Pharming

Pharming is a type of cyberattack involving the redirection of web traffic from a legitimate site to a fake site to steal usernames, passwords, financial data, and other personal information.

It is a two-step process that begins with an attacker installs malicious code on a victim's computer or server. That code sends the victim to a spoofed website, where they may be tricked into offering their personal data or login credentials for a website or online service. Pharming does do not require a user to open a website themselves because they are automatically redirected to the attacker’s spoofed site.

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Types ofPharming Attacks

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DNS Server Poisoning -The DNS serves to direct users' website requests to the correct IP address. Butwhen a DNS server is corrupted, it will direct website requests to alternate orfake IP addresses. Typically, DNS poisoning goes after the companies that runand maintain the DNS servers that translate human-friendly domain names intocomputer-ready IP addresses. The corruption of a large DNS server canresult in cybercriminals targeting and scamming larger groups of victims.

Malware-based Pharming –Also Known as DNS changers/hijackers who infect a victim’s computer stealthily large DNS server's corruption can result through malicious emails or software downloads, such as a Trojan horse or virus making changes to the victim's host file. Internet users often unwittingly pick up malware through malicious emails or software downloads, such as a Trojan horse or virus. The downloaded malware will covertly reroute the user to a fake or spoofed website created and managed by the attacker. When people access the site, the attacker sees all the personal data or login credentials they enter.

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How to protect yourself against Pharming Attack  

•Deploy a reputable anti-virus solution: Trustedanti-virus software should contain tools that can not only detect but also block anomalous or suspicious behavior and malware.

•Use a trusted internet provider: Reputable and trustworthy internet service providers (ISPs) automatically filter bogus pharming redirects, which prevents users from ever visiting pharming websites.

•Avoid unusual e-commerce deals: E-commerce ore-shopping deals that look too good to be true are often just that. A populartactic used by pharming attackers is to lure victims in with prices thatdrastically undercut popular, legitimate e-commerce sites.

•Use secure VPNs: Virtual private networks (VPNs) thatuse reputable DNS servers will help users avoid the risk of pharming attackstargeting DNS cache poisoning. 

•Enable authentication: Passwords alone are not asecure practice for protecting users against popular attack vectors.Organizations must add an extra layer of security to their online accountsusing two-factor authentication (2FA) and multi-factor authentication(MFA). 

•Change default passwords: Consumer routers andwireless access points come with default passwords that could be used acrossmultiple similar devices. This poses a serious security risk if hackers can gethold of those passwords. 

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