Pharming
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Pharming
The term "pharming" is a
Pharming vulnerability at home and work
While malicious domain-name resolution can result from compromises in the large numbers of trusted nodes from a name lookup, the most vulnerable points of compromise are near the leaves of the Internet. For instance, incorrect entries in a desktop computer's are often better targets for pharming because they receive poorer administration than most Internet servers.
More worrisome than host-file attacks is the compromise of a local
Alternatively, many routers have the ability to replace their
By themselves, these pharming approaches have only academic interest. However, the ubiquity of consumer grade wireless routers presents a massive vulnerability. Administrative access can be available wirelessly on most of these devices. Moreover, since these routers often work with their default settings, administrative passwords are commonly unchanged. Even when altered, many are guessed quickly through dictionary attacks, since most consumer grade routers don't introduce timing penalties for incorrect login attempts. Once administrative access is granted, all of the router's settings including the firmware itself may be altered. These attacks are difficult to trace because they occur outside the home or small office and outside the Internet.
Instances of pharming
On 15 January 2005, the domain name for a large New York ISP,
In February 2007, a pharming attack affected at least 50 financial companies in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Attackers created a similar page for each targeted financial company, which requires effort and time. Victims clicked on a specific website that had a malicious code. This website forced consumers' computers to download a Trojan horse. Subsequent login information from any of the targeted financial companies was collected. The number of individuals affected is unknown but the incident continued for three days.[2]
In January 2008,
Controversy over the use of the term
The term "pharming" has been controversial within the field. At a conference organized by the Anti-Phishing Working Group, Phillip Hallam-Baker denounced the term as "a marketing neologism designed to convince banks to buy a new set of security services".
See also
Notes
- ^ The word "pharming" is pronounced as "farm-ing".
References
- ^ "ICANN review blames Melb IT for hijack". The Sydney Morning Herald. March 16, 2005.
- ^ "Pharming Attack Targeted Bank Customers Worldwide". PCWorld. 2007-02-22. Retrieved 2020-07-24.
- ^ Messmer, Ellen (January 22, 2008). "First case of "drive-by pharming" identified in the wild". Network World.
- Sources
- "Security: Phishing and Pharming". Windows IT Pro Magazine. June 22, 2005. Archived from the original on August 11, 2005.
- "How Can We Stop Phishing and Pharming Scams?". CSO Magazine. July 20, 2005. Archived from the original on November 24, 2005.