The concern is that URLs that look like file names will open up even more possibilities for digital scams like phishing that trick web users into clicking on malicious links that are masquerading as something legitimate.
of May, Google released eight new top-level domains —the suffixes at the end of URLs, like “.com” or “.uk.” These little addendums were developed decades ago to expand and organize URLs, and over the years, the nonprofit Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers has loosened restrictions on TLDs so organizations like Google can bid to sell access to more of them. But while Google's announcement includedand “.
The two stand out because they are also common file extension names. The former, .zip, is ubiquitous for, while .mov is a video format developed by Apple. The concern, which is already starting to play out, is that URLs that look like file names will open up even more possibilities for digital scams like phishing that trick web users into clicking on malicious links that are masquerading as something legitimate.
“Attackers will use whatever they can to get inside an organization,” says Ronnie Tokazowski, a longtime phishing researcher and principal threat adviser at the cybersecurity firm Cofense. “Man, this all goes back a long time now. Nothing has changed.”buying up strategic .zip URLs and begin testing them in phishing campaigns. But reactions are mixed on how much of a negative impact .zip and .mov domains will have when scams that prey on URL confusion are already an inveterate threat.
“The risk of confusion between domain names and file names is not a new one. For example, 3M’s Command products use the domain name, which is also an important program on MS DOS and early versions of Windows,” Google told WIRED in a statement. “Applications have mitigations for this , and these mitigations will hold true for TLD’s such as .zip.
Offering more TLDs broadens the number of URLs that are available to people. This means you have more choices and don't necessarily have to pay a premium to buy the site name you want from an existing owner or speculator who bought up a bunch of historic URLs. And some in the security community feel that, given the already extensive risk of phishing attacks, additions like .zip and .mov add negligible additional danger.
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