In IP Spoofing

IP spoofing is a malicious technique where a threat actor hides the true source of IP packets to disguise their identity [t3]. The attacker creates packets with a forged source IP address to impersonate a trusted computer system or a different machine [t3][t5]. By manipulating the packet header, the destination computer perceives the incoming data as originating from a legitimate or trusted source, allowing the attacker to bypass security measures and gain unauthorized access [t8]. This method is frequently used to launch Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) attacks, and to evade detection by masking the attacker's true electronic location [t4][t5]. While other options describe general cybercrime or security measures like cryptography [t2], option 2 specifically defines the core mechanism of IP spoofing: identifying and assuming the identity of a trusted machine to mask one's own true identity.