Organisations need to search, find and stop the hidden dangers facing their brand online
London, UK: NetNames, the provider of domain name management, brand protection and online security services, has voiced a strong warning to UK businesses that they need to improve their online brand protection practices in order to remain competitive in today’s marketplace. NetNames estimates that online piracy currently accounts for 24% of the world’s internet traffic, while cybersquatting costs trade mark holders more than £615,800 per brand, per year. In addition, one in every 28 pages on the internet currently suffers from some form of brand infringement.
While most businesses can see the potential that online channels offer, NetNames believes that many organisations are failing to recognise the hidden dangers that face their brand online, including digital piracy, cybersquatting and counterfeiting. In order to protect brands against the rise of these threats, businesses need to adopt a ‘search, find, stop’ approach. This comprises of searching for the dangers that are facing the brand online, identifying the specific threats, and introducing the appropriate measures to protect their business.
In many cases, implementing Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology can also act as a vital tool for informing end-users that the website is genuine, while helping the business to discover viruses and malware before they do real damage. In addition, adopting a basic domain name strategy that covers simple typos and variations of a specific name will help ensure that if a customer mistypes a web address they are still redirected to the correct web page.
Simon Jackson, chief commercial officer at NetNames, comments on the need for brands to protect their online presence: “With consumers often willing to sacrifice quality in order to get certain products at reduced prices, the growth of counterfeiting, cybersquatting and digital piracy is growing at an astounding rate. We now live in a world where the average consumer owns more than one internet-enabled device. This has lead to the creation of a constantly-connected environment in which we rely more and more on online products and services. The inevitable consequence of this evolution is that the number and sophistication of cyber attacks that consumers and brands are exposed to has also dramatically increased.
Simon Jackson continues: “Currently, 98% of the brands monitored by NetNames have uncovered brand infringements of which they were previously unaware, which highlights the reality of the threats facing brands online. Today’s businesses must be forward-thinking in their approach to protecting their brand online and in doing so they are also likely to increase their online revenues. The new face of digital crime is often unseen, so companies need to take precautions to ensure that they are not targeted. Digital piracy, cybersquatting and counterfeiting can ruin a firm’s reputation and lead to loss of revenue. As such, the protection of digital assets is critical to any brands’ online expansion strategy so that the company can stay one step ahead of the competition and the cyber criminals.”