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A rant about phishing: It's not the user's fault (and not DNS either)

Lobsters · securityby maurycyz.com by maurycy ()2 min read4 · 1 read
AI summary · glm-5.3-flashSummaries by Vani AI

Opinion piece argues multi-domain login redirects make legitimate flows indistinguishable from phishing, urging organizations to standardize on one recognizable root domain.

The author shows a real-world login flow that chains through numerous third-party domains (identity providers, cloud auth endpoints, OAuth APIs, 2FA pages), none on the company's own domain, so credentials and 2FA prompts are trivially impersonable. The piece argues URLs are inherently confusing because the security-relevant second-level domain sits mid-string, and that users trained to ignore URLs cannot distinguish legitimate pages from scams. It proposes RFC 2119-style requirements: single recognizable root domain, internal services on its subdomains, emailed or SMS links on that domain, and local redirects instead of third-party hosted pages.

Key facts
  • Real login flows chain many third-party domains, making legitimate pages indistinguishable from phishing pages.
  • URLs bury the security-relevant second-level domain mid-string, which non-technical users cannot reliably parse.
  • Recommends logins and emailed/SMS links live on one recognizable root domain using subdomains.
  • Suggests bring-your-own-domain and local redirects instead of third-party hosted login pages.
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From the original article

2 min read at maurycyz.com

Meanwhile, most organization's login flow redirects through: # This is a real example, but I've changed the names to avoid pointing fingers https://login. smallcrow. com/324aa78a-03a6-66fc-23e1-4124fdsa213

Lobsters · security

By maurycyz.com by maurycy · maurycyz.com

Read the full article at Lobsters · security

A short excerpt; the article and its images belong to the publisher. Summary, key facts and assessment above are AI-written from the article and can be wrong.