Cybersquatting and Abuse to Mainstream Consumer Brands Intensified in 2007, According to Year-Long Trend Report by MarkMonitor

» Cybersquatting and Abuse to Mainstream Consumer Brands Intensified in 2007, According to Year-Long Trend Report by MarkMonitor Domain Name News, The Domain Industry News, ICANN News, Registry News, Domainer News, Domain

MarkMonitor released their latest Brandjacking Index this week, finding cybersquatting is the most common form of brand abuse—with a 33 percent jump in one year—and that brandjackers are abusing an expanding range of brands that consumers use everyday. The report also shows recent and significant drops in domain kiting and related pay-per-click fraud, indicating that aggressive legal action on the part of brandholders as well as ICANN scrutiny are proving effective in deterring specific brandjacking techniques. In addition, phishing techniques and targets continued in 2007 to evolve with a 533% increase in phish attacks against the retail and services sector. There were 382,248 instances of cybersquatting identified in Q4, followed by 72,582 instances of false association and 27,098 instances of pay-per-click fraud.

For more coverage and the MarkMonitor news release, see:

* http://www.markmonitor.com
* http://www.vnunet.com/
* http://blogs.computerworld.com
* http://www.infoworld.com

Technorati Tags: cybersquatting, typosquatting, domain hijacking

Comments

[Hijacked Domain Name]

Someone hijacked my domain name. Is my only option to hire an attorney? If I do hire a lawyer, what will it cost, and what can I achieve?

[Consumer Brands At Risk]

The risk to consumer brands on the internet and as a result of e-commerce is obvious. Companies must do a better job protect their brands on-line. That means monitoring and enforcement should be more of a priority.