What is typosquatting? it is dangerous?

From time to time we begin to hear a new term. It happens that we do not know exactly what he means. Today is the turn to speak of one of those terms. It's about typosquatting. A very strange word. So much so that at the moment there is still no concrete definition in Spanish.

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What is typosquatting? It is dangerous?

Typosquatting refers to the possibility of a user opening a different page than the one they were planning to visit because they typed the address in the wrong way. You will all be thinking, that has happened to me. Indeed, it is something that has happened to all users on occasion. We type a wrong letter and end up on another website. Although it is common, in recent times it seems that it has become something dangerous.

Typosquatting dangers

It seems that cybercriminals are on the prowl and seek to take advantage of any possible opportunity to attack the most confused users. And it is that, an action as simple as typing an incorrect letter, can be something dangerous for users. In fact, the security company Endgame has discovered around 300.com domains (Netflix or Dell among others) that are a trap.

Through these domains, hackers seek to install a malware called Genieo on OS X computers. And falling into this error is not too complicated. The consequences in this case can be very varied. There are dangers of all kinds. They range from Flash update alerts to the installation of malware that tracks and collects user activity on the Internet.

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So, as you can see, something as simple as an error in writing an address can be dangerous for users.

How does Typosquatting occur?

It is enough that the hackers in question register domains similar to that of a website that is popular or widely used. We can use the example from Netflix. The web address is netflix.com. Imagine that a user types Netfli or Netfliz (look at the keyboard). If a group of hackers have registered those domains, the user, instead of encountering an error message, accesses the website in question. And therefore, you will enter a harmful website that can cause significant problems to your security.

So far there are 300 domains. All of them from very popular websites, so they are more likely to end up visiting users. The security company that carried out this investigation has analyzed websites in English. Although, it would not be surprising that this happens with some Spanish websites (either Movistar or a major bank such as Santander).

Can we avoid typosquatting?

In this case, what we can do to prevent this type of problem is to write the name of the website in question. It seems absurd, but it is the main way to avoid falling into the dangers that lie in wait for us. And when we write an address, check that it is spelled correctly before pressing enter. It is something that takes us a few seconds and we can avoid any bigger problem.

For companies, it is best to do something that many others already do today. Buy different domains than your name. For example, if someone adds some additional letter or makes a mistake when writing. In this way, they also prevent potential competitors from using the domain. Or other companies that are going to be able to dirty the brand name or copy it. Something that has already happened before.

We hope that with this article you can have a better idea of ​​what typosquatting is and the possible dangers that it entails. We do not seek to alarm or generate fear among users. In fact, the number of domains in which this potential danger exists is small. But it is good that all users are informed about what can happen and always pay some attention to avoid it.