# Message forgery

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Message sent with a fake identity

In [cryptography](/source/Cryptography), **message forgery** is sending a message so to deceive the recipient about the actual sender's identity. A common example is sending a [spam](/source/E-mail_spam) or prank e-mail as if it were originated from an [address other than the one which was really used](/source/Email_spoofing).

## Notable Incidents

### 2014 Sony Pictures hack

Main article: [2014 Sony Pictures hack](/source/2014_Sony_Pictures_hack)

On November 2014, the multinational entertainment studio, [Sony Pictures](/source/Sony_Pictures), suffered a huge [data leak](/source/Data_breach); over 100 terabytes of confidential company activities were exposed, resulting in well over $100 million lost.

One of the causes of the hack was through the use of message forgery. The [phishers](/source/Lazarus_Group) gained entry by manipulating the recipient to open the malicious attachments contained in the emails that were posing as colleagues of the top-level employees within the company.[1]

## See also

- [Phishing](/source/Phishing)

- [Message authentication code](/source/Message_authentication_code)

- [Stream cipher attack](/source/Stream_cipher_attack)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Famous Phishing Incidents from History | Hempstead Town, NY"](https://www.hempsteadny.gov/635/Famous-Phishing-Incidents-from-History). *www.hempsteadny.gov*. Retrieved 2025-03-12.

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