What is phishing-as-a-service (PhaaS) and how to defend against it?

Phishing and phishing-as-a-service (PhaaS), explained

Phishing is a prevalent hack that aims to trick people into disclosing private information, including credit card numbers, passwords and personal identities. 

A staggering 300,497 phishing cases were reported to the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation in 2022 alone. These attacks resulted in victims losing over $52 million. Usually, it entails sending phony emails that seem authentic, duping recipients into opening harmful links or requesting sensitive information. Phishing-as-a-service (PhaaS) is an alarming development in the world of cybercrime. 

With the use of a subscription-based web service called PhaaS, even non-technical criminals may easily execute complex phishing attacks. These firms offer pre-made phishing kits, editable templates and server infrastructure to create fake web pages.

A cybercriminal may, for instance, sign up for a PhaaS platform, create an email template that seems like it comes from a respectable crypto exchange, and distribute it to thousands of possible recipients. A link to a fake login page intended to steal users’ credentials might be included in the email. 

Cybercriminals may swiftly launch extensive phishing campaigns with PhaaS, posing a greater threat to both individuals and enterprises. The accessibility of PhaaS reduces the entrance barrier for cybercrime, which is a major worry for internet consumers and cybersecurity experts globally.

How PhaaS works

PhaaS makes it easier for fraudsters to start phishing attacks by giving them access to extensive toolkits and infrastructure. 

It operates as follows:

PhaaS kits

Pre-packaged phishing kits with all the tools, infrastructure and templates needed to carry out phishing attacks are available from PhaaS suppliers. Email templates, fictitious login pages, domain registration services and hosting infrastructure are all included in these kits.

Customization

The degree of customization offered by various PhaaS systems varies. Phishing emails, websites and domains may all be altered by con artists to look genuine and trustworthy. Phishing campaigns can be customized to target particular people, businesses or sectors.

Targeting

Phishing attacks made possible by PhaaS are getting more complex. Cybercriminals have the ability to design highly targeted advertising campaigns that imitate the branding and communication strategies of reputable companies and their offerings. Attackers can create persuasive communications that have a higher chance of tricking recipients by utilizing personal information gleaned from social media, data breaches and other sources.

For instance, attackers often pose as support staff from popular wallets, exchanges or projects on social media (Telegram, Discord, Twitter, etc.). They offer help and trick users via false claims of giveaways or airdrops into giving up private keys or seed phrases or establishing connections with compromised wallets to siphon off their funds.

Dangers of PhaaS

PhaaS has dramatically reduced the entry barrier for hackers, which has resulted in a discernible rise in the quantity and sophistication of phishing attempts.

Even those with no technical experience can simply launch complex phishing attacks with PhaaS using pre-packaged toolkits, customizable templates and the hosting infrastructure offered by PhaaS providers.

The possibility of suffering a large financial loss is the main risk associated with PhaaS. The goal of phishing scams is to obtain users’ private keys, seed phrases or login credentials. These can be used to access their accounts and drain their cryptocurrency wallets for nefarious purposes. For instance, attackers altered BadgerDAO’s front-end in 2021 after fooling users into providing permissions that let their money be drained.

PhaaS attacks have the potential to undermine confidence in the crypto community. Scams that are successful can discourage people from using even reputable projects and services, which prevents widespread adoption. These attacks are especially vulnerable to novice cryptocurrency users. They can be more susceptible to falling for social media impersonations or websites that look authentic because they lack experience.

Phishing attacks are getting more and more complex; they frequently use social engineering strategies and imitate genuine platforms. This makes it challenging for even experienced users to recognize. 

PhaaS is not just for large-scale email campaigns. Spear-phishing attacks are directed at well-known people or companies in the cryptocurrency industry. Such attacks use personalized information to trick specific individuals or organizations into giving up sensitive data or taking actions that lead to financial loss or security breaches.

How to defend against PhaaS

An ideal way to protect against PhaaS is to practice constant vigilance: Double-check everything (URLs, sender addresses), never click unsolicited links, and never share your private keys or seed phrases.

Multilayered security approach and technical defenses

Install firewalls, network monitoring tools, endpoint security and robust email filtering. These technological safeguards aid in the identification and blocking of risky attachments, phishing emails and questionable network activity.

User awareness training

Teach staff members on a regular basis how to spot and report phishing attempts. Inform them of the typical signs of phishing attempts. This entails instructing people to examine sender addresses closely, determine the urgency of messages, stay away from dubious links, and desist from sending private information over email.

Security policies

Implement security measures like best practices for passwords and two-factor authentication (2FA). To avoid unwanted access, encourage the use of strong, unique passwords that are updated on a regular basis.

DMARC implementation

To assist in removing spoof emails, make use of email authentication methods such as domain-based message authentication, reporting and conformance (DMARC). By assisting in email authenticity verification, DMARC lowers the success rate of phishing attempts.

It gives domain owners insights into email authentication statistics on their domain and lets them set policies to handle unauthenticated emails.

Threat intelligence

Sign up for threat intelligence services to receive information on the newest phishing attacks and PhaaS techniques. To better defend cryptocurrency platforms against evolving cyberthreats, keep up with new developments in the field of cyberattacks and emerging online risks.