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Beware Of Cybersquatters!

19th January 2024

Have you ever searched for a specific website but landed on a completely different one after misspelling a letter or two in the URL? This deceptive tactic is known as cybersquatting. This practice not only jeopardizes the online presence of businesses and individuals but also poses a significant challenge in the ever-evolving landscape of cyber security. The scariest part is that you can be a victim of a cybersquatted domain and not even realise it.

Cybersquatting, what do you know

Here’s what you need to know about this type of cybercrime:

What Is Cybersquatting?

Cybersquatting, also known as domain squatting, involves the malevolent act of registering a domain name that is confusingly similar to that of a legitimate entity, be it a business, organisation or individual. The primary motive behind this maneuver is often financial gain, with cybersquatters aiming to exploit the recognition and success of well-known brands. However, the repercussions extend beyond monetary losses, as cybersquatting can stain the reputation of its victims.

Types Of Cybersquatting

There are many types of cybersquatting scams, but here are the most common ones that you need to be aware of.

  1. Top-Level Domain (TLD) Exploitation:
    A TLD is the final element of a domain name, such as “.com,” “.co.uk” and “.org.” Because there are so many variations, it’s difficult for small to medium-sized businesses to register all of them for their brand, and it’s even more difficult for celebrities or famous individuals.

    Cybercriminals will register matching domains using different TLDs and either create offensive or inappropriate websites, requesting the original domain owner to pay them to take them down, or they will use these websites to gain customers’ trust and make them susceptible to phishing attacks.
  1. Typosquatting: This form of cybersquatting involves intentionally registering misspelled domain names to capitalize on common typos, leading unsuspecting users to malicious sites.

    If you take Facebook.com, for example, here’s how a cybersquatter might buy their domains:

  • Faecbook.com
  • Facebokk.com
  • Faceboook.com

Typos are easy to make, so misspelled domains can generate a lot of traffic.

  1. Look-Alike Cybersquatting: This form of cybersquatting involves creating domains with common words added to mislead customers, even if they aren’t confusingly similar at first glance.

Here are a few examples:

  1. Original: Google.com
    Lookalike: G00gle.com

  2. Original: Amazon.com
    Lookalike: amaz0n.com or amazon1.com

  3. Original: Microsoft.com
    Lookalike: Microsofty.com

Looking at these, you might not think they’d easily trick users, but they still do!

How To Avoid Being A Cybersquatting Victim

You can avoid being a cybersquatting victim by taking a proactive approach. Here are a few steps to take:

  1. Register Your Trademark: To benefit from the full protection of the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA) and Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP), it can be helpful to register your trademark early. These regulations will still apply if a cybercriminal registers a cybersquatting domain name and you have an unregistered trademark; however, you’ll need to prove you were using it for business before the domain was registered. Trademarks aren’t required, but they can make this easier.
  1. Invest In Multiple Prominent TLDs: When you register your domain, also register it with the most popular TLDs, like .co and .org.

  2. Be Cautious Of What Websites You Visit: When typing URLs into the address bar, double-check to make sure you’re going to the correct website.

    This applies to links you click too! Hover over links with your mouse to confirm that it is the correct link. For extra security, skip clicking links and type them into the search bar on your own.

Cybersquatting is only one method hackers use to cause chaos. Cybercriminals are constantly coming up with new ways to scam businesses and individuals alike. If you want to double down on security to make sure you and your company are protected from sneaky attackers, we can help.

We’ll conduct a FREE, no-obligation Security Risk Assessment where we’ll examine your network security solutions to identify if and where you’re vulnerable to an attack and help you create a plan of action to ensure you’re protected. Click here to book a 10-minute Discovery Call with our team to get started.

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10 Common Tech Problems Plymouth Businesses Are Eliminating From Their Business Forever

9th May 2023

They say, “You get what you tolerate” and now more than ever, we’ve been conditioned to tolerate worse service at higher prices. Companies get a ‘free pass’ simply by saying phrases like “the labour shortage,” “because COVID,” or “inflation.”

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

While you may be able to still do business even with some less-than-stellar vendors in some areas, if all your computers were to suddenly stop working, your network go down, your files gone, chances are you’d be dead in the water.

Your business depends on technology, and you need to make sure everything is up and running RIGHT and you’re protected ALL the time.

Here’s a list of ten common problems, complaints and just downright failures in service we hear of all the time…and I’ll show you how to eliminate them in your business.

  1. When you call your IT company, your message goes to voicemail and you’re stuck waiting hours (or even days) for a call back so your problem gets resolved.
  2. You often must reach out multiple times to get a problem resolved and you need to check back to see what the status is and get a timeframe.
  3. Your IT company doesn’t proactively monitor, patch and update your computer network’s critical security settings daily (or at least weekly) leaving your entire business vulnerable to attacks.  
  4. Your IT company doesn’t offer proof that they are backing up ALL your data, laptops and devices.
  5. Your IT company doesn’t meet with you regularly (at least once a quarter) to report what they’ve been doing, review projects and offer new ways to improve your network’s performance instead of waiting until you have a problem to make recommendations.
  6. Your IT company doesn’t provide detailed invoices that clearly explain what you are paying for.
  7. Your IT company doesn’t explain what they are doing and answer your questions in terms that you can understand, NOT in “geek speak” and they don’t routinely ask if there’s anything else they can help with, no matter how small.
  8. Your IT company doesn’t proactively discuss cybersecurity with you or make recommendations for protecting your network from ransomware and offer employee training videos, so they don’t fall victim to a scam.
  9. Your IT company hasn’t provided you complete network documentation, and they hold the “keys to the kingdom” refusing to give you admin passwords so you’re totally helpless if something goes wrong and you can’t get a hold of them.
  10. Techs arrive late and dressed like they just got out of bed, and you cringe every time you need to make that call because they’ll make you feel dumb or like they are ‘doing you a favor’ even though you’re paying them!

If you’re tolerating any of these common problems, know that you don’t have to! You could be paying for substandard support and worse, not be keeping your company protected.

This could jeopardize your data and your network’s security and cost you thousands in lost productivity because you and your employees are spending time dealing with problems that shouldn’t exist.

If that’s the case, then it’s time you see what else is out there and make sure you’re getting what you pay for.

To schedule a free 10-minute discovery call to see how we can get rid of your tech issues, go to https://limbtec.com/book-a-call

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Microsoft 365 makes Multi-Factor Authentication easier

3rd May 2023
Multi Facto Authnetication made Easier

Microsoft is planning to enable Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) directly in its Outlook app for many 365 business users.

MFA is a vital tool to help protect your online accounts from cyber criminals. It works by generating a second, single-use passcode every time you log into an account. It’s usually sent to an authenticator app on your phone that you have to download and set up first.

Security codes can also be sent via SMS text message, by a phone call, or you might be given a special USB key to plug into your computer.

The process is often made quicker by using a biometric login like your fingerprint or face ID. It’s a minor chore, but the protection it offers far outweighs the couple of extra seconds it takes to access your account.

Microsoft isn’t so sure about those extra seconds, though. If the tech giant can save you that time, it’s going to do it. That’s why it’s looking to streamline MFA for Microsoft 365 business accounts.

It’s rolling out the improvement by building MFA directly into the Outlook app in a feature called Authenticator Lite. Until now, it’s relied on a separate authenticator app or sending login codes.

There’s no news yet for those of us who want faster authentication on our personal PCs. If Microsoft does announce plans to make this feature available to more hardware or operating systems, we’ll update you with any news.

If you don’t already use MFA for your apps and online accounts, we recommend that all businesses implement it as soon as possible. The additional security it offers protects against the vast majority of today’s cyber threats.

For more help and advice about implementing MFA or getting the best from Microsoft 365, just get in touch.

Published with permission from Your Tech Updates.

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Phishing Emails are getting better thanks to AI

20th February 2023
AI is making phishing scams more dangerous

AI chatbots have taken the world by storm in recent months. We’ve been having fun asking ChatGPT questions, trying to find out how much of our jobs it can do, and even getting it to tell us jokes.

But while lots of people have been having fun, cyber criminals have been powering ahead and finding ways to use AI for more sinister purposes.

They’ve worked out that AI can make their phishing scams harder to detect – and that makes them more successful.

Our advice has always been to be cautious with emails. Read them carefully. Look out for spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. Make sure it’s the real deal before clicking any links.

And that’s still excellent advice.

But ironically, the phishing emails generated by a chatbot feel more human than ever before – which puts you and your people at greater risk of falling for a scam. So we all need to be even more careful.

Crooks are using AI to generate unique variations of the same phishing lure. They’re using it to eradicate spelling and grammar mistakes, and even to create entire email threads to make the scam more plausible.

Security tools to detect messages written by AI are in development, but they’re still a way off.

That means you need to be extra cautious when opening emails – especially ones you’re not expecting. Always check the address the message is sent from, and double-check with the sender (not by replying to the email!) if you have even the smallest doubt.

If you need further advice or team training about phishing scams, just get in touch.

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Your business is losing hours to spam!

20th June 2022
Your business is losing hours to spam every year

Your Business is losing hours to spam every year, probably 100’s of hours of wasted productivity.

Having to clear the spam from your inbox is a productivity killer.

A recent report found that each one of your employees could be losing up to 80 hours each year, thanks to filtering and deleting spam emails.

That’s a LOT of lost productivity.

How Much Time!

The report stated that between 45% and 95% of emails were spam. Every day somewhere between nearly half and all email are spam. More concerning is that this also includes malicious emails.

If one of your employees gets 30 external emails a day, they’d get around 30 spam emails each week. That would work out to around 5 hours each year wasted on sorting through and deleting them.

For an employee who gets up to 60 emails a day, it would be around 11 hours a year wasted.

And for someone who gets more than 100 emails each day, you’re looking at around 80 hours of lost productivity.

Now add that up for each one of your team and you could be looking at a big number.

Not only that, but since a proportion of these emails will be phishing attempts (that’s where the sender wants you to take an action that will secretly give them access to sensitive data), it’s also a big risk to your data security too.

What can be done

Of course, there are a few things you can do to cut down the time spent on dealing with spam emails. The first is to make use of the spam and junk email filters available from your email service.

You may also consider bringing in dedicated anti-spam and anti-phishing tools.

Finally, you can make your people aware of the risks of spam, how to spot spam emails, and the best way to deal with it to save time and minimise the risk of malware or a data breach.

If that kind of training is something you’d like some help with, get in touch.

Published with permission from Your Tech Updates.

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