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Announcements [View All]
Mass Credit Union Domain Name Registration 09/11/06 Austin, Texas: Typosquatters targeted credit union domain names this weekend with one of the largest bulk registrations of credit union-like domains, ever seen. Over the past three days, CUISPA (the Credit Union Information Security Professionals Association) identified over 450 registrations that include the “FCU.com” and “creditunion.com” endings. Typosquatting is a term used to describe the practice of registering domains that closely resemble legitimate domains with the intention of using them to attract traffic that inadvertently mistype the legitimate domain’s address. Where a legitimate credit union website may be www.ABCcreditunion.com the typosquatter may register www.ABCcreditunon.com (missing the “i” in union) or www.ABCfcu.com Typosquatters use these domains to direct traffic to their own advertising sites to generate profit from click-through advertising, made possible by sites like Google. Often these click-though advertisement websites promote competing companies and products. While this is not an illegal practice it has become a growing concern for legitimate site owners and is considered by many as unethical and misleading. “The concern that many financial institutions have is that this is the same practice phishers are using to mislead consumers in their illegal activities,” explains Kelly Dowell, CUISPA Executive Director. “It creates additional stress that targeted phishing attacks may be pending.” The large bulk of the domains registered over the weekend were registered by a company appearing to be based in Mountain View, CA under the name Maltuzi Holdings. CUISPA has attempted contact with Maltuzi Holdings, but has so far been unsuccessful at reaching anyone at the phone number provided. Click here for the list |
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