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ICANN Domain Expansion Could Increase Phishing
Orome1 writes "The ICANN board gave final approval to what some are calling 'the most dramatic change to the Internet in four decades,' allowing the expansion of new TLDs. Some argue this ICANN initiative could force a land grab of domains by businesses to protect their company reputation. However, they aren't the only ones who are likely to try to snag these new top level domains. There's a very legitimate concern that cybercriminals could also seek these new domains to create legitimate looking websites using well-known brand names. These can then be used for phishing attacks or delivery of Trojan malware to unsuspecting visitors."
"It will cost $185,000 to apply, and individuals or organizations will have to show a legitimate claim to the name they are buying." I do not think that Peggy will be able to set up .discovercard :p
Seems to me that the threat of phishing can be mitigated my requiring the entity registering the domain name to show proof that the name in the *.brand is in fact a registered trademark. Of course, I could just be taking an over simplified look at the problem.
Yes, any change to how the internet works could increase phishing. But at $185,000 per application for a new TLD, as well as having each application reviewed by a human or committee, this isn't going to be like automating the registration of .com addresses so that in an afternoon, you can register every misspelling of bankofamerica. By no means do I have blind faith in them, but I feel like ICANN will be pretty sure to not allow some random dude in eastern Europe to register .bank.
Yes, yes, everything can increase the risk of cancer in lab rats, and everything increases the risk of phishing, but the barrier for entry is set relatively high here.
"Thats a mighty fine brand ya got there, company. Be a shame if someone came and - bought it as a TLD. For about 200 grand, we can help protect you."
It's gonna cost a lot of money to get a vanity top-level domain. In order to prevent domain squatting. But won't this just allow those with deep-pocketbooks to call the shots? How well did .biz do? I don't think that in my vast Internet surfing I've ever intentionally visited a .biz address.
I'm sure big businesses will snatch up their brand names out of fear and a misguided sense of getting on the bandwagon as soon as possible.
Obviously phishing sites should be using the .con TLD: citibank.con, barclays.con etc. Truth in advertising and cunning typo-squatting at the same time!
Inc. or Corps Ltd. (computer or music)
This scheme is nothing more then a cash grab. It does nothing useful for domain names. The cost of one of these is sky high ($185,000). There's no need being filled. It's just ICANN trying to get people who already have big websites to pay for another domain for the same site to keep someone else from registering it.
This stuff should not be run on a "how do we extort more money out of DNS" methadology.
-- "So they told me that using the download page to download something was not something they anticipated." - Bill Gates
I've already got a lock on .TrustMe
becausr THAT will be a money maker.
Why don't you apply for it? I'm sure you can make a legitimate claim for it.
Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
...OpenNIC charges $0 for TLD applications, and since it's a transparent democratic approval process, you get to actively participate in the approval process. We need to show ICANN there are alternatives to their extortion attempts.