Spoofing Attacks

Term Paper # 116254

Computer and Technology > Internet
Criminology

Spoofing Attacks

An overview of Internet spoofing attacks.

1,323 words () | 12 sources | MLA | 2009 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper explains what an Internet spoofing attack is and discusses how operating systems are affected as well as the protocols that are vulnerable to spoofing attacks. The paper also describes the damages and consequences for individual users and businesses that are victims of these attacks and looks at methods of protecting against them. Finally, the paper identifies the measures that can be taken to alleviate the stresses of these attacks after they occur.

Outline:
Definition
Systems Affected, Protocols Used, Methods of Exploitation
Damages and Consequences
Protecting Against Attacks
Eliminating or Reducing Effects of Attack

From the Paper:

"Any operating system can be affected by some kind of spoofing attack. A spoofing attack might be as simple as a fallaciously reproduced webpage or e-mail phishing attempt, to which any gullible user might fall victim. These are some of the milder forms of spoofing attacks because their success relies on user error. Other spoofing attacks are more difficult to detect and thus more malicious.
"Any operating system with weak Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) is especially vulnerable to spoofing. A particularly malicious type of spoofing attack is one in which the attacker modifies Internet packets, forging a return address. The return address could be fake, bogging down the system as it tries to deliver information to nowhere, or it could be the attacker's actual return address, allowing for interception of private data. This latter type of spoofing attack is one type of man-in-the-middle attack. Additionally, TCP spoofing is often used to strengthen certain types of Denial of Service attacks, such as SYN attacks."

Sample of Sources Used:

Bellovin, Steven M. A Look Back at "Security Problems in the TCP/IP Protocol Suite." 20th Annual Computer Security Applications Conference, December 2004.
Burdach, Mariusz. "Hardening the TCP/IP Stack to SYN Attacks." Security Focus. 10 Sept., 2003. 18 May 2006. <http://www.securityfocus.com/infocus/1729>.
"Denial-of-service attack." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 18 May 2006, 17:14 UTC. Wikimedia Foundations, Inc. 19 May 2006 <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Denial-of-service_attack&oldid=53886255>.
"DNS Spoofing." Men & Mice. 18 May 2006. <http://www.menandmice.com/9000/9211_dns_spoofing.html>.
"Domain name system." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 18 May 2006, 10:40 UTC. Wikimedia Foundations, Inc. 19 May 2006 <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Domain_name_system&oldid=53838572>.