{"id":12932,"date":"2020-01-23T10:01:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-23T15:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/?p=633080"},"modified":"2020-01-23T10:01:00","modified_gmt":"2020-01-23T15:01:00","slug":"when-trademarks-attack-how-to-detect-and-disarm-doppelganger-domains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2020\/01\/23\/when-trademarks-attack-how-to-detect-and-disarm-doppelganger-domains\/","title":{"rendered":"When Trademarks Attack: How To Detect And Disarm Doppelg\u00e4nger Domains"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-433489 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/09\/trademark-logo.png.pagespeed.ce_.eY15aM7wLY.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"121\" \/>Cybercriminals have a decided advantage when it comes to tricking the public. The human tendency to gloss over small, yet important, details like a misplaced period or an inverted set of adjacent letters can yield immeasurable value to these so-called typosquatters. Whether prompting speed-readers to head over to an unsafe website, or directing corporate insiders via email to transfer funds, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Doppelganger_domain\">doppelg\u00e4nger domains<\/a> continue to vex lawyers and security experts alike.<\/p>\n<p>Although the increased reliance on web-searching (where a search term is run through a search engine) in lieu of typing in a specific web domain into an address bar has resulted in a diminished need for defensive domain name acquisition as far as web presence and accessibility, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Typosquatting\">typosquatting<\/a> (also called URL jacking), remains a vulnerability for phishing attacks against companies, according to Lesley McCall Grossberg, Counsel at BakerHostetler, who focuses her practice on IP litigation.<\/p>\n<p>Grossberg believes that phishing attacks, by which an email is sent to company employees directing them to take action -\u2013 typically, wiring funds or providing credentials to accounts, predominantly impacts financial services firms and educational institutions most, as unsuspecting email recipients may be more likely to hand over personal or sensitive information if they believe it is being requested of them from their bank or university.<\/p>\n<p>To best understand the impact of these exploits, it\u2019s critical to understand the actors&#8217; motivations. Typosquatting as an exploit is typically designed to compel any of the following objectives:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Sale of the domain back to the brand owner at a premium price<\/li>\n<li>Creation of ad revenue from the site where traffic lands<\/li>\n<li>Redirection of business to a competitor\u2019s website<\/li>\n<li>Commissions earned by redirecting typo-traffic back to the brand itself through an affiliate link<\/li>\n<li>Passwords intercepts when visitors visit fake websites<\/li>\n<li>Malware\u00a0or adware revenue for illicit installs on visitors&#8217; devices<\/li>\n<li>Harvesting of e-mail messages mistakenly sent to the typo domain for valuable information<\/li>\n<li>Dissemination of disinformation<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Researchers at Godai Group who studied this issue profiled Fortune 500 companies and found that 30 percent were vulnerable to doppelg\u00e4nger domain activity, detailing in their <a href=\"https:\/\/securitytoday.com\/Articles\/2012\/01\/01\/Doppelganger-Danger.aspx?Page=1\">investigation<\/a> that specialty retailers were the most susceptible to these exploits, followed closely by commercial banks and telecommunications companies.<\/p>\n<p><b>The Legal Landscape<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Anticybersquatting_Consumer_Protection_Act\">Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act<\/a>, enacted in 1999, first established a cause of action in the U.S. for intentionally registering, trafficking in, or using a\u00a0domain name\u00a0confusingly similar to, or dilutive of, a\u00a0trademark\u00a0or personal name. While the GDPR-induced <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.dnsimple.com\/2019\/04\/gdpr-and-whois-privacy\/\">recent policy changes<\/a> of redacting private information from the \u2018WhoIs\u2019 domain registry has made identifying the registrant of a domain more difficult, an action for transfer of the doppelg\u00e4nger domain name can be brought under the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Uniform_Domain-Name_Dispute-Resolution_Policy\">Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy<\/a> (UDRP). Even if the registered domain name does not itself resolve to an active website, \u201cusing the disputed domain name as an email address to pass the registrant off as the complainant in a phishing scheme is evidence of bad faith registration and use, as required by under UDRP,\u201d Grossberg said.<\/p>\n<p>UDRP allows\u00a0trademark holders to file a case at <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/World_Intellectual_Property_Organization\">World Intellectual Property Organization<\/a> (WIPO) for international violations.\u00a0The complainant has to show that the registered domain name is identical or\u00a0\u2018<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Confusing_similarity\">confusingly similar<\/a>\u2019\u00a0to their trademark, that the registrant has no legitimate interest in the domain name, and that the domain name is being used in bad faith.<\/p>\n<p>Organizations like the <a href=\"https:\/\/cadna.org\/\">Commission Against Domain Name Abuse<\/a> (CADNA), a nonprofit organization formed in 2007 to combat online infringement of brands and trademarks online across all top-level domains, represent the interests of companies in advocating for protections against these abuses.<\/p>\n<p><b>Getting Ahead Of The Twinning Problem<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Security and legal experts alike recommend several steps for mitigating doppelg\u00e4nger danger. Be proactive and beat miscreants to the punch by purchasing and registering every conceivable doppelg\u00e4nger domain before they do. Another approach that security experts recommend is configuring Domain Name System (DNS) servers to not resolve any doppelg\u00e4nger domains to protect internal-only e-mail from being accidentally sent to a doppelg\u00e4nger.<\/p>\n<p>But just as important as the defensive measures, identifying whether bad actors are already using doppelg\u00e4nger domains against your company interests is an important element of determining the right way to redress any future harms. Once identified, IP specialists and in-house attorneys are becoming adept at working aggressively to take down copycat domains filing under UDRP.<\/p>\n<p>Gaining an understanding of whether attackers are abusing a company\u2019s doppelg\u00e4nger can be accomplished in a variety of ways. First, a company might learn first-hand of the use via its employees, customers, or a security company who investigates such security vulnerabilities in connection with a cybersecurity assessment. Second, there are companies that provide reporting around the existence of doppelg\u00e4ngers, such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.knowbe4.com\/domain-doppelganger\">KnowBe4<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>For the protection of foreign domains, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wipo.int\/madrid\/en\/\">Madrid System<\/a> through WIPO, is an important element, allowing for a convenient and cost-effective solution for registering and managing\u00a0trademark protection in up to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wipo.int\/madrid\/en\/members\/\">122 countries<\/a>, with a single application and filing fee. It\u2019s important to have that foreign trademark registration in place when trying to take down a domain associated with foreign domains.<\/p>\n<p>Grossberg recommends that once a malicious use of a domain doppelg\u00e4nger is identified in the U.S., a complaint should be made to the FBI\u2019s Internet Crime Complaint Center (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ic3.gov\/\">IC3<\/a>). Another approach she finds effective is to follow up that complaint with a letter to the phisher, when possible, letting them know that a complaint has been submitted. The registration of international trademark rights has the added legal advantage of demonstrating additional evidentiary credibility when working through disputes at\u00a0the IC3 level.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, in yet another instance where the adage &#8220;see something, say something&#8221; pays valuable dividends, Grossberg believes, and cybersecurity firms like <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nisos.com\/\">Nisos<\/a> concur, that another critical component to solve this complex and vexing issue is to educate company insiders on identifying phishing attacks so that suspicious emails with doppelg\u00e4nger attributes are immediately identified and forwarded to internal security teams for review, remediation, and referral to the legal department.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><b><i>Jennifer DeTrani is General Counsel and EVP of\u00a0<\/i><\/b><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nisos.com\/\"><b><i>Nisos<\/i><\/b><\/a><b><i>, a technology-enabled cybersecurity firm.\u00a0 She co-founded a secure messaging platform,\u00a0<\/i><\/b><a href=\"http:\/\/www.wickr.com\/\"><b><i>Wickr<\/i><\/b><\/a><b><i>, where she served as General Counsel for five years.\u00a0 You can connect with Jennifer on Wickr (dtrain),\u00a0<\/i><\/b><a href=\"blank\"><b><i>LinkedIn<\/i><\/b><\/a><b><i>\u00a0or by email at\u00a0<\/i><\/b><a href=\"mailto:dtrain@nisos.com\"><b><i>dtrain@nisos.com<\/i><\/b><\/a><b><i>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p class=\"summary\">Typosquatting remains a vulnerability for phishing attacks against companies. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89785,"featured_media":433489,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[93],"tags":[5013,7,92],"class_list":["post-12932","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trademarks","tag-jennifer-detrani","tag-technology","tag-trademarks"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>When Trademarks Attack: How To Detect And Disarm Doppelg\u00e4nger Domains - Above The Law&#039;s Legal Tech Non-Event<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2020\/01\/23\/when-trademarks-attack-how-to-detect-and-disarm-doppelganger-domains\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"When Trademarks Attack: How To Detect And Disarm Doppelg\u00e4nger Domains - Above The Law&#039;s Legal Tech Non-Event\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Typosquatting remains a vulnerability for phishing attacks against companies.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2020\/01\/23\/when-trademarks-attack-how-to-detect-and-disarm-doppelganger-domains\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Above The Law&#039;s Legal Tech Non-Event\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-01-23T15:01:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jennifer DeTrani\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jennifer DeTrani\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2020\/01\/23\/when-trademarks-attack-how-to-detect-and-disarm-doppelganger-domains\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2020\/01\/23\/when-trademarks-attack-how-to-detect-and-disarm-doppelganger-domains\/\",\"name\":\"When Trademarks Attack: How To Detect And Disarm Doppelg\u00e4nger Domains - Above The Law&#039;s Legal Tech Non-Event\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2020\/01\/23\/when-trademarks-attack-how-to-detect-and-disarm-doppelganger-domains\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2020\/01\/23\/when-trademarks-attack-how-to-detect-and-disarm-doppelganger-domains\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-01-23T15:01:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-01-23T15:01:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/#\/schema\/person\/d5c1b8ab832b30ea9a5c0f8bec1bf720\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2020\/01\/23\/when-trademarks-attack-how-to-detect-and-disarm-doppelganger-domains\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2020\/01\/23\/when-trademarks-attack-how-to-detect-and-disarm-doppelganger-domains\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2020\/01\/23\/when-trademarks-attack-how-to-detect-and-disarm-doppelganger-domains\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2020\/01\/23\/when-trademarks-attack-how-to-detect-and-disarm-doppelganger-domains\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"When Trademarks Attack: How To Detect And Disarm Doppelg\u00e4nger Domains\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/\",\"name\":\"Above The Law&#039;s Legal Tech Non-Event\",\"description\":\"A Legal Tech Adoption Guide For Perplexed Lawyers\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/#\/schema\/person\/d5c1b8ab832b30ea9a5c0f8bec1bf720\",\"name\":\"Jennifer DeTrani\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/288df9b6d022a121c5950201d4888f6ec92086255364957853fc67843a1b6d6c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/288df9b6d022a121c5950201d4888f6ec92086255364957853fc67843a1b6d6c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jennifer DeTrani\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/author\/jdetrani\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"When Trademarks Attack: How To Detect And Disarm Doppelg\u00e4nger Domains - Above The Law&#039;s Legal Tech Non-Event","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2020\/01\/23\/when-trademarks-attack-how-to-detect-and-disarm-doppelganger-domains\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"When Trademarks Attack: How To Detect And Disarm Doppelg\u00e4nger Domains - Above The Law&#039;s Legal Tech Non-Event","og_description":"Typosquatting remains a vulnerability for phishing attacks against companies.","og_url":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2020\/01\/23\/when-trademarks-attack-how-to-detect-and-disarm-doppelganger-domains\/","og_site_name":"Above The Law&#039;s Legal Tech Non-Event","article_published_time":"2020-01-23T15:01:00+00:00","author":"Jennifer DeTrani","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jennifer DeTrani","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2020\/01\/23\/when-trademarks-attack-how-to-detect-and-disarm-doppelganger-domains\/","url":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2020\/01\/23\/when-trademarks-attack-how-to-detect-and-disarm-doppelganger-domains\/","name":"When Trademarks Attack: How To Detect And Disarm Doppelg\u00e4nger Domains - Above The Law&#039;s Legal Tech Non-Event","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2020\/01\/23\/when-trademarks-attack-how-to-detect-and-disarm-doppelganger-domains\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2020\/01\/23\/when-trademarks-attack-how-to-detect-and-disarm-doppelganger-domains\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"","datePublished":"2020-01-23T15:01:00+00:00","dateModified":"2020-01-23T15:01:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/#\/schema\/person\/d5c1b8ab832b30ea9a5c0f8bec1bf720"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2020\/01\/23\/when-trademarks-attack-how-to-detect-and-disarm-doppelganger-domains\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2020\/01\/23\/when-trademarks-attack-how-to-detect-and-disarm-doppelganger-domains\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2020\/01\/23\/when-trademarks-attack-how-to-detect-and-disarm-doppelganger-domains\/#primaryimage","url":"","contentUrl":""},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/2020\/01\/23\/when-trademarks-attack-how-to-detect-and-disarm-doppelganger-domains\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"When Trademarks Attack: How To Detect And Disarm Doppelg\u00e4nger Domains"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/#website","url":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/","name":"Above The Law&#039;s Legal Tech Non-Event","description":"A Legal Tech Adoption Guide For Perplexed Lawyers","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/#\/schema\/person\/d5c1b8ab832b30ea9a5c0f8bec1bf720","name":"Jennifer DeTrani","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/288df9b6d022a121c5950201d4888f6ec92086255364957853fc67843a1b6d6c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/288df9b6d022a121c5950201d4888f6ec92086255364957853fc67843a1b6d6c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jennifer DeTrani"},"url":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/author\/jdetrani\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12932","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/89785"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12932"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12932\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/legal-innovation-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}