An Overview of Typosquatting and its Role in Affiliate Fraud

1. An Overview of Typosquatting and its Role in Affiliate Fraud Typosquatting, also referred to as URL hijacking, is a form of affiliate fraud. Users who make typos are prone to fall victim to URL hijacking. When users make typos, they are led to a fake website owned by the threat actors. Developed by nefarious affiliates, this alternate website can affect your company’s credibility. Typosquatting is a type of domain-impersonation attack that steals your affiliate revenue. Through typosquatting, the nefarious affiliates deceive users by creating a URL similar to that of the legitimate website. Misspelt search queries are common among your users. The typosquat websites are known as sting websites. The primary objective of URL hijacking is to capture the login credentials of your customers. By capturing the login credentials, threat VIRUSPOSITIVE Phone + 91 - 124 - 2666031 Email- sales@viruspositive.com Sector-48, Gurugram-122001 Vipul Trade Center, Unit#130-131,440,

2. actors perform account takeovers. You should know what is typosquatting and the dangers associated with it to implement monitoring platforms. The Working Mechanism of URL Hijacking The sting websites sell services and products that compete with the products sold on the original website. The nefarious affiliates register domains similar to the legitimate domains. They trick victims into believing that they are on the website of the original company. Here are some ways in which malicious affiliates can impersonate domains. ✓Misspelling the target domain ✓Addition of periods to the original URL ✓Using letters that are similar to hide the false domain ✓Mixing related words into the domain The threat actors may emulate the UI and feel of the websites they are attempting to mimic. The primary intent is to make users divulge personal information like credit card or bank account details. Typosquatting is not only a problem for users- the business owners are also affected. This is because every stolen visitor is a lost customer. URL hijacking also affects the integrity of your affiliate marketing campaigns. Customers won’t click on affiliate links when your organization has a bad reputation due to typosquatting. What are the Common Types of Typosquatting Practices? Users are likelier to commit errors while typing a website or domain name. The typosquat domain becomes dangerous when users start visiting the website. To a large extent, URL hijacking relies on confusion or simply human error. Here are some of the common types of typosquatting practices to know. Typos VIRUSPOSITIVE Phone + 91 - 124 - 2666031 Email- sales@viruspositive.com Sector-48, Gurugram-122001 Vipul Trade Center, Unit#130-131,440,

3. Typos are the most common errors when entering search information. Typos are often the result of our carelessness. If you tend to type quickly and inaccurately, there are higher chances of typos and typosquatting. People who rely too much on autocorrect features are also prone to become victims of sting websites. Wrong Extensions Multiple top-level domains can increase confusion among users. These domains can also boost the scope of URL hijacking. Website operators should register a range of top-level domains for preventing UR; hijacking. Spelling Errors Typosquatting can also occur because of spelling errors. It is usual for a user to be unaware of the spelling of a particular brand. For this reason, most affiliates register misspelled variants of famous brand names. Domains with Hyphens The addition or omission of a hyphen in a domain can also cause URL hijacking. Threat actors often add hyphens to deceive users and steal their personal information. At a glance, users will think that the website is original. But in reality, the nefarious affiliates are using it to steal information. The Key Takeaways Website owners should deploy typosquatting protection to secure their websites from threat actors. The last thing you want is a sting website affecting your company’s credibility. Listed below are the key takeaways you should know about typosquatting. ✓Nefarious affiliates rely on typosquatting to redirect your users and lead from the original website. The intention behind typosquatting can be diverting traffic to the sting website. ✓The sting website lures your users into phishing scams. VIRUSPOSITIVE Phone + 91 - 124 - 2666031 Email- sales@viruspositive.com Sector-48, Gurugram-122001 Vipul Trade Center, Unit#130-131,440,

4. ✓The fake domains may also blackmail the owners of the legitimate domains. These unoriginal domains can also collect the revenue of your affiliate marketing campaigns by diverting traffic. The Dangers Associated with Typosquatting The danger that comes from visiting a typosquat website depends on its intention. Here are the risk factors associated with typosquatting. The Customer Experience of your Brand Gets Affected Your company’s marketing team puts their best efforts into optimizing the customer experience. They develop user-friendly websites and minimize purchase time. Typosquatting can result in frequent redirections. It results in wasting the time of the buyers. Diminishes the Reputation of your Brand Threat actors can hamper the brand’s reputation by ruining the experience of their customers. To defame your brand, unscrupulous affiliates may redirect the users to the competitors’ websites. How do Virus Positive Technologies (VPT) Help you Overcome Typosquatting Threats? Securing your affiliate network is simple with brand protection solutions from Virus Positive Technologies. We can also help you monitor your affiliate networks. The fraud detection platform of VPT can recognize malicious affiliates from stealing your marketing team’s traffic. VIRUSPOSITIVE Phone + 91 - 124 - 2666031 Email- sales@viruspositive.com Sector-48, Gurugram-122001 Vipul Trade Center, Unit#130-131,440,