typosquatting a type of cyber attack where hackers Trying to trap internet users fake website Which has the same URL as the actual URL with a ‘typo’ in the address or an error. Users who type a web address regardless of what they are typing are potential victims of this type of attack as they are tricked into clicking on a malicious website link. They can also land on these websites through Phishing Links have been sent to them.
In such an attack, when the user reaches a malicious site, hackers have different methods to cause harm. They can steal your banking credentials or generate revenue as these fake sites can be landing pages for different types of advertisements. Businesses may also be affected url hijacking Because they lose customers that way.
Typosquatting is also known by other names such as URL hijacking, fake URLs, domain mimicry or sting sites.
How cybercriminals get started with typosquatting, is that they first buy and register a domain name which is a misspelled name for an e-commerce, banking or other popular/important sites website. They can also go for multiple domain names to increase the chances of duping unsuspecting people. Then, they design the webpage elements of the fake website to mimic the real website so that customers don’t see anything wrong when they accidentally get there.
For example, the URL of the original website might be shopbooksonline.com. A typosquated version of this could be shop-books-online.com or shopbooks-online.com or shpbooksonline.com or shopbooksnline.com. Another example could be google.mailpk.com (fake) when you only want to go to google.com.
How to Protect Yourself from Typosquatting or URL Hijacking
In such an attack, when the user reaches a malicious site, hackers have different methods to cause harm. They can steal your banking credentials or generate revenue as these fake sites can be landing pages for different types of advertisements. Businesses may also be affected url hijacking Because they lose customers that way.
Typosquatting is also known by other names such as URL hijacking, fake URLs, domain mimicry or sting sites.
How cybercriminals get started with typosquatting, is that they first buy and register a domain name which is a misspelled name for an e-commerce, banking or other popular/important sites website. They can also go for multiple domain names to increase the chances of duping unsuspecting people. Then, they design the webpage elements of the fake website to mimic the real website so that customers don’t see anything wrong when they accidentally get there.
For example, the URL of the original website might be shopbooksonline.com. A typosquated version of this could be shop-books-online.com or shopbooks-online.com or shpbooksonline.com or shopbooksnline.com. Another example could be google.mailpk.com (fake) when you only want to go to google.com.
How to Protect Yourself from Typosquatting or URL Hijacking
- Be very careful when clicking links that are part of unknown/suspicious emails, online chats, text messages, etc.
- Do not click on any links on social media or through unknown websites if there seems to be something wrong there.
- Hover over the website link you are about to click to check its url. Look for the typo there.
- Bookmark your frequently visited sites to avoid typing the url every time.
- Do not open attachments that come in emails from unverified sources.
- If you have to type, first of all go to a trusted search engine and type the website address there. Do not type directly into the address bar.
- If you think you have somehow come across a fake website (assuming you have realized it before entering any sensitive details), close the browser immediately.
- Invest in a paid antivirus solution for your devices to reduce the risk of such cyberattacks.