What is Pharming Attack?
Pharming is a
scamming practice in which malicious code is installed on a personal computer
or server, misdirecting users to fraudulent Web sites without their knowledge
or consent. Pharming has been called "phishing without a lure."
In phishing,
the perpetrator sends out legitimate-looking e-mails, appearing to come from
some of the Web's most popular sites, in an effort to obtain personal and
financial information from individual recipients. But in pharming, larger
numbers of computer users can be victimized because it is not necessary to
target individuals one by one and no conscious action is required on the part
of the victim. In one form of pharming attack, code sent in an e-mail modifies
local host files on a personal computer. The host files convert URLs into the
number strings that the computer uses to access Web sites. A computer with a
compromised host file will go to the fake Web site even if a user types in the
correct Internet address or clicks on an affected bookmark entry. Some spyware removal
programs can correct the corruption, but it frequently recurs unless the user
changes browsing habits.
A particularly ominous pharming tactic is known
as domain name system poisoning (DNS poisoning),
in which the domain name system table in a server is modified so that someone
who thinks they are accessing legitimate Web sites is actually directed toward
fraudulent ones. In this method of pharming, individual personal computer host
files need not be corrupted. Instead, the problem occurs in the DNS server,
which handles thousands or millions of Internet users' requests for URLs.
Victims end up at the bogus site without any visible indicator of a
discrepancy. Spyware removal programs cannot deal with this type of pharming
because nothing need be technically wrong with the end users' computers.
Another form of
pharming,known as gene pharming(unrelated to the Internet form of pharming)is a biotechnological process in which the DNA of an animal is altered so the
animal produces human proteins for pharmaceutical use.The proteins appear in
the blood,eggs,or milk of the animal.This has been done with livestock to produce
several useful drugs.
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