Research highlights phishing and cybersquatting epidemic

MarkMonitor launches quarterly report on online threats to brands

Brand protection specialist MarkMonitor has today launched a new quarterly report designed to monitor and report the online threats to brands, including phishing attacks and cybersquatting incidents.

The Brandjacking Index uses the firm's proprietary technology to monitor the top brands in the world. It found that in the first quarter this year cybersquatting was the most common form of brand abuse, with over 275,000 instances recorded in just over a month.

The first index also reported a 104 percent increase in phishing compared to the first quarter last year.

“There's a whole industry around siphoning off traffic to Pay-Per-Click sites [via cybersquatting]," said MarkMonitor's Charlie Abrahams. "And we knew domain kiting and domain tasting were going on but didn't realise they were being done in such a professional manner."