An e-mail that appears to originate from one source but actually has been sent from another is called

Question

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

Correct — B, Spoofing. E-mail spoofing means forging the sender information in an e-mail's header (the 'From' address) so the message appears to come from a trusted or different source than its true origin — exactly the behaviour described in the question.

Why the other options are wrong — (a) Phishing is the broader social-engineering attack of tricking a recipient into revealing sensitive data via a deceptive message — it often uses spoofing as a technique, but the term itself names the deception's goal, not the act of disguising the sender.  (c) Spamming is sending unsolicited bulk e-mail to many recipients; it says nothing about whether the sender address is forged.  (d) Sniffing is intercepting/capturing data packets as they travel across a network — an eavesdropping technique, not about disguising an e-mail's origin.

Concept: E-mail spoofing exploits the fact that standard e-mail protocols do not verify the 'From' header by default, letting an attacker set it to any address they choose. The recipient's inbox shows a fake sender identity while the message actually originated elsewhere — commonly used to make a scam e-mail look like it is from a bank, colleague, or known contact.

State PCS 2021 Q62 — Science & Technology PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2021 Q62 — Science & Technology PYQ with Answer