Cybersquatting on the Rise

This was written by Michael Cheek on Wednesday, September 16, 2009, 15:31.

According to industry experts, incidents of cybersquatting are on the rise. Cybersquatters are using the false domains to disseminate malicious software to unsuspecting individuals on the internet.

Cybersquatting involves taking a web address that is similar to an established product and using a variety of techniques to manipulate search engines to ensure that the website is one of the top hits. The sites often appear legitimate and use false virus detection and other methods to convince people to download malware. A more recent technique has been to use current news events that are popular in an effort to direct people to the websites infected with malware.