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Threatening Domains Targeting the Top 10 Most Valuable Brands

In this research report, CSC looked at domain registrations activities featuring the top 10 most valuable brands. We identified 8,552 unique domain names closely matching legitimate brand names, yet 99% are owned by third parties.

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Overview

We gathered this report’s findings using CSC’s 3D monitoring technology, powered by DomainSecSM—the industry’s first holistic approach for securing and defending brand domain ecosystems.

Report highlights:

Of the 8,552 unique domain names identified in our research, over 99% were registered by third parties.

  • Two-thirds of the domains used domain privacy services or had redacted information, indicating an intention by the owner to mask their identity.

  • 56% of the domains still registered at the time of analysis resolved to a live webpage. Among the live sites, there were a range of high-concern content types, and many displayed pay-per-click links or holding pages offering to sell the domain names, i.e., potential cybersquatting.

  • 35% of the registered domains were configured with active mail exchange (MX) records, indicating their ability to send and receive emails, making them capable of launching phishing attacks.

  • Many of the domain names appear deceptively similar to official brand domain names, using non-Latin characters, raising the greatest potential for confusion.