CAPEC-631: SoundSquatting
Description
An adversary registers a domain name that sounds the same as a trusted domain, but has a different spelling. A SoundSquatting attack takes advantage of a user's confusion of the two words to direct Internet traffic to adversary-controlled destinations. SoundSquatting does not require an attack against the trusted domain or complicated reverse engineering.
- Likelihood of attack
- Low
- Typical severity
- Medium
- Abstraction
- DetailedA low-level, detailed pattern, often for a particular technology.
Mechanism of attack: Engage in Deceptive Interactions
Prerequisites
- An adversary requires knowledge of popular or high traffic domains, that could be used to deceive potential targets.
Skills required
- LowAdversaries must be able to register DNS hostnames/URL’s.
Consequences
- Other
Other
Depending on the intention of the adversary, a successful SoundSquatting attack can be leveraged to execute more complex attacks such as cross-site scripting or stealing account credentials.
Mitigations
- Authenticate all servers and perform redundant checks when using DNS hostnames.
- Purchase potential SoundSquatted domains and forward to legitimate domain.
Related weaknesses (CWE)
CAPEC 3.9 links no CWE weakness to this pattern.