IT security and data protection company, Sophos, is cautioning computer users to be careful how they type, following the results of a Sophos study into the scale of 'typo-squatting'.
Typo-squatters register misspellings of popular Web sites in the hope that they will be able to make money out of traffic from unintentional typing mistakes made by Internet surfers.
Sophos looked at typo-squatting targeting its own Web site and those of Facebook, Google, Twitter, Microsoft and Apple. The study looked for registered Web sites for every single one-letter typo of the company name: one letter omitted (eg Sopos), one letter mistyped (eg Sphos), or one letter added (Ssophos).
The study revealed that there is a significant typo-squatting ecosystem around high-profile, often-typed domain names. A huge 86% of the possible one-letter misspellings of the Apple homepage led to typo-squatting sites.
Fifteen percent - the highest proportion of the squatting sites - led to advertising sites. Cyber criminals will register misspelled sites to make advertising revenue every time someone mistypes the name of a popular site. Twelve percent were found to be IT and hosting pages, suggesting that they have been registered with the intention of being held onto and sold at a profit, which is also known as 'domain parking'.
Of the 14 495 misspelled URLs looked at in the study, 738 (5.1%) were categorised by Sophos as cyber crime or adult. The former should always be blocked; the latter should be blocked at least in the workplace or around children.
“It's so easy to mistype a URL, and it's inevitable that from time to time you will end up on an unintended Web site. In the worst cases, careless typing can lead you to a criminal Web site designed to steal your identity or phish personal information,” says Brett Myroff, CEO of Sophos distributor, NetXactics.
“It's a good idea to bookmark your favourite Web sites rather than rely on the accuracy of your typing.”
A video explaining the research can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtfhSWAb1gQ.
Share
NetXactics
Established in 1998, NetXactics is a South African company that specialises in sales, marketing and distribution of IT and related products. Its approach is quite unique, focusing on long-term growth coupled with exceptional customer stability. NetXactics has also been nominated as one of the top ICT companies in South Africa for four years running, and has attained a level 2 B-BBEE rating.
Editorial contacts