MarkMonitor Research Shows How Online Scammers Are Using the Financial Crisis to Prey on Consumer Trust in Leading Brands

Latest Brandjacking Index Examines How Fraudsters Abuse Financial Brands
SAN FRANCISCO--(Business Wire)--
MarkMonitor, the global leader in enterprise brand protection, today released
the company`s latest Brandjacking Index that studies how fraudsters are abusing
major financial brand names and topical subjects like refinancing or
unemployment to lure unsuspecting consumers to questionable Web sites. Examining
four leading financial brands, the research indicates opportunistic fraudsters
are quick to target citizens looking for ways to get back on their feet from
financial challenges and the housing market bust.

"Scammers are preying upon consumer hardship, demonstrating incredible
creativity in combining technology, social engineering techniques and current
events," said Frederick Felman, chief marketing officer at MarkMonitor. "In this
digital age, as the Internet pervades business and leisure, scam artists and
fraudsters are quick to profit at the expense of trusted brands across a wide
spectrum of industries."

For this Brandjacking Index, MarkMonitor chose four top U.S. and international
bank brands to monitor for scams focusing on terms such as foreclosure,
mortgage, refinance and unemployed. MarkMonitor sifted through 134 million
public domain records and searched billions of Web pages and spam email messages
during the study period.

Research from the sample of financial brands shows profound levels of brand
abuse, most notably through phishing and suspected domain squatting. More than
7,300 cybersquatted domains were identified targeting the four financial brands
in the study. Fraudsters registered domains that combined those financial brands
with the focus terms at the rate of more than one domain per day between
September 2008 and April 2009. Phishing attacks against the four financial
brands numbered 10,000, representing a 36 percent increase in Q1 2009 from the
previous quarter.

Some of the highlighted findings in this report are:

Opportunistic abuse exploits economic hardship

* More than 7,300 domains exploited the four financial brands in the study, with
16 percent of the domains registered since September 2008
* 24 percent of these cybersquatted domains registered since September 2008 used
the focus terms - foreclosure, mortgage, refinance and unemployed - translating
to a registration rate of more than one cybersquatted domain per day exploiting
the focus terms
* Domains registered since September 2008 were 50 percent more likely to use the
focus terms than domains registered earlier
* 52 percent of the domains identified in the study did not encrypt customer
data, putting consumers` personal identity information at risk

Profound levels of phish attacks target a wide variety of companies and
industries

* A record 502 organizations were phished in Q1 2009, an increase of 24 percent
from Q1 2008
* 93 organizations were phished for the first time in Q1 2009; 82 percent were
financial brands
* While financial services remain a popular target, payment service providers
were the most phished category, at 42 percent of total phish attacks
* Social media is one of the fastest-growing target category for phishers, with
attacks increasing 241% against social media companies between Q1 2008 and Q1
2009

Methodology

The Brandjacking Index is an independent report produced by MarkMonitor that
tracks and analyzes online abuses of leading brands. The cornerstone of the
report is the volume of public data analyzed by MarkMonitor using the company`s
proprietary algorithms - no customer data or proprietary customer information is
used to create the Brandjacking Index. During the study period of January
through April, 2009, MarkMonitor searched approximately 134 million public
records daily for brand abuse in domain data as well as Internet feeds from
leading international Internet Service Providers (ISPs), email providers and
other alliance partners.

Note to Editors

For complete Brandjacking Index results or more information concerning
methodology, contact Te Smith at 831-818-1267 / te.smith@markmonitor.com or
Monica Walsh at 650-762-2894 / mwalsh@ar-edelman.com.

About MarkMonitor

MarkMonitor, the global leader in enterprise brand protection, offers
comprehensive solutions and services that safeguard brands, reputation and
revenue from online risks. With end-to-end solutions that address the growing
threats of online fraud, brand abuse and unauthorized channels, MarkMonitor
enables a secure Internet for businesses and their customers. The company`s
exclusive access to data combined with its patented real-time prevention,
detection and response capabilities provide wide-ranging protection to the
ever-changing online risks faced by brands today. For more information, visit
www.markmonitor.com.

© 2009 MarkMonitor Inc. All rights reserved. MarkMonitor is a registered
trademark of MarkMonitor Inc. All other trademarks included herein are the
property of their respective owners.

MarkMonitor
Te Smith, 831-818-1267 (mobile)
te.smith@markmonitor.com
or
A&R Edelman for MarkMonitor
Monica Walsh, 650-762-2894
650-219-3220 (mobile)
monica.walsh@ar-edelman.com

Copyright Business Wire 2009