2002 Tech Tip: Spoofed/Forged Email
• SEI Report
Publisher
Software Engineering Institute
Topic or Tag
Abstract
Email spoofing may occur in different forms, but all have a similar result: a user receives email that appears to originate from one source when it actually was sent from another source. Email spoofing is often an attempt to trick the user into making a damaging statement or releasing sensitive information (such as passwords).
Examples of spoofed email that could affect the security of your site include:
- email claiming to be from a system administrator requesting users to change their passwords to a specified string and threatening to suspend their account if they do not do this and
- email claiming to be from a person in authority requesting users to send them a copy of a password file or other sensitive information.
If, after investigating the activity, you find that there is more to the incident than spoofed email (such as a compromise at your site or another site), this tech tip includes additional security measure that you can take.
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CERT Tech Tips
Cite This SEI Report
Software Engineering Institute (2002, January 1). 2002 Tech Tip: Spoofed/Forged Email. Retrieved September 16, 2026, from https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/2002-tech-tip-spoofedforged-email/.
@techreport{Citekey_2002,
author={Software Engineering Institute},
title={2002 Tech Tip: Spoofed/Forged Email},
month={Jan},
year={2002},
institution={Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University},
url={https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/2002-tech-tip-spoofedforged-email/},
note={Accessed: 2026-Sep-16}
}
Software Engineering Institute. "2002 Tech Tip: Spoofed/Forged Email." Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University. Software Engineering Institute, January 1, 2002. https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/2002-tech-tip-spoofedforged-email/.
Software Engineering Institute, "2002 Tech Tip: Spoofed/Forged Email," Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University. Software Engineering Institute, 1-Jan-2002 [Online]. Available: https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/2002-tech-tip-spoofedforged-email/. [Accessed: 16-Sep-2026].
Software Engineering Institute. "2002 Tech Tip: Spoofed/Forged Email." Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Software Engineering Institute, 1 Jan. 2002. https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/2002-tech-tip-spoofedforged-email/. Accessed 16 Sep. 2026.
Software Engineering Institute. 2002 Tech Tip: Spoofed/Forged Email. Software Engineering Institute. 2002. https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/2002-tech-tip-spoofedforged-email/