Digital Branding Blog

CircleID reports that a new phishing scam is targeting domain name registrars and registrants. The emails attempt to get passwords of domain registrants. Although it's not clear yet what the motives are, phishers may be trying to steal domain names outright for profit, or use the information to hijack the domain registration of financial institutions and surreptitiously redirect the domain names to their own servers. Other comments suggest that phishers could possibly create Web sites under sub domains of existing domain names, or access credit card and address information associated with accounts.

Posted by Tempy Wright at 3:44 PM | Permalink

Well-known brands such as Dell Inc., Yahoo Inc. and Marriott International Inc. are among companies that have joined a new coalition lobbying Congress for tougher laws targeting people who seek to profit from their brand names and use them to commit online fraud. The Coalition Against Domain Name Abuse has hired law firm Alston and Bird LLP to persuade federal lawmakers of the need to crack down against those who claim Web addresses, or domain names, that include -- or even resemble -- a legitimate company's trademark.

Posted by Tempy Wright at 4:25 PM | Permalink

The Register reports that anti-spam group Spamhaus has taken the unusual step of adding Austrian domain registry NIC.AT to its blocked list for "knowingly providing services" to hundreds of spam phishing domains run by a Russian cyber crime phishing gang, called 'Rock Phish'. According to an anti-phishing researcher, 69 .AT domain names have been used by the Rock Phisher group since April 17 for criminal purposes. Spamhaus said the lack of co-operation from the registry to shut down fraudulent domain names had become a serious concern to it and other spam fighters in recent weeks, as well as the international banking industry.

Posted by Tempy Wright at 11:47 AM | Permalink

The value of fake goods traded internationally could be as high as $200 billion - larger than the national GDPs of about 150 economies - according to a preliminary study published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), reports Managing Intellectual Property. The OECD says that the figure would be even higher if it included counterfeit and pirated products that are produced and consumed domestically, or if it included pirated digital products distributed online. The statistic is based on figures provided by Customs offices about the value of goods they have seized. Wolfgang Hubner, a counsellor in the OECD's Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry, said that this figure is often - but not always - based on the market value of the fake good. The report also analyzes the market for fake and pirated goods and the reasons why people buy them, offers a 17-point framework for assessing the impact of counterfeiting, considers how different countries have tackled the problem and sets out policy recommendations for governments.

Posted by Tempy Wright at 3:42 PM | Permalink