When Government Sites Go Phishing: How Cybercriminals Turn .gov Trust into a Digital Trap
Cybercriminals are turning government websites into their personal playgrounds, exploiting .gov domain vulnerabilities for phishing. While less frequent than other domains, their trustworthiness makes them prime targets. With tactics like open redirects, these malicious masterminds redirect unsuspecting users to phishing pages. Nearly 60% of these abused domains show links to a known platform vulnerability.
Hot Take:
Looks like cybercriminals have found a new hobby—playing cat and mouse with government websites worldwide. While the .gov domains may not be as easy to crack as the password “1234,” they still can’t resist the allure of posing as a trustworthy authority. The government might be about solving issues, but this is one problem they didn’t see coming!
Key Points:
- Cofense Intelligence reveals cybercriminals are exploiting .gov domains for phishing and malicious redirection.
- Open redirect tactics allow attackers to bypass secure email gateways, deceiving users with trusted URLs.
- US .gov domains are a prime target, with campaigns mimicking Microsoft services to snare victims.
- Brazil leads in the number of exploited government domains, followed by Colombia and the US.
- Liferay platform vulnerability (CVE-2024-25608) linked to many of the exploited .gov domains.