Brandjacking getting more common online

MarkMonitor, which supplies Internet brand protection services to companies, said its new "Brandjacking Index" found "cybersquatting" -- in which illicit sites usurp popular trademarks -- false association, phishing and clickfraud as major threats.

A four-week survey of public Web sites completed early in April found cybersquatting posed the greatest threat to brands. Phishing -- the criminal use of e-mail to trick consumers into divulging passwords, credit cards and other personal details -- and domain "kiting" -- the rapid registering and dropping of similar- sounding Web site names -- are on the rise.

The study tracked daily mentions on 134 million public Web records for the world's top 25 brands, along with major brands from eight industrial categories such as autos, apparel, food, food and high-tech. The study ran from March 9 to April 6.

MarkMonitor found major brands suffered, on average, 286,000 examples of cybersquatting during over the four-week long survey, far and away the most common abuse detected.