Sciextor

Typosquatting

Typosquatting is a type of cybercrime where the attacker registers a domain name that is a misspelling or a variation of a popular or legitimate website.

The attacker may use different methods, such as changing one letter, adding or removing a hyphen, or using a different top-level domain, to create a fake website that looks similar to the original one.

The goal of the attacker is to trick users into visiting the fake website and either make money from advertising or malicious content, or steal personal or financial information from the users.

Some statistics on typosquatting are

• Typosquatting is one of the most common types of cybersquatting, which is the practice of registering domain names that infringe on trademarks or brands
• According to a 2019 report by DomainTools, there are over 550 million typosquatting domains on the internet
• According to the same report, the most typosquatted brands in 2019 were Amazon, Google, and Facebook
• According to a 2020 report by Palo Alto Networks, there are over 1.2 million typosquatting domains related to COVID-19
• According to a 2020 report by CSC Digital Brand Services, there are over 100,000 typosquatting domains related to the U.S. presidential election
• Typosquatting is a serious threat that can cause harm to users and damage to brands and organizations.

What can you do

• Use a search engine or a bookmark to find the website you want to visit, instead of typing the URL directly into the browser. This can help you avoid mistyping the URL and landing on a fake website
• Check the spelling and the domain extension of the website you are visiting. Look for any signs of typos, such as extra or missing letters, hyphens, or dots. Also, make sure that the domain extension matches the official website, such as .com, .org, or .net
• Look for a valid security certificate on the website. You can check this by looking for a padlock icon and https:// at the beginning of the URL. This means that the website is encrypted and verified by a trusted authority. If you see a warning message or a red cross over the padlock icon, it means that the website is not secure and may be a typosquatting site
• Install malware protection and anti-spam software on your devices. This can help you detect and block malicious emails, websites, and downloads that may contain typosquatting attempts
• Be careful when clicking on links or attachments in emails, text messages, or social media posts. These may be phishing attempts that try to lure you into a typosquatting website. Always verify the sender and the source of the message, and do not provide any personal or financial information on the website