Brandjackers profit by setting up bogus websites on domain names used by recognisable brands and posting pay-per- click advertising links (often to competitor sites, phishing scams or adult content). According to a recent report by MarkMonitor cybersquatting jumped 33 per cent this year. So bad is the problem that brands such as Christian Dior and Gucci employ organisations to help remove bogus websites and online auctions.
It is estimated these organisations are responsible for removing over $1 million of illegitimate sales each week from online auctions and bogus ecommerce sites.
From a marketing perspective, brandjacking can be very damaging for legitimate enterprises. Not only does it deny them the ability to use that domain, but it can also seriously threaten their online reputations by misleading potential new customers. Just to twist the knife further, the true trademark owners are then held to ransom by the cybersquatters, who offer to sell the domain back to them at a vastly inflated price.
A few years ago, looking for good domain names to register and sell on to big brand names was seen as a harmless activity for enterprising individuals. These days though, the agenda, the method and the perpetrators are all more sinister and the revenue frequently funds cybercrime.
Historically, brandjackers have targeted well-known brand names for lucrative payouts. However, in recent years (following a number of highly-publicised lawsuits and damages sought by brands such as Microsoft and Dell) they have turned their attention to smaller and lesser-known companies,which are less likely to consider costly legal action.
At SmoothWall we recently proved that you don’t need to be a ‘big name brand’ to beat the brandjackers. For over three years, cybersquatters operated a fake SmoothWall site on their Smoothwall.com domain. Built to deliberately mislead visitors, it contained links to security-related subjects such as network security, firewall software and anonymous surfing that when clicked on, led either to competitor sites or adult material.
Armed with a recently approved US trademark, we began proceedings against the fraudulent domain owner in February via official arbitrators WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organisation). In April, we received news that it had won its appeal and the new legitimate version of Smoothwall.com finally went live in September.
We found the process fast, uncomplicated and surprisingly inexpensive and urge other victims of brandjacking to take the same approach. As a company specialising in Internet security, it wasn’t a question of price for us, but one of principle. There are rules in place to prevent this kind of online abuse and I feel strongly that organisations need to take steps to protect their brands.
Last year, the number of disputes to come before the WIPO rose by 48 per cent to a record number of 2156, which proves that like us, more and more organisations are taking a stand against the squatters. Recently, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names & Numbers (ICANN) cracked down on the burgeoning misuse of domains with stern warnings for registrars.
Although it can’t directly target the cybercriminals that use web pages for phishing, propagating malicious software and hijacking brands for profit, ICANN can enforce the registration of its contact details on the domain name database, Whois. Most cybercriminals aren’t fond of filling in forms and as a result, Whois is littered with missing or incomplete contact details for domain name owners. Registrars who fail to follow up these missing details now risk losing their accreditation.
Companies need to be aware of the real threat that brandjackers can pose to their businesses and ensure that they are fully equipped to combat this growing phenomenon should they be targeted. Our experience proves that successfully defending an online brand is much less daunting than it looks and even companies without the financial muscle of large corporations have the brawn to beat the brandjackers.
