Firms need to look at URLs
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Employees and those configuring web filters need to be aware that many web addresses are not as legitimate as they appear to be, IT World has warned.
Commenting recently, network security blogger Markus Jakobsson alerted firms to the practice of using cousin name domains, where fraudsters attempt to lure people to addresses that are semantically similar to well-known websites.
He uses the example of www.democratic-party.us, which could be mistaken for the official website of the political organization.
In fact, the site has been developed by Jakobsson to alert people to precisely this practice and is a part of the securitycartoon.com network.
While this site is harmless, more malicious sites could leave people vulnerable to phishing scams.
"The problem is made worse by companies that register and use domains that have nothing in particular to do with their brand," he warns.
In an effort to limit the impact of phishing scams, he urges firms to educate employees about the use of deceptive domain name practices to lure people in.
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