Inside a Phisher’s Mind: Understanding the Anti-phishing Ecosystem Through Phishing Kit Analysis Adam Oest∗, Yeganeh Safaei∗, Adam Doupe´∗, Gail-Joon Ahn∗x, Brad Wardmany, Gary Warnerz ∗Arizona State University, x Samsung Research, yPayPal, Inc., zCofense, Inc. faoest, ysafaeis, doupe,
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[email protected] Abstract—Phishing attacks are becoming increasingly preva- Phishing attacks are particularly damaging not only due lent: 2016 saw more phishing attacks than any previous year on to their prevalence, but because their impact extends beyond record according to the Anti-Phishing Working Group. At the the individuals who are directly targeted. The organizations same time, the growing level of sophistication of cybercriminals must be understood for the development of effective anti-phishing being impersonated in such attacks (such as financial institu- systems, as phishers have extensive control over the content tions or e-mail providers) expend vast resources to minimize they serve to their victims. By examining two large, real-world their losses and must work together with security firms and datasets of phishing kits and URLs from 2016 through mid- researchers to address the increasing level of sophistication 2017, we paint a clear picture of today’s anti-phishing ecosystem being observed in phishing. This gives rise to an anti-phishing while inferring the higher-level motives and thought processes of phishers. We analyze the nature of server-side .htaccess ecosystem comprised of many diverse entities working toward filtering techniques used by phishers to evade detection by the the same goal of reducing the billions of dollars of annual security community.