Homoglyph Attacks: How Lookalike Characters Are Exploited for Cyber Deception

### Executive Summary This report explains how homoglyph (visual confusable) attacks exploit lookalike Unicode characters in domains, filenames, and display names to perpetrate phishing, credential harvesting, BEC, malware distribution, and supply-chain deception, covering technical mechanics (Unicode, IDNs, Punycode), attack lifecycle, detection pitfalls, MITRE ATT&CK mapping, real-world patterns, and practical defensive controls and operational recommendations.