Internet Threats Blog
Credit Card Scams can happen several ways. You can either lose your card or have it stolen, your card information could be obtained and your data used to manufacture a counterfeit card, or the data could be used to make phone or internet purchases. Criminals obtain your card information from either an online purchasing site or by “scanning it”. One of the many problems of catching these … [Read more...]
The topic has been trending since it exploded in March. There are numerous stories of companies who have coerced their employees (or future employees) onto giving them access to their personal Facebook accounts. In the U.S., where this “trend” has been spotted, the latest victim isKimberly Hester, a teacher’s aide at Frank Squires Elementary in Cassopolis who is currently involved in a legal … [Read more...]
Who doesn’t like free stuff? I remember as a kid I was always fascinated by the free toy I could receive in my “Fruit Loops” cereal box. Today, free merchandise is far more complicated. Social media marketing has become a staple for many businesses. With the rise of new social media marketing tools like Facebook, Twitter and most recently, Pinterest, we have seen a rise in newly targeted … [Read more...]
Last year, in response to the explosion of new mobile apps being developed, BrandProtect launched our Mobile App Monitoring service. Initially, the primary concern was malicious mobile apps that would capture users’ personal information as it was being transmitted, or open the mobile device to control by the perpetrators – both scenarios have been seen in the wild before, and it’s only … [Read more...]
There have been a large number of posts claiming Pinterest is encouraging its users to share copyrighted material, it’s a safe harbor for trademark violations and brand abuse. Many are going as far as to cry that Pinterest is thedevil and is setting up their users to take the blame. We recently blogged about these claims and mentioned just a few of the measures Pinterest is taking to cover … [Read more...]
March is Fraud Prevention Month. Whether it is identity theft, phishing, online shopping, social media scams, or credit/debit card fraud, there are always victims and unaware accomplices who fall pray to big international crime organizations. The goal of Fraud Prevention Month is to increase awareness and educate public and private companies to avoid the criminal’s attempts so they can do no … [Read more...]
Most of my friends think I am some sort of social media guru, since I work for a social media monitoring company and I throw out a tweet here and there. Little do they know that the real social media gurus here at BP put me to shame – and it’s no surprise that they’re ten years younger than me. While I’m patting myself on the back because I can show my friends how to create a hyperlink … [Read more...]
More than 9,000 intellectual property professionals will convene May 5–9 in Washington, D.C. for INTA’s 2012 Annual Meeting– the premier trademark event for networking, continuing legal education, and committee and client meetings. This year’s Annual Meeting will feature valuable skill-building workshops, industry breakouts, interactive table topics, and trademark law sessions focused … [Read more...]
The tales of Social Media blunders by brands in 2011 are well documented. Three that come to mind are: 1) the Chrysler Twitter oops that was more the fault of the marketing company employee who thought it wise to insult the citizens of Detroit; 2) Charlie Sheen, who I realize is not really a brand, but the damage/attention that was the result of what outsiders viewed as a very public meltdown was … [Read more...]
For years now, cybercriminals had gotten comfortable and pretty much taken over the control of the .ru Top Level Domain (TLD). According to ZeuS tracker, the .ru TLD was the most common TLD associated to criminal activity online. Because nobody likes having their TLD associated with online scumbags, the Coordination Center for TLD RU finally decided to step in and cleaned their reputation by … [Read more...]
