Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/10646
EDITOR’S NOTE Diligence Organizations of all sizes across all industries have this in common: you must protect your business and your brand. While this is important in the brick and mortar world, it can be especially challenging for your online presence. Keeping your website free of malware and spoofing is an ongoing process. The work is never done. MESSAGING NEWS A TechPoint Media Publication EDITOR IN CHIEF Stephanie Jordan sjordan@messagingnews.com CONTRIBUTORS Ben Gross Melisa LaBancz-Bleasdale Dave Lewis Michael Sampson editorial@messagingnews.com WEBSITE Editor: Ben Gross bgross@messagingnews.com BUSINESS Publisher: Jeff Victor jvictor@messagingnews.com Partner: Paul DeGrandis pdegrandis@messagingnews.com Marketing Director: Christina Heil cheil@messagingnews.com Design and Production: Tony de Moraes BUSINESS OFFICES Messaging News / TechPoint Media, LLC 1213 Wilmette Avenue, Suite 210 Wilmette, IL 60091 Phone: 866.808.4200 Fax: 847.920.9206 ADVERTISING AND REPRINTS Contact: Jeff Victor jvictor@messagingnews.com Phone: 847.367.4073 Fax: 847.920.9206 East Coast Sales Manager: Gary Rhodes grhodes@messagingnews.com Phone: 866.808.4200, ext. 326 In May, WordPress blogs were hacked on some shared hosting sites resulting in virus installations on the computers of unsuspecting site visitors. At the time of this writing, the genesis of the problem is unknown; it doesn’t appear to be specific to any one hosting company, nor to WordPress itself. This is (unfortunately) an excellent example of the threats that can compromise your site, and your reputation as being a “safe” place to visit in cyberland. Another area where one’s reputation can be placed in jeopardy is brandjacking. In March, MarkMonitor, a provider of enterprise brand protection, reported that online brand abuse rose across major industries in 2009. Its latest Brandjacking Index reveals the total number of phishing attacks was at an all-time high, with attacks targeting social network sites increasing to represent 2 percent of all phish attacks in 2009. The report spotlights the techniques and scams used by fraudsters and cybercriminals to monetize Web traffic using well-known brands as the lure. The report found that brand abuse increased across all industry categories measured by the Index with the automotive and media industries drawing the most abuse. Abuse targeting luxury brands demonstrated the greatest increase, growing 23 percent year-over- year, followed by abuse targeting apparel brands, which grew 14 percent year-over-year. For the third straight year cybersquatting, the method of using brands in bad faith within the domain name system, continued to be the most prevalent form of brand abuse. In addition, phish attacks reached a new record high with 565,502 attacks in 2009, growing 62 percent over 2008. Online abuse is a perpetual problem, and one that requires a proactive approach. Be diligent and take care of your online business. Protect your brand, as well as your website visitors, for no business can flourish without the trust of those that frequent your site. As always, safe messaging and good reading, 4 MESSAGING NEWS MAY/JUNE 2010