Fraud and Intrusion: Typosquatting
Typosquatting
Typosquatting is a form of fraud that can have significant consequences for your brand. Here we go through everything you need to know about typosquatting, including what it is, how it works, and how you can protect your company and your customers.
What is typosquatting?
Typosquatting is when fraudsters register domain names that are intentionally misspelled versions of legitimate websites to redirect internet users to another site. The purpose of the cybercrime is usually to trick the user into providing sensitive information, generate money for the website's owner, or plant malicious code. In addition to typosquatting potentially causing the user to lose money or have their personal information exposed, it has significant consequences for the brand that the fraudster has exploited to achieve their goal – not least in terms of lost revenue and a damaged reputation.
How does typosquatting work?
When a cybercriminal seeks to exploit someone else's trademark for personal gain, the attack begins with the criminal registering a domain that resembles the trademark. They can, for example, replace a letter with a number, add letters to the name, or change the domain suffix. If the user accidentally types incorrectly when trying to visit a website or clicks on a link in an email that they believe is from a legitimate entity (phishing), they will instead end up on the fraudster's website.
Protect the company
Common forms of typosquatting
Prevent typosquatting with Abion
Do you want to ensure that the rights to your trademark remain yours and are not exploited by malicious actors? At Abion, we offer a range of different services that provide you with robust protection against typosquatting and other trademark infringements. One of them is domain monitoring – a solution that continuously and automatically scans the web, so you quickly discover if someone registers a domain name similar to yours. If we were to detect an attack, our experts would immediately recommend how to best handle it.
Do you have any questions regarding our services or are you considering how we could help your company? Send us a message through the form below, and one of our experts will get back to you as soon as possible.
Frequently asked questions about typosquatting
Without a monitoring service, it can be difficult to detect that you have been subjected to typosquatting, which allows the breach to continue for a long period.
Typosquatting involves a malicious actor using misspelled versions of legitimate websites' domain names to trick internet users into visiting the fraudster's website.
The cheapest option is to use a monitoring service, such as Abion's domain monitoring, which alerts you if someone registers a domain name similar to yours.
Cybersquatting involves a fraudster registering domains with established companies' names, while typosquatting is when the fraudster registers misspelled names.
Questions about typosquatting?
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