquatting is the perfect launchpad for cybercriminals to execute advanced phishing and impersonation attacks. In such attacks, they don’t hack systems; they hack our habits—like how we quickly skim URLs or trust an email that looks legit. 

Here’s how attackers exploit these tactics:

Creating fake websites 

Attackers create fake sites on typosquatted domains that closely resemble legitimate ones, and a simple typing mistake can lead you to these websites. The sites often mimic the design, logos, and content of widely known brands, thus making you think that the fraudulent website is the one you can trust. As soon as you place your trust in these websites and go on to explore them, you’re caught in the attacker’s trap! They exploit this opportunity to steal login credentials, financial details, or even personal details from you.

Executing BEC attacks 

Apart from websites, cyberattackers also create fake email domains that look almost identical to real ones to pull off Business Email Compromise (BEC) scams. The fake ones look almost identical to the legitimate emails with tiny differences, like an extra letter, that’s easy to miss. They, then, send emails pretending to be someone you know, perhaps your manager or CEO.

In such cases, you might receive pressing messages from them with requests like, ‘Can you quickly process this payment?’ or ‘We need this transfer to be done immediately.’ All they want is for you to act under pressure without thinking twice about cross-checking the authenticity of the email.  

Redirecting you to malicious websites 

Sometimes, attackers use typosquatted domains to quietly send you to malicious sites. They may look harmless at first, but they often carry hidden risks, like installing malware on your device without you knowing. What makes this tactic so concerning is how seamless it feels. At first look, almost everything looks normal, so much so that you won’t even realize something is wrong until much later. By then, the malware might already have collected your data, slowed your system, or exposed your device to further threats.

How can you protect your organization against typosquatting attacks?

Cyber attackers miss no opportunity to capitalize on human error, especially when typosquatting. So, it is important that you take steps to protect your organization and your clients from falling prey to such attacks. 

Here are a few strategies you can adopt to protect your business from the grasp of attackers’ malicious tactics.

• Keep track of domain registrations for variations of your company name or trademarks to spot and tackle attackers early on. 
• Identify and register common misspellings and variations of your domain before typosquatters do so. 
• Implement email authentication protocols such as SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to prevent phishing emails from spoofed domains from reaching your clients. 

Deploying SPF, DKIM, and DMARC is the answer to all things related to email spoofing and phishing prevention. These protocols work together to ensure that only authorized senders can send emails on your behalf, making it difficult for cybercriminals to impersonate your business and deceive your clients. 

Want to get started with email authentication for your organization? Now is the right time to do so!