'Typo-squatter' Pornographic Sites Make Liability Just a Keystroke Away

HostReview.com
Wednesday, November 20, 2002; 12:00 AM

SEATTLE, Nov 20, 2002 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- Employees might be in for a rude surprise the next time they try to visit the Web site of a business partner such as Cisco, Cingular Wireless, or American Airlines. A single mistyped keystroke could result in a screen full of hard-core pornography, and cause potential liability problems for their employer.

For over a year, N2H2, Inc. (NTWO.OB) , a global Internet content filtering company, has been studying the growing practice of "typo-squatting" -- the deliberate registration of popular domain names containing typographic errors. Recently the company noticed that a Web-hosting firm in the Netherlands is now practicing typo-squatting on an unprecedented scale, registering hundreds of misleading site names that bring up graphic images of hard-core pornography.

Instead of booking a business trip, employees will be booking an unplanned trip to a cyber adult bookstore if they type in www.cheptickets.com, www.amercianairlines.com, or www.continetalairlines.com. An HR director expecting to research benefits by visiting www.benifitscheckup.org, or a marketing manager looking for product reviews at www.consummersreport.com will find themselves unwillingly researching the Internet's red light district.

Employers should be concerned, according to Richard Davis, director of Victoria Point Consulting, which specializes in helping employers deal with Internet abuse in the workplace. "Employee Internet abuse is a substantial liability issue about which companies are increasingly becoming aware." said Davis. "Organizations need to realize that Internet pornography not only creates significant liability risks, but also results in an organizational culture that is counterproductive and diminishes the integrity of the company."

Even more disturbing is the fact that many of the typo-squatted domains appear to be aimed at children. Among misspellings of popular children's sites registered by the Netherlands company are www.cartoonnetwrok.com, www.drseus.com, www.dinseyland.com, www.dinseyworld.com, and www.dinosours.com.

Fortunately, filtering software can provide some relief. N2H2's Sentian Internet filtering solution offers an advanced Internet content categorization system that employs an automated search to scan the Internet on a continuous basis and is designed to quickly identify new Web sites that have innocuous names but contain pornography. When one of these new "typo-squatter" Web sites is identified, it is stored in a database and prioritized for human review. Each day, N2H2 customers receive electronically an updated list of the latest pornographic websites, providing prompt protection.

"N2H2 identifies thousands of new pornography sites each week," said Mark Holcomb, senior product manager for N2H2. "Our combination of artificial intelligence technology and a human review team helps to ensure that our millions Internet users worldwide continue to receive safer and more secure Internet access."

About N2H2

N2H2 is a global Internet content filtering company. N2H2 software helps customers control, manage and understand their Internet use by filtering Web content, monitoring Internet access and delivering concise reports on user activity. These safeguards enable organizations of any size to limit potential legal liability, increase user productivity and optimize network bandwidth.

N2H2's Bess and Sentian product lines are powered by N2H2's premium- quality filtering database - a list consistently recognized by independent and respected third-parties as the most effective in the industry. Based in Seattle, WA and serving millions of users worldwide, N2H2's software products are Cisco Verified, Microsoft Gold Certified and Check Point OPSEC compliant and are available for major platforms and devices. Additional information is available at http://www.n2h2.com or 206-336-1501 or 800-971-2622.

Source: http://www.n2h2.com