Effective Ways to Avoid IP Spoofing
Malicious hackers are continually looking for ways to steal information from computers and spoofing is one of them. Statistically, over 99% of the businesses and individuals in the world have an email address, and at least 75% use theirs daily.
IP Spoofing
This is a mechanism used by cybercriminals to gain unauthorized entry into a system, and they can do all sorts of malicious things to your system. They send messages to your computer with a forged IP address, and so it shows a different address from the one sending the messages. Once you see a trustworthy host few people think twice before opening the messages; within seconds, your computer and network becomes infected by malware such as the notorious Ransomware. Protecting yourself from IP spoofing is a tall order since the attackers exploit the system weaknesses that you have no control over.
However, there are measures you can take to protect yourself against IP spoofing. Here are the most effective ways to protect yourself from becoming the next victim of IP spoofing.
Apply Egress and Ingress Filtering On Your WI-FI Router
Egress filtering verifies that the data packets leaving your device have the necessary authorizations to leave your device. Ingress filtering ensures that the data packets you receive on your device are from the real source and not from a spoofed IP address. Contact your wireless network administrator and have them apply the filters on your behalf if you cannot do it on your own.
Encrypt Your Wi-Fi Network
Passwords are your last line of defense against cyber attackers and you8 should ensure that you have a strong one on your Wi-Fi network. This will prevent hackers from spoofing your IP address, gaining access to your network, and hijacking your data packets with a sniffer. Strong passwords need to be at least ten characters long with special characters, numbers, as well as both upper and lower case letters. Be sure to change the default passwords on your network router.
Ensure proper Configuration of Your Firewall
Presently, firewalls developers have a configurable anti-spoofing defense mechanism that blocks the use of private addresses on the external interface. Visit an IT or network administrator, and they can configure your firewall to ensure that the external interface does not accept any addresses currently being used in the internal range as the packet data source. A properly configured firewall can scan and track all the outgoing and incoming traffic in your devices. It will stop and block malicious communications trying to start a confidential data leakage.
In conclusion, the proper configuration of your router and firewall is your best bet in preventing IP spoofing. Contact your IT expert to ensure that they actualize the preventive measures above.
