Typo-squatters target security industry

A serial typo-squatter appears to be targeting the computer security industry, registering domain names which are similar in all but one or two characters to the domains of companies such as Computer Associates, F-Secure, McAfee, MessageLabs and Symantec.

Symantec's Norton AntiVirus products appear to be the main target, with more than 100 variations registered, such as Nortonaantivirus.com.

In total, around 150 typo-laden domain names have been registered by an organisation based in Panama called Unasi Inc which appears to have systematically gone through an A to Z of security companies. All the domains are redirected to a page which appears to host sponsored links for security products.

According to Mikko Hypponen, CTO of F-Secure, who noticed late last week that Unasi had registered several variations on his own company's domain, the site which traffic is directed towards contains nothing more malicious than the underhand attempt to hijack genuine traffic to security websites and some annoying pop-up advertising.

Hypponen said: "We cannot find any code that is malicious on that page but obviously they are trying to mislead people."

He added that many of the targeted companies from the antivirus industry have been in contact with one another and are discussing the best form of action. Hypponen said he was unsure whether this will result in a unified front against Unasi or individual legal action.

In June this year, repeat offender Unasi was accused of cyber-squatting by fashion house Gianfranco Ferré. That case went before the World Intellectual Property Organisation (Wipo) for arbitration and Wipo ordered Unasi to return the domain which it believed had been registered in bad faith.

That ruling came just two months after Wipo had been forced to step into a similar row involving Austrian drinks manufacturer Red Bull. On that occasion Unasi had registered the domain wwwredbull.com. Again Wipo ordered Unasi return the domain to its rightful owner.

Similar run-ins have seen successful complaints filed against Unasi by insurance companies and other financial services firms, including Morgan Stanley, and a number of other aggrieved parties.

Hypponen told silicon.com: "I can't think of any specific reason why they would target the antivirus industry at this time. Perhaps they are just going through one industry at a time."