Tech Talk: Cyber Squatting
 | Author:
Victor Sample
Vic Sample: MT43 News Treasurer |
TechTalk
Cyber Squatting
Internet Domain names have long been the target of “Cyber Squatting”. Internet Domain names are the names that identify websites. For Instance, “canton-church.org” is the domain name that identifies the website for the Canton Church. To reach the site you could type https://canton-church.org in your browser. All domain names must be registered with an organization called ICANN. The purpose of the organization is to control domain names so that duplicate names can’t be registered. To obtain and register a domain name you must go through a registered domain broker such as GoDaddy. Locally, Jeff Ross owns a company called Open Vistas Networking. Jeff can register a domain name for you through a registered broker.
In the early days of the internet, Cyber Squatters would register domain names that were likely to be used by companies. For instance, a Cyber Squatter might register domain names like “target.com”, “targetco.com”, “targetinc.com” etc. There is a cost to registering domain names but it is not prohibitively expensive. The purpose of that type of Cyber Squatting is to ransom the domain name. When Target wanted to have a website, the names they would likely want to use would already have been registered by someone else. That person that Cyber Squatted the domain name would then offer to sell the name to Target at an extreme price – far more than the cost to them of registering the domain name.
A far worse practice for Cyber Squatting is to lure internet users to the wrong site. Instead of registering the domain name for the purpose of ransoming the name, the Squatter registers a domain name for the express purpose of fooling internet users. The Cyber Squatter might register a name like “targett.com” or “targets.com” where there is just one letter difference. The goal is to fool people trying to go to the “target.com” site into going to their site.
Cyber Squatting is particularly dangerous in emails and text messages. You might receive a Scam email that announces a great sale at Target or maybe a “Customer Reward” prize from Target. They include a link that you can click on to order something or claim your “Customer Reward” prize. If you are a vigilant email user you might look at where information about the sender of the email or check where that link is actually sending you. The Cyber Squatter is hoping that you don’t notice the one-letter difference in the domain name “targett.com” vs. “target.com”. The Cyber Squatter might be a relatively benign scammer just getting you to go to their site instead of the actual Target website.
But the Cyber Squatter is probably a malicious scammer that is attempting to install malware on your computer, tablet or phone. The malware might be trying to find and steal banking information, your social security number or passwords to accounts you might have.
Always be VERY careful when you click on a link. Make sure you carefully read where that link is sending you!
