Organizations of all sizes, from
the small-to-medium business (SMB) to the largest enterprise, 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.
This month saw WordPress blogs
hacked on some shared hosting sites resulting in virus installations on the
computers of unsuspecting site visitors. (According to the folks at
WPSecurityLock,
if you are hosting your WordPress blog at DreamHost, GoDaddy,
Bluehost, Media temple or on another hosting company, you should check your
websites now to see if it has been infected. They also warn that you should not
try to open your website unless you have an up-to-date anti-virus program, your
computer is virus free and you’re on a secured network.) 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 two 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.
Frederick Felman, chief
marketing officer of MarkMonitor, says that scammers are continually seeking
new methods of monetizing traffic, and believes brands face a growing and
pervasive problem from online abuse. “With billions of dollars worth of
eCommerce sales, intellectual property and online marketing investments at
stake, companies need to take proactive roles in fighting brand abuse online
now more than ever,” he says.
Safety measures are
improving, but are not failsafe. Last month the Online Trust Alliance (OTA) declared the majority of consumer websites remain vulnerable to online fraud,
even as a growing number of businesses deploy online safety measures. In its
annual survey of best practices meant to help protect consumers from the
onslaught of forged email, phishing sites and malware, the organization
determined of the 1,200 companies analyzed, only 113 qualified to be named to
the OTA Online Safety 2010 Honor Roll.
The survey examined 1,200
domains and analyzed 500 million email messages purporting to come from the
Fortune 500, Internet Retail 500, top 100 financial Institutions in North
America and consumer facing federal government websites. Sites were evaluated
based on their usage of email authentication standards and Extended Validation
SSL Certificates (EV SSL) and the presence of malware.
“While major corporations,
banks, governmental agencies and industry working groups talk about best
practices, the majority are failing to adopt, risking demands for added
regulations,” warns Craig Spiezle, executive director and president of the OTA.
OTA is calling on all
consumer financial institutions, commerce sites and consumer facing
governmental agencies to implement EV SSL certificates, email authentication and
complete daily site scans for malware and vulnerabilities by September 1, 2010.
While OTA focuses on the
largest of those industries noted above, the lessons learned can be applied to
all businesses, be it business-to-business, or business-to-consumer, and of any
size. The lesson is this: take care of your online business, protect your
brand, and protect those visiting your site with a solid security policy. No
business can flourish without the trust of those that frequent your site.
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Eye on Messaging is written by Stephanie Jordan, editor in
chief of Messaging News. If you have story ideas or news to share, email her: sjordan [at] messagingnews [dot] com