We earn commission when you buy through affiliate links.
This does not influence our reviews or recommendations.Learn more.
Pharming attack is a sophisticated mechanism that defrauds users without needing any silly mistake from their side.
Lets decode this and see how to safeguard it.
Thats one of the ways pharming attacks look like.
The term pharming is coined fromphishing attackand farming .
In a nutshell, phishing needs your active participation, while pharming attacks (in most cases) dont.
Consequently, domain names have little to do with the actual websites.
This makes pharming attacks dangerous.
Or, they get their personally identifiable information sold on the dark web.
Lets check their modus operandi in detail.
How Does Pharming Attack Works?
These are orchestrated on two levels, with the user or an entire DNS server.
However, malware could write fake entries to your computers local host file.
This way, even the correct website address resolves to a fraudulent website.
#2.Server-level Pharming
What happened to a single user can also be done to an entire server.
This is termed DNS poisoning or DNS spoofing, or DNS hijacking.
Since this occurs at a server level, the victims can be hundreds or thousands, if not more.
The target DNS servers are generally harder to control and are a risky maneuver.
But if done, the rewards are exponentially higher for cybercriminals.
Server-level pharming is done by physically hijacking DNS servers or man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks.
Documented Pharming Attacks
A user-level pharming attack often remains hidden and is scarcely reported.
Even if registered, this hardly makes it to the news outlets.
Lets check a few to see how it worked in real life.
We have a brief report from@iwantmynameabout what has happened.
This attack sent Curves users to a fraudulent lookalike, causinglosses of over $550k.
#2.MyEtherWallet
24th April 2018 was a black day for some of the MyEtherWallet users.
This is a free and open-source Ethereum (a cryptocurrency) wallet with robust security protocols.
However, a glaring mistake on the users end was ignoring the browsers SSL warning.
MyEtherWallet official statementregarding the scam.
This classic DNS compromise sent users to malicious websites even when they entered the official URLs.
Subsequently, the virus asked the users to turn off the antivirus, firewalls, etc.
There are more such events, but they operate similarly.
Signs of Pharming
Pharming essentially gives full control of your infected online accounts to the threat actor.
It can be your Facebook profile, online banking account, etc.
If youre a victim, youll see unaccounted-for activity.
Ultimately, you should start with the remedy if there is anything that you dont remember doing.
#1.Use a Premium Antivirus
A good antivirus is half the work done.
This helps you stay protected from most rogue links, malicious downloads, and scam websites.
Although there is a free antivirus for your PC, the paid ones generally perform better.
#2.Set a Strong Router Password
Wi-Fi routers can also act as a mini DNS servers.
Consequently, their safety is crucial, and it starts with changing the default passwords.
However, its important to pick the best available ISP for not only the speeds but the overall security.
#4.Use a Custom DNS Server
Switching to a different DNS server is not difficult or uncommon.
you could use free public DNS from OpenDNS, Cloudflare, Google, etc.
However, the important thing is that the DNS provider can see your web activity.
So, you should be vigilant to whom youre giving access to your web activity.
#5.Use VPN With Private DNS
Using VPN puts many security layers, including their custom DNS.
This not only protects you from cybercriminals but also from ISP or government surveillance.
Still, you should verify that the VPN should have encrypted DNS servers for the best possible protection.
While goodantivirus softwaredoes its job of alerting you, no cybersecurity tool guarantees a 100% success rate.
Finally, the responsibility lies on your shoulders to safeguard yourself.
For instance, one should paste any suspicious link into search engines to see the source.
Moreover, periodically flushing your DNS will surely help.
Pharming attacks are age-old, but how it operates is too subtle to pinpoint.
The root cause of such attacks is the native DNS insecurities, which arent addressed in totality.
Consequently, this isnt always up to you.
Still, the listed protections will help, especially using a VPN with encrypted DNS likeProtonVPN.
