# Spoofing

Disguising communication from an unknown source as coming from a known, trusted one, such as faking an email address or caller ID.

**Spoofing[↗](/spoofing)** is the act of disguising communication from an unknown or malicious source to make it appear as though it's coming from a known, trusted source. This commonly includes faking an email sender address, a caller ID number, a website URL, or even a device's network address.

Spoofing is a foundational technique behind many other attacks, including phishing[↗](/phishing), business email compromise, and man-in-the-middle attacks, since tricking a victim into misplaced trust is often the first step. Email authentication[↗](/authentication) standards like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC help detect and block spoofed messages before they reach an inbox.