Typosquatting: Cyber-criminals are capitalising on your spelling miskates

I’d just like to kick off this blog by stating that the typo in the title was a deliberate mistake (if that wasn’t instantly apparent!)

A misspelling seemed the most apt way to draw attention to a growing cyber security issue that can affect everyone from home users to those in business. This blog examines how one simple spelling mistake can leak your personal information, wreak havoc on your bank account and feed the high growth engine that is cybercrime.

Typosquatting is a form of cybersquatting*, which capitalises on people accidentally typing incorrect web addresses into a web browser.

*Cybersquatting: Using a domain name with the intent to illegally profit from a legitimate trademark belonging to someone else.

For example, if you type costoco.com vs Costco.com into your browser by mistake, the former could lead you to a fake replica Costco website (the URL has an extra ‘o’). If you haven’t realised your mistake, and believe you have landed on the legitimate Costco website then you could be in trouble.

Cyber criminals offer products just like the real McCoy on these fake websites, however you could get a shock a couple of months down the line when you’ve been charged four times the amount you signed up for.

This video from TSG’s IT security partner Sophos says it all.