It’s Halloween, and a new nightmare haunts the digital world, more threatening than any ghost or goblin. We call this cyberthreat the “Bionic Infringement,” a chilling fusion of AI and human cunning that spoils the festive season. Bionic infringements merge the speed and scale of artificial intelligence with the ingenuity of human operatives. As a result, industrial-strength threats flood search results and social media feeds with convincing fake shops and phishing traps, turning a season of excitement into an ecommerce nightmare.

Here, we’ll unmask this Halloween cyberthreat, detailing the dangers it poses to brands and customers, and providing a pragmatic playbook to fight back. You can also cut to the chase with a free brand audit to identify bionic infringements right here.

Unmasking the “Bionic Infringer” this Halloween

Imagine a factory where AI handles the heavy lifting, mass-producing deceptive copy, cloning site templates, and spawning legions of domain names and social accounts. Then, human ingenuity adds the finishing touches: subtle creative twists, payment-routing tricks, and adaptive strategies when defenses strike back. This fusion creates a scaled attack with a disturbingly human face, perfect for exploiting the busy Halloween shopping season.

These operations deploy with several frightening features. They mass-produce fake shops faster than you can say “trick-or-treat,” creating BogusBazaar-style waves in minutes. They use AI to generate authentic-looking product pages for popular Halloween costumes and decorations. Human operators then tune these operations for evasion, using curated payment routing and managing shipping behavior. Sometimes, they send counterfeit items, but more often, like a ghost, they leave nothing but a missing package and a stolen payment. They use distributed infrastructure and SEO tricks to drive traffic quickly, launching combination attacks that synchronize fake shops, social accounts, and phishing campaigns to harvest payments and Personally Identifiable Information (PII).

A Horror Story for Brands

The Bionic Infringement does more than steal a few sales. For marketing, legal, and security departments alike, the phenomenon unleashes a cascade of horrors. Bionic infringements commit direct customer theft and fraud, turning a consumer’s search for a Halloween deal into a nightmare of stolen payment data and identity theft. These attacks inflict severe reputational damage, as angry complaints and negative reviews spread like a ghost story, eroding trust. Increasingly, digital infringements place a heavy operational strain, causing a spike in support tickets and chargebacks that haunt finance teams for months. Furthermore, brands face increased legal and compliance exposure from mishandled PII, a truly terrifying prospect for any business.

The Infringer’s Halloween Playbook

The bionic infringer follows a sinister, repeatable pattern to target brands and their customers. First, AI generates a haunted template, cloning a brand’s site layout and product catalog at scale. Next, the operation unleashes a swarm of malicious domains. Then, they amplify their ghostly presence by buying ads and creating fake social posts. The core of the attack involves a digital trick-or-treat: convincing checkout flows and fake support chats designed to harvest credentials and payments. Human operatives constantly adjust the scheme, and when platforms exorcise one batch of fake sites, a new wave rises from the grave moments later.

While AI provides the infringer’s scale, human cunning forms the core of the attack. Experienced human scammers bring intuition about which Halloween product lines will convert, creativity in mimicking a brand’s voice, and the manual skill to evade automated detection rules. This human element makes these attacks persistently effective, as they can adapt and improvise where a purely automated system cannot.

Fighting Bionic Infringements this Halloween

To defend against this seasonal cyberthreat, brands must deploy a hybrid strategy that combines human expertise with AI powered tooling. This approach starts with constant vigilance. Organizations must implement automated high frequency scans to hunt for suspicious domain clusters and ad creatives. Your monitoring must cover the entire digital landscape where Halloween shoppers browse from search results to social platforms and online marketplaces.

When your systems identify a potential threat, your next steps must involve coordinated and rapid responses. Automated tools can gather evidence to accelerate legal takedowns, but human analysts lead the charge. Experts validate complex threats and coordinate directly with law enforcement and payment processors to disrupt the criminal operation. Your teams should also monitor payment flow anomalies, especially during the peak Halloween season, and the following ecommerce events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

You can also protect your customers by making your official storefronts and checkout flows clearly verifiable. Use dynamic trust signals like one-time codes to help shoppers distinguish your legitimate site from a fraudulent one. Beyond that, you can also boost these efforts with aggressive legal action. Proactively enforcing your intellectual property rights helps you build strong relationships with major platforms to ensure they assist your takedown efforts.

Finally, remember that collaboration strengthens your defense. Participating in intelligence sharing with other brands and law enforcement helps you coordinate your efforts for a data-led anti-scam strategy. When you pool your data to identify threat actors, you help your entire industry create a safer online landscape, during Halloween and beyond.

A Consumer’s Guide to a Safe Halloween Online

Customers must stay vigilant for several key warning signs this season. Watch for unexpectedly low prices on popular Halloween costumes or decorations. Scrutinize domain names for extra words or bad grammar. Be wary of requests for less secure payment methods and a lack of verifiable order numbers. If an offer seems too good to be true, it might be a trick, rather than a treat.

The Bottom Line: Don’t Be Scared

Bionic Infringements scale like a machine and adapt like a human, making them a uniquely dangerous cyberthreat, not just around Halloween. That being said, brands and organizations need not be spooked. The winning solution combines human investigators and legal experts, empowering strategies with AI for discovery and rapid response. Building this hybrid defense will protect their customers’ wallets and data, ensuring the only scares this season are the fun ones.

The post Halloween Cyberthreats: The Case of the Bionic Infringement appeared first on EBRAND.

As cybersecurity threats spike in frequency and complexity, organizations must upgrade their tools and resources for fighting back. Without the right combination of technology and expertise, critical risks evade detection until it’s too late. Managed Detection and Response (MDR) addresses this gap by delivering continuous threat monitoring and expert-led incident response. This article explains how MDR works, and why it’s important for future-proof businesses.  

Curious about how your cybersecurity defenses measure up? Take advantage of our free risk audit to identify weaknesses today.  

Understanding Managed Detection and Response (MDR)

As a cybersecurity service, MDR allows businesses to detect, analyze, and respond to security threats without stretching internal teams beyond their limits. Rather than just providing alerts, an MDR service provider handles monitoring and incident response in real time. Their team of security analysts, operating from a security operations center (SOC), investigates suspicious behavior and guides containment efforts with precision.  

This approach combines security technologies with human expertise, enabling organizations to take decisive action rather than react to alerts. By integrating seamlessly with existing security tools, it strengthens the security posture of companies across industries.  

Detection Technologies that Collaborate with MDR  

Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI)  

CTI continuously monitors the threat landscape to identify emerging risks targeting your organization. It provides actionable insights about threat actors, their methods, and indicators of compromise to help you stay ahead of attacks before they impact your business.  

Threat Hunting  

Threat hunting proactively searches for hidden threats that have evaded traditional security controls. Our expert hunters use advanced techniques and behavioral analysis to uncover sophisticated attacks that are already inside your environment but haven’t yet been detected.  

Risk Scoring and Assessment  

Risk scoring quantifies your organization’s exposure across digital channels and threat vectors. It prioritizes vulnerabilities and threats based on their potential impact, helping you allocate security resources where they matter most and make data-driven decisions about risk mitigation. 

How MDR Enhances These Technologies  

Businesses need human insight to tackle nuanced cybersecurity threats. For dynamic and evolving cyberattacks, MDR adds a managed layer that monitors, validates, and acts on alerts. This human-driven response filters noise and prioritizes real threats. Cyberthreat intelligence experts in the don’t just detect issues, they respond to them in real time.  

It also closes the gap between threat detection and action. When threats emerge, the MDR team isolates affected systems, advises next steps, and ensures that breaches are contained before damage spreads. 

MDR in Practice 

MDR services integrate seamlessly into a company’s existing environment through tools already in use or other security products. Once integrated, the MDR solution provider begins monitoring activity around the clock. Analysts review threats, validate their severity, and respond in accordance with agreed-upon protocols.  

If attackers breach a system, MDR experts take immediate steps: isolate compromised endpoints, neutralize malicious processes, and guide the company through recovery. This active response protects both data and operations without requiring round-the-clock attention from internal teams.   

The Benefits of MDR Services 

Here are six key benefits that Managed Detections and Responses could bring to your organization:

1. You’d respond to threats faster with real-time.

2. As a whole, your organization would reduce alert fatigue by filtering out noise and false positives.

3. Your security posture would strengthen, without replacing current tools.

4. You’d also gain access to security experts without building a large in-house team.

5. The services make it easier to scale, extending your digital safeguards as your business grows or shifts environments.

6. You’d decrease your operational costs, compared to the cost of hiring and training internal analysts.

Key Advantages of MDR vs. Traditional Security  

Traditional security tools wait for threats to reach your perimeter or endpoints before taking action. Managed Detection and Response takes a fundamentally different approach by extending visibility far beyond your network boundaries.  

Within a Digital Risk Protection solution, manage response tactics monitor the entire digital ecosystem where threats to your organization develop. These threats span the full spectrum of digital channels from dark web forums and social media to compromised credentials, from marketplaces to fraudulent domains. Beyond simply detecting threats, managed detection and response strategies identify and neutralize them before they can impact your business.  

The key differentiator is our takedown capabilities. When we identify threats like phishing sites, fraudulent domains, or leaked credentials, we don’t just alert you – we actively work to remove them from the internet, disrupting attack campaigns at their source. This proactive approach transforms cybersecurity from reactive defense to offensive threat disruption.   

Considerations and Potential Challenges 

Data control may shift partially to the service provider, which is not something all teams are comfortable with

Considerations and Potential Challenges around MDR

While MDR offers significant advantages, its implementation comes with important considerations. The integration process itself may require you to adjust existing workflows to fit the provider’s model, which can be a disruptive undertaking. It’s also crucial to remember that your security outcomes are directly tied to the provider’s quality, as their expertise dictates the speed and accuracy of threat response. Finally, adopting MDR means a partial shift of your sensitive data control to a third party, a prospect that not all internal security teams are comfortable with, potentially raising issues around visibility and governance.

Choosing the right MDR provider involves looking beyond features to how well the service aligns with internal goals and expectations. At the same time, organizations should recognize that MDR focuses primarily on internal detection and incident response. To cover external risks such as phishing campaigns, brand impersonation, and malvertising, businesses can strengthen their security posture with Digital Risk Protection services. This combined approach ensures that threats are managed both inside and outside the organization’s network. 

Conclusions

MDR helps organizations shift from passive monitoring to proactive protection. It doesn’t replace internal teams; it reinforces them. With the right managed detection and response services, companies stay prepared, respond more quickly, and build long-term resilience against evolving threats. 

Partnering with experienced managed security service providers puts skilled analysts and advanced tools behind every alert. When time and expertise are limited, MDR builds a clear and focused path forward. 

The post What Is MDR in Cyber Security appeared first on EBRAND.

In this blog, we define cyber hygiene and look at the concrete practices that support it. From internal protocols to external monitoring and response, cyber hygiene lays the groundwork for smarter security, long-term. We’ll walk through key lessons from senior experts, and spotlight solutions for levelling up your cyber hygiene. You can also get a free cyber hygiene audit right here.

What is Cyber Hygiene?

Good digital hygiene means implementing habits and systems that actively secure your organization’s digital perimeter. These include things like endpoint controls, system access rules, internal asset audits, and visibility tools that scan for threats across public and private networks. More than a checklist or awareness campaign, cyber hygiene builds resilience through repeatable, proactive behaviours and technology-led enforcement.

You need a strategy that goes beyond box-ticking exercises and PowerPoint presentations. Strong digital hygiene means keeping your assets aligned, your people following clear protocols, and your external landscape under continuous monitoring. It means patroling your domain landscape, updating DNS zone files, and enforcing strong authentication policies, without relying on gut instinct or chance. With that in mind, let’s explore five top tips to keep your organization up to date.

Digital Hygiene in Practice: Five Core Areas

To keep your organization clean of cyber threats, cyber hygiene must extend across your internal teams, vendor partnerships, and external attack surfaces. Here are five key takeaways:

Renewing Assets to Support Strong Cyber Hygiene

Cyber hygiene isn’t just about defence: It’s also about order. Growing companies build up plenty of digital assets, and it requires plenty of active hygiene to keep this infrastructure clean and tidy. Domains, Things like SSL certificates and DNS records quietly expire, leaving gaps that criminals exploit. Cybercriminals often pounce the moment your certificate lapses or a domain becomes available.

A reliable solution like Corporate Domain Management helps organizations maintain their digital hygiene and eliminate risk. Domain management delivers automatic renewal protocols, and helps configure CAA records to restrict unauthorised certificate issuance. The right domain solutions also maintains an organization’s defensive registrations in priority markets. By aligning renewals with cyber hygiene best practices, you reduce blind spots and prevent simple errors from turning into security incidents.

Monitoring Threat Surfaces

When it comes to cyber hygiene, threat monitoring can’t be underestimated. ENISA, the EU Cybersecurity Agency, advises organizations to “run regular scans to detect and remove threats” online in order to minimize risks and maximize resilience. As companies grow their digital presence, cybercriminals keep pace, finding new angles for infringements and attacks. Scammers register lookalike domains, upload spoofed apps, hijack social media accounts, and even sell stolen credentials on the dark web.

Strong cyber hygiene starts with visibility. Security teams need to collect data from as many sources as possible. That includes domain registrations, app store listings, social platforms, breach data, and dark web forums. Broad coverage increases the chance of spotting threats before they escalate. Beyond that, detection tools flag unusual activity, tag suspicious content, and assign risk scores based on impact. Teams can then focus on real threats instead of wasting time on background noise. When threats appear, enforcement tools should act quickly to block access, remove fake content, and limit exposure.

Monitoring keeps defence active and alert, building a strong foundation for digital hygiene. With the right insights, companies protect their digital assets and stay one step ahead of attackers.

Access Management: Staying Vigilant

Access control underpins every strong cyber hygiene strategy. When authentication weakens and loses consistency, it opens vulnerabilities for insider threats, account takeovers, and privilege misuse. Strong access management limits that risk.

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) plays a key role in effective access management. This process verifies users with something they know, like a password, and something they have, such as a code or device. Adding extra layers like biometrics or device health checks builds additional resilience. When attackers guess or steal credentials, MFA often stops them cold.

Access management should also include clear policies: avoiding shared credentials, limiting admin rights, and reviewing permissions regularly. Pay close attention to tools that control your digital infrastructure, like domain registrars, DNS settings, and CMS platforms. These systems often carry outsized risk if misconfigured or exposed.

Strong cyber hygiene isn’t just about detecting threats. It starts with locking down who has access, and verifying they still need it. In fact, access control forms step one of our CTO’s seven-step guide to domain cybersecurity, as you can see here.

Internal Asset Configuration and Cyber Hygiene Standards

Internally, your cyber hygiene depends on disciplined configuration and documentation. Your DNS zone files should be version-controlled and up to date. You should implement DNSSEC for cryptographic trust, and enforce DMARC to reduce spoofing risk. Too often, vital infrastructure like zone files fall into disorganization and vulnerability, leaving foundational cybersecurity practice behind.

Digitally hygienic organizations audit their assets across email infrastructure, DNS, registrar portals, and certificate authorities. This process helps standardize their asset base, remove unused services, and align configurations with cybersecurity frameworks like NIS2. You cannot enforce what you cannot see, and cyber hygiene starts with full situational awareness.

Risk Scoring: Tailoring your Hygiene Regimen

Once your cyber hygiene programme is up and running, you need a way to assess its effectiveness and prioritise response. That’s where risk scoring comes in.

Risk scoring helps organisations weigh threats based on factors like likelihood, potential impact, exploitability, and exposure. Instead of treating all alerts equally, you focus on what matters most—streamlining your response and reducing noise.

Every organization should define its own risk scoring criteria. For some, that might mean ranking threats like:
• Cybersquatting and domain spoofing based on visual or textual similarity
• Fake mobile apps aimed at tricking your users
• Executive impersonations on social media
• Credential phishing via fake login portals
• Unauthorised brand or logo usage across marketplaces

These scores can shape daily decisions, whether to initiate a takedown, flag an internal risk, or escalate to legal. They also build longer-term insight, creating a feedback loop between detection and defence. Cyber hygiene isn’t just about catching infringements. It’s about knowing which ones demand action.

Why Cyber Hygiene Matters: The Benefits and the Risks

Strong cyber hygiene gives you clarity, confidence, and speed. It means you can track threats in real time, maintain secure configurations across domains and servers, and avoid the reputational and financial fallout of data leaks or impersonation campaigns. It reduces noise, streamlines incident response, and builds trust among customers, investors, and regulators.

Neglecting cyber hygiene, on the other hand, exposes you to silent vulnerabilities. Expired SSL certificates, unmonitored brand impersonation, unsecured admin accounts, and outdated DNS records create entry points for attackers. These aren’t just hypothetical risks. They’re recurring tactics in real-world breaches that bring down ecommerce sites, enable phishing scams, and trigger massive fines from regulators.

Conclusions: Cleaning Up With Your Organization

Cyber hygiene isn’t a one-time thing. It’s a strategic discipline that evolves with your threat landscape, your tech stack, and your regulatory environment. At EBRAND, we work with legal, security, and IT teams to assess gaps, recommend controls, and actively monitor the digital ecosystem for emerging threats.

Want to see where your vulnerabilities lie? Our team of experts provide a free cyber hygiene risk audit, giving you a clear view of your exposure and concrete next steps to improve your protection posture.

The post What is Cyber Hygiene? Cleaning Up Your Risk Protection Posture appeared first on EBRAND.

Here, we’ll explore the differences between HTTP and HTTPS, and the best ways to establish a secure connection across your website. We’ll ultimately define why HTTPS redirects matter, how they protect your business, and the steps to implement them correctly.

HTTP: The Unsecured Foundation of Web Traffic

HTTP, or Hypertext Transfer Protocol, has facilitated web communication since the early 1990s. The protocol governs the ways that a web browser requests dat,a and how servers deliver web pages, images, and content. A HTTP connection work efficiently, but lacks security measures, transmitting all information in plain text. Hackers intercepting these communications can read everything—login credentials, personal details, and financial data.

Despite its widespread use, HTTP no longer meets modern security standards. Scammers exploit vulnerabilities in HTTP for malicious interception and data transfer. Major browsers now flag HTTP sites as “not secure,” and search engines penalize them in rankings. Companies still relying on HTTP risk losing customer trust, facing data breaches, and suffering SEO setbacks. In short, we must transition to a HTTPS connection, to secure data and stop scammers in their tracks.

HTTP vs HTTPS

Encrypted HTTPS solves HTTP’s security flaws by encrypting all data exchanges between browsers and servers. The “S” stands for secure, indicating the use of TLS (Transport Layer Security) or its predecessor, SSL (also known as Secure Sockets Layer). These security protocols scramble data so only the intended recipient can decode it, preventing hackers from reading intercepted traffic.

Beyond encryption, HTTPS authenticates websites, verifying their legitimacy through SSL certificates issued by trusted authorities. Hypertext transfer protocol secure means just that, ensuring trust and data integrity across your website. This authentication blocks phishing attempts and man-in-the-middle attacks, ensuring users connect to the real site rather than an imposter. Modern browsers display a padlock icon for HTTPS sites, signaling safety to visitors. Search engines also prioritize HTTPS websites, boosting their rankings over unsecured alternatives.

HTTPS Redirects: Enforcing Security Across Your Domain

When you switch to HTTPS from HTTP, proper redirects ensure all traffic uses the most secure protocol. Without them, visitors accessing old HTTP links may encounter errors, security warnings, or broken pages. HTTPS redirects automatically forward users from insecure URLs to their encrypted counterparts, preserving functionality and security.

The most common redirects include permanent (301) and temporary (302) forwards. A 301 redirect tells search engines that a page has permanently moved, transferring SEO value to the new HTTPS address. A 302 redirect suits temporary changes, such as promotional campaigns, without affecting long-term rankings. Implementing these correctly prevents duplicate content issues and reinforces search visibility, while maintaining an encrypted connection across your pages.

The Benefits of HTTPS Redirects for Your Business

HTTPS redirects do more than fix a broken link or URL. Ultimately, the service enhances security, improves user trust, and strengthens SEO. Customers hesitate to submit sensitive information on unsecured sites, and browsers now warn them before loading HTTP pages. By enforcing HTTPS across all URLs, businesses eliminate these warnings, creating a seamless and trustworthy browsing experience.

Search engines favor HTTPS websites, ranking them higher in results. Google explicitly states that HTTPS works as a ranking signal, meaning secure sites gain a competitive edge. Proper redirects ensure that backlinks pointing to old HTTP URLs still pass authority to the new secure versions, preserving hard-earned SEO value.

Security compliance also plays a role. Industries handling sensitive data, such as finance and healthcare, must adhere to strict regulations to implement their infrastructure securely. HTTPS redirects help meet these requirements by ensuring all connections remain encrypted, reducing legal and financial risks.

How to Implement HTTPS Redirects Correctly

Setting up HTTPS redirects requires careful execution to avoid disruptions. The first step involves obtaining an SSL certificate from a trusted provider. Working with domain management experts ensures that this technical and multi-stage process stays smooth and secure, leaving your team to focus on their own business priorities.

HTTPS redirects also work best alongside other domain management and domain security solutions. For businesses managing multiple domains, DNS services like Anycast enhance performance and reliability. Anycast routes traffic through the nearest web server location, reducing latency while maintaining HTTPS security. Combining HTTPS redirects with robust DNS infrastructure creates a fast, secure, and scalable web presence.

Final Thoughts: Secure Your Site Today

The internet no longer tolerates unsecured connections. HTTPS redirects protect user data, strengthen SEO, and build customer confidence. Companies delaying this upgrade risk losing traffic, facing security breaches, and falling behind competitors.

If you’re unsure whether your website enforces HTTPS correctly, our free HTTPS audit identifies vulnerabilities and provides actionable fixes. Don’t wait for a security incident—upgrade your redirects today and safeguard your business.

Get Your Free HTTPS Audit Now

The post HTTP vs HTTPS Redirects: Why Your Website Needs an Upgrade appeared first on EBRAND.

Beyond phishing, Darcula facilitates all kinds of online frauds. It even converts stolen credit card data into digital formats usable in mobile wallets. Here, we’ll shine a light on the depths of Darcula. We’ll also learn how these insights support your organization’s healthy cybersecurity and risk protection strategies. 

Defining Darcula

At its core, Darcula seduces the digital underworld with its ease of use. The platform’s control panel allows cybercriminals to launch phishing operations with minimal effort, delivering tools that quickly replicate legitimate websites. It employs software like Puppeteer, which automates browser tasks to extract source code and assets from real web pages.

Darcula V3 also integrates malicious generative tools, although not its sole innovation, to craft more believable lures in the game of social engineering. The platform’s accessibility also raises concern for analysts. Unlike earlier tools that required a baseline of technical skill, Darcula simplifies the process to the extent that even inexperienced threat actors can launch sophisticated phishing attacks.  

Darcula V3 – Chat GPT, build me a phishing kit

When it comes to phishing, landmarks like Darcula V3 raise significant concerns for IT teams and businesses worldwide. The toolkit’s latest features let any user to generate a phishing kit for any brand, from scratch. This development opens every business up to attack from any actor online. 

As a Phishing as a Service platform, Darcula provides a great amount of information. Scammers exploit everything from admin dashboards to customizable panels to create their own phishing infrastructure. Their new admin panel provides a user interface that manage every aspect of the phishing campaign, not only numbers or phishing sites. It also takes advantage of stolen credentials, credit card virtualization, online and taken down sites. Ultimately, Darcula delivers total control of the campaign, making it invaluable for cybercriminals. Phishing has never been so easy. 

Finally, the online underworld packages the kit’s output into a proprietary format known as a .cat-page, is a signature of the Darcula platform. They then upload the file uploaded back to the administration panel, where the attacker monitors activity and manage harvested data.  

Beyond Phishing: Darcula’s Insidious Developments

Darcula’s poised to set a new standard for phishing-as-a-service platforms. By integrating AI, automation, and multi-channel capabilities, it represents a significant shift in cybercrime conduct.   

This is where Darcula 3.0 changes the game for the worse. The platform represents a concerning leap forward in phishing-as-a-service (PhaaS), introducing generative AI to make phishing attacks not just smarter, but far more personalized and adaptable. Instead of relying on static templates, Darcula uses AI to create phishing pages that look eerily authentic, and which can be customizable for each individual attack. This means cybercriminals can generate deceptively realistic, context-aware content on the fly, making it much harder for both victims and automated systems to detect.  

With advancements like these, Darcula 3.0 makes the entire process more conniving and harder to stop. It is not just a “new standard” in phishing; it is a glimpse into the future of cybercrime, where attacks are faster, more scalable, and far more difficult to catch.  

Turning These Insights Into Cybersecurity Strategy

Cybercriminals weaponize phish kits like Darcula to launch hyper-realistic phishing scams. However, proactive strategies let you stop these scams before they strike. Deploying AI-powered email filters stops malicious messages before they reach employees, and enforcing Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) locks out hackers before they exploit data breaches. Training your team weekly to spot fake login pages, spoofed domains, and social engineering trick also helps you identify the types of tactics Darcula and other phish kits promote. 

But here’s the wake-up call: Your brand or personal data could already be in a hacker’s crosshairs—or worse, breached and for sale on the dark web. Phish kits constantly evolve, so monitor web traffic in real time for suspicious activity and block known phishing sites before employees or customers fall victim. Make your website a moving target by dynamically shifting design elements, making it harder for criminals to clone. 

Wondering if you’re already exposed? Get a free cybersecurity audit today to uncover whether phish kits are impersonating your brand, if fake domains are stealing customer data, or if your sensitive details are already circulating in criminal marketplaces. Don’t wait for the breach—find and eliminate threats before they strike. 

If you’re a consumer or small business affected by an ongoing phishing attack, you can also report it here. 

Conclusions

In the end, what once seemed like a growing trend in phishing kits is now a much more complex and powerful threat. Generative AI takes phishing to a whole new level, making it smarter and more customized than ever before. 

The post DARCULA 3.0: When Phishing Meets Generative AI   appeared first on EBRAND.

In this guide, we’re breaking down the trends, and pulling straightforward takeaways for businesses. Let’s explore the facts behind the threats, and create a practical plan to keep your business safe. Covering topics like Online Brand Protection (OBP) and Digital Risk Protection (DRP), we’ll outline an effective digital defence strategy, so let’s get into it. 

The Rising Tide of Cyber Threats 

Cybercrime’s financial impact continues to grow at an alarming rate, with projections showing it will cost the global economy £10.5 trillion annually by 2025. Attackers exploit vulnerabilities across all business functions, from core IT systems to brand reputation. We’ve seen hospitals paralyzed by ransomware attacks that disrupt critical patient care, while retailers and financial institutions battle sophisticated impersonation scams that erode customer trust and divert revenue. These aren’t hypothetical scenarios – they’re daily occurrences in today’s threat landscape. 

The financial consequences of cyber incidents reach unprecedented levels with each new attack. Recent data reveals that organisations now require an average of 258 days to identify and contain a breach, with each incident costing a record £4.88 million on average. In the UK alone, more than half of all businesses reported experiencing at least one cyberattack in the past five years, resulting in estimated losses of £44 billion in revenue. These figures demonstrate the cyber threat security revolution, as attack go from technical nuisances to existential business risks demanding executive-level attention. 

Medium and large companies? Medium and large risks

Cybercriminals go where the money is—and that means targeting medium and large businesses. These companies typically invest more in cyber threat security and brand protection, but they also have more to lose. Higher revenues come with higher stakes. 

According to the UK government’s Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2025, 67% of medium businesses and 74% of large businesses reported cyber breaches or attacks—rates that remain stubbornly high and unchanged from 2024. In contrast, only 35% of micro-businesses faced the same threats, and that number continues to drop. Phishing leads the pack as the most common attack type for medium and large businesses, followed closely by impersonation scams. On average, each cyber breach costs large businesses tens of thousands on average with each attack. 

That’s where Online Brand Protection comes in. As a comprehensive solution, it helps medium and large organisations defend against counterfeiters, fraudsters, and domain squatters by safeguarding your brand’s digital identity. Digital Risk Protection adds another layer of defence—tracking phishing campaigns, leaked credentials, and executive impersonation across dark web forums, social platforms, and rogue websites. 

Together, these tools form a smarter, more proactive digital strategy—keeping your brand and revenue safer than relying on traditional cybersecurity alone. 

Cyber Threat Security in the AI Boom

Emerging technologies like AI and IoT present both opportunities and new vulnerabilities. Forward-looking organisations now practice “premortem” security planning, anticipating potential threats before deploying new technologies. This proactive approach requires integrating cybersecurity considerations across all business units – from marketing to HR to operations – rather than treating it as solely an IT responsibility. In today’s environment, effective security demands organisation-wide engagement and executive leadership. 

While cybercrime operates across international borders, effective defence begins at the organisational level. Though initiatives like Interpol’s cybercrime units and national cybersecurity programs help establish global standards, individual businesses must take primary responsibility for their protection. Companies that prioritise comprehensive cyber threat security strategies often discover an unexpected benefit – robust cybersecurity has become a competitive differentiator that builds trust with customers and partners. 

The New Security Imperative 

The most resilient organisations move beyond reactive security postures. They now maintain complete visibility of their digital footprint, monitor for threats in real-time, and take proactive measures to disrupt attackers before they can execute their plans. These companies understand that brand protection and cybersecurity must work in concert, and they recognise security investments as business enablers rather than just cost centres. 

In our interconnected digital economy, comprehensive protection of brand assets and digital infrastructure has become fundamental to business continuity. OBP and DRP solutions are no longer optional enhancements – they’re critical components of any modern business strategy. Organisations that fail to prioritise these protections risk more than just data breaches; they jeopardise customer trust, brand reputation, and ultimately, their viability in the marketplace. 

Take the First Step Towards Comprehensive Cyber Threat Security 

Discover your organisation’s exposure to digital threats with our Free Threat Exposure Audit. We’ll scan the surface web, social media, and dark web channels to identify potential risks targeting your business. 

Let’s discuss how integrated Digital Risk Protection and Online Brand Protection solutions can safeguard your organisation before attackers strike with proactive cyber threat security. Now’s the time to act, before the next security breach makes headlines.  

The post How to build proactive cyber threat security for my business  appeared first on EBRAND.

Here, we’ll examine five important domain name services that proactively neutralize digital threats. From cryptographic DNS validation to global trademark enforcement, these solutions transform domains from vulnerabilities into defensive assets.  

1. DNSSEC: The Digital Notary of Domain Name Services

The Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC) function as a cryptographic notary for your online presence. By digitally signing DNS records, this protocol prevents attackers from hijacking queries or redirecting traffic to malicious clones.  

When a user attempts to access your website, DNSSEC-enabled resolvers verify each step of the lookup process against a chain of trust. This stops DNS spoofing (also called DNS cache poisoning) which is used in Man in the Middle attacks to intercept communications between a user and a legitimate site, or to funnel customers to counterfeit sites. Financial institutions and e-commerce platforms particularly benefit from these domain name services, as they safeguard sensitive transactions against interception. Find out more about DNSSEC and domain name cybersecurity in this detailed guide from our CTO, Anouar Adlani. 

Implementation requires coordination with your domain registrar and IT team to ensure proper key rotation and resolver compatibility. Enterprises managing complex domain portfolios should consider corporate domain management services to maintain consistent enforcement of DNSSEC across all of your domain assets.  

2. Exploring the Domain Cybersecurity Acronyms: SPF, DMARC, DKIM, and BIMI

Every business faces email-based threats like spoofing, phishing, and impersonation attacks that trick employees, customers, and partners. If it hasn’t happened to you yet, it will, unfortunately, affect your business at some point soon. These attacks often exploit weak domain security, making tools like SPF essential.  

SPF (Sender Policy Framework) locks down which servers can send emails from your domain. In the cybersecurity world, we consider SPF to be the baseline of secure domain name services to add to your assets in order to protect your communication channels inside and outside of your organization. Organizations should add this to any domain, regardless of whether it’s used for email or not. 

DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) adds a digital signature to prove emails aren’t tampered with in transit. This system collaborates with your other domain security measures to shut down email scams before they land in sensitive inboxes 

DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) blocks fraudulent emails by verifying sender legitimacy—if a message fails checks, it gets rejected. The system acts as an additional layer of security on top of existing SPF and DKIM setups, and its function depends on at least one of those setups being implemented correctly. 

Beyond that, BIMI (Brand Indicators for Message Identification) boosts trust by displaying your logo in inboxes—making phishing attempts stand out. Want to see how BIMI can protect your brand and improve your business communications, generating valuable results for your organization? Find out more in our dedicated guide. 

3. Introducing HTTPS Redirects

When looking at quick wins for your domain name services, HTTPS redirects upgrade your security while unlocking other business benefits too. Essentially, redirects route your traffic from less secure HTTP to encrypted HTTPS connections. This service protects user data from interception while boosting your marketing with improved SEO rankings and compliance with modern security standards.  

Comprehensive HTTPS redirect services simplify implementation, handling SSL certificates automatically and ensuring seamless redirections without broken links. With a straightforward solution, you’ll eliminate the need for manual renewals or expensive hosting setups. You can harden your digital perimeter and enhance your marketing performance by maintaining search visibility and securing customer trust. 

4. Domain Blocking: Proactive Brand Defense 

As one of the three pillars of a modern corporate domain strategy, domain blocks like DPML or Global Block empower brands to freeze out cybersquatters before they strike. These systems allow trademark holders and brand owners to block identical or confusingly similar domains across hundreds of Suffixes (or TLDs – Top-Level-Domains) like .career, .co, .email, .shop, or .zip. Even Web 3.0 extensions like .bitcoin, .crypto or .wallet can be blocked from cybersquatting. 

For comprehensive coverage, DPML extends this protection to over 260 new gTLDs with a single filing. Recent enhancements like DPML Plus now cover premium domains and common typos for decade-long periods, delivering effective domain name services. 

GlobalBlock represents the next evolution, applying these principles across 630+ generic and country-code TLDs, inclding 50 Web 3.0 Extension. Tactical domain blocking for business-critical strings delivers a cost-effective strategy compared with individual defensive domain registrations, and both enhance the ROI and increase strategic security of your digital asset management. 

5. Proactive Domain Name Services

Proactive tools exemplify the next generation of domain strategy. Looking beyond your existing infrastructure to scan the external threat landscape helps you identify vulnerabilities and anticipate threats. Solutions like Digital Risk Protection represent a cost-effective, data-led approach to stopping attackers before they exploit digital assets like your domains. By scanning DNS records and certificate logs hourly, it identifies suspicious patterns before attackers deploy them. This granular visibility reveals emerging threats like:  

• Typosquatting clusters mimicking your brand 

• Phishing subdomains under legitimate TLDs 

• Certificate spoofing attempts for SSL impersonation 

The system supports legal or technical intervention to crack down on malicious mail servers and minimize risks to your organization. Combined with active or defensive registration of high-risk domains and domain blocking, this creates a strategic layered defense against domain-based attacks.  

From Vulnerability to Strategic Asset 

Modern domain name services invert traditional security models by making your digital real estate an active barrier against threats. DNSSEC validates legitimate traffic, blocking tools erase opportunities for impersonation, and AI-driven monitoring anticipates attacker behavior.  

EBRAND’s free domain audit evaluates your current exposure to typosquatting, DNS hijacking, and certificate spoofing. Our experts will map your attack surface and recommend tailored protection strategies for your brand’s risk profile. 

The post Which Domain Name Services Help Defend Against Cyberattacks?  appeared first on EBRAND.

Here, we’re unpacking the emerging digital threats facing UK industry leaders with a seasoned expert. Lisa Deegan, with over 20 years of experience in cybersecurity, IP protection, and digital brand management, has been a trusted advisor to global brands. She’s worked alongside C-Suite executives to define and execute comprehensive threat intelligence (CTI) strategies, helping businesses stay ahead of evolving risks.

Her in-depth knowledge of digital threats, especially in the UK and European markets, makes her a valuable asset to EBRAND and its clients. Drawing from this expertise, we’ll provide concrete action points to secure your organization and prepare your team for the next wave of phishing attacks and cybersecurity challenges.

In Conversation with Lisa Deegan 

To welcome Lisa to EBRAND, we sat down with her to explore her professional journey, gain her insights into the future of cybersecurity, digital risk, and brand protection, and uncover her strategies for helping UK and Ireland businesses stay resilient in an increasingly challenging threat landscape.

Q: Hi Lisa, can you introduce yourself to our readers? 

Lisa: I’m delighted to join EBRAND as the Senior Director, UK and International Growth. Throughout my career, I’ve focused on helping organizations outsmart emerging threats through strategic risk management and innovative digital protection. EBRAND’s forward-thinking approach and dedication to safeguarding brands align perfectly with my passion for tackling complex cybersecurity challenges. I’m excited to contribute to their mission and help businesses stay resilient in an increasingly dynamic threat landscape. 

Q: What brought you to EBRAND? 

Lisa: The decision to join EBRAND was an easy one. The company’s reputation for innovation, its strong commitment to clients, and its position as a thought leader in Digital Risk and Online Brand Protection made it an irresistible opportunity. I’m passionate about solving complex challenges, and EBRAND’s solutions provide exactly the tools needed to address these issues effectively.  

Q: What trends do you see in the industry, as cybercriminals cyberattack UK brands? 

Lisa: Cybercriminals are becoming more sophisticated, and their tactics rapidly evolve, forcing brands to strengthen their defenses. Phishing remains one of the most common threats, targeting businesses daily with bulk attacks and identity fraud, while domain hijacking continues to challenge organizations, driving the adoption of DNSSEC as a critical countermeasure. Additionally, ransomware attacks have escalated, with criminals not only encrypting data but also threatening to leak sensitive information or target customers and partners. For example, in 2024, the ransomware attack on Synnovis, an NHS laboratory services provider, leaked 400GB of sensitive patient data, costing the company £32.7 million and forcing hospitals to cancel thousands of operations.

Beyond individual incidents, broader trends reshape the cybersecurity landscape. Cybersecurity and brand protection increasingly merge, as phishing scams and fake websites threaten both systems and corporate reputations. Digital risk protection becomes more and more essential, and companies monitor social media, apps, and other digital assets to proactively address threats like impersonation and data leaks. AI also plays a dual role: while attackers use it to automate sophisticated scams, organizations are deploying AI-powered tools to detect anomalies, predict attacks, and strengthen their defenses.

Looking at the broader picture, regulatory changes adding another layer of complexity to the landscape. Governments tighten cybersecurity and data protection laws, such as GDPR updates and AI-focused regulations, requiring businesses to stay agile and compliant. Meanwhile, the adoption of zero-trust models—where every access request is verified—has become the new standard for safeguarding sensitive systems. These trends highlight the need for organizations to act quickly, adapt to emerging risks, and invest in proactive strategies to remain resilient in an ever-evolving threat landscape.

Q: What do you expect to see next in the field? 

Lisa: AI-driven threats constantly increase their sophistication, making advanced Digital Risk Protection solutions essential for detecting and mitigating risks in real time. Artificial Intelligence takes spear phishing attacks and identity frauds to the next level with fluency, believability, sophistication, and frequency. Additionally, cross-border collaboration is growing in importance, as digital threats often transcend national boundaries. Organizations must adopt proactive strategies, such as integrating AI-powered tools and sharing intelligence across global networks, to remain secure and competitive in this rapidly evolving landscape.

Q: As scammers cyberattack UK brands, how can CISOs fight back? 

CISOs can fight back by implementing a comprehensive digital risk protection strategy that proactively targets threats across multiple channels while recognizing the growing convergence of cybersecurity and brand protection. Advanced AI-powered tools, leveraging machine learning, can monitor digital touchpoints like social media, ads, and websites to detect phishing attempts, fake profiles, and counterfeit websites in real time. These tools safeguard both a company’s systems and its reputation, addressing the overlap between security threats and brand impersonation.

Phishing remains a major tactic for cybercriminals, and AI-driven systems can flag suspicious activity before it reaches employees or customers, ensuring critical information stays secure. Conducting regular digital audits also helps identify vulnerabilities across the brand’s online presence and infrastructure, providing a holistic view of risks.

By adopting a multi-channel approach that combines smart digital risk protection tools, threat hunting, and ongoing assessments, CISOs can bridge the gap between cybersecurity and brand protection, staying ahead of scammers and defending their organizations against evolving cyberattacks. 

Meet Lisa and explore the latest cyberattack UK trends 

Exploring these issues online is one thing, but important conversations also happen face to face. We’re hitting the road this year, so let’s talk it out in person. Lisa and the team are heading to the Cybersecurity and Cloud Expo at Olympia London on February 5th and 6th. If you already have a TechEx account, you can book in a meeting with Lisa in the event’s portal, and if not, just reach out to her directly via email.

To get started on protecting your organization from scams and cyberattacks, get a snapshot of your threat landscape with a free digital risk audit. Let’s get proactive, and tackle cyber scams before they strike.

The post Scammers Cyberattack UK Brands: Fighting Back with Lisa Deegan  appeared first on EBRAND.

As a guiding principle, proactively hunting threats helps your business take a smarter approach to staying safe online. The practice enables organizations to identify and stop cyber threats before they escalate. Here, we’ll explore threat hunting, its benefits, and its integration into a broader Digital Risk Protection strategy. 

What is Threat Hunting? 

Threat hunting involves actively seeking undetected cyber threats within systems and networks around your organization. Unlike reactive security measures, it relies on constant digital patrols, data analysis, and advanced tools to anticipate and mitigate risks. This practice evolved from traditional defenses like firewalls and antivirus software. Today, it incorporates cutting-edge technologies, including AI, to enhance its effectiveness. 

AI revolutionizes our cybersecurity strategies by processing vast datasets quickly and detecting anomalies with precision. These advancements allow businesses to adapt as cybercriminal tactics evolve, making threat hunting a vital component of any well-protected team. 

How to Preempt Threats Effectively 

Effective threat hunting involves monitoring multiple channels, including domains, social media, websites, and dark web forums. Of course, AI accelerates the process, uncovering thousands of potential threats in moments. Tools like domain monitoring track fraudulent activity linked to brand misuse, while dark web surveillance reveals emerging scams. Social media monitoring identifies coordinated attacks aimed at brand impersonation. 

Monitoring app channels and web content also helps organizations round out their threat hunting channels. Scammers exploit legitimate platforms to distribute malicious campaigns, so companies must use incisive tools that open these channels for analysis and action. It’s not enough to simply search the web manually for scams, for example, as cybercriminals multiply their campaigns with evolving digital strategies. Increasingly, Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) amplify threats by automating the spread of harmful materials. To achieve comprehensive coverage, businesses must automate these efforts, as manual monitoring proves time-consuming and inefficient. 

Beyond monitoring alone, data augmentation takes threat hunting to the next level. Augmented threat hunting combines multiple data sources to uncover deeper insights. By integrating information from domain activity, dark web chatter, and social media trends, businesses can create a fuller picture of each potential threat. These insights inform decisive actions, whether it’s monitoring suspicious activity, blocking malicious actors, or initiating takedowns. Takedowns represent a key milestone in effective threat hunting, as organizations neutralize developing threats before they strike. With augmented data, cybersecurity efforts move beyond reactive defenses to proactive threat management.

From Theory to Action: Hunting Threats 

In practice as well as theory, threat hunting delivers dramatic results. Major organizations use the tactic to uncover vulnerabilities and mitigate breaches, spanning every sector from consumer transportation providers to investment firms and government agencies. Turning multi-million dollar breaches into effective takedowns saves revenues, reputations, and consumer data from attack. By contrast, unmonitored phishing campaigns compromise every organization from healthcare conglomerates to airports, wreaking untold havoc and leaking personal data across the internet. These kinds of cases underscore the need for vigilance, reinforcing threat hunting’s role in protecting against sophisticated attacks. 

Proactive cybersecurity represents a key responsibility for all large companies and groups, forming part of a comprehensive risk protection strategy. Threat hunting ultimately empowers these businesses to anticipate, identify, and neutralize threats before they harm their operations or customers. However, SMEs and individuals benefit more from smaller-scale website security features instead.

Why Threat Hunting Matters 

Threat hunting matters because it affects the bottom line: businesses save money by reducing breach impact and minimizing recovery costs. Proactive measures stop attackers in their tracks, and they also deter attackers from planning their strikes in the first place. Businesses benefit strategically and financially from greater customer trust, knowing their data is secure. Reduced risks translate into consistent revenue protection, while streamlined threat management improves operational efficiency. 

Proactivity builds confidence both internally and externally. Customers trust brands that demonstrate robust security practices, and employees feel assured knowing systems are well-guarded. This security-first approach safeguards digital assets and fosters long-term resilience. 

A Comprehensive Digital Risk Protection Strategy 

Threat hunting thrives as part of a broader Digital Risk Protection strategy. Platforms like EBRAND’s X-RAY streamline threat identification and mitigation. Automated detection tools and expert consultancy empower businesses to address risks and avert crises. Decades of expertise and AI-driven insights ensure efficient and effective protection from all shapes and sizes of modern digital risks. 

Starting a threat-hunting journey requires the right tools and expertise. A free digital threat audit delivers some solid first steps, providing concrete insights to help you get ahead of the next wave of threats.

The post Threat Hunting: How Modern Companies Intercept Cyber Threats  appeared first on EBRAND.

Understanding more about CDN scams opens a window into the mind of a cybercriminal, giving brands and consumers a better chance to mitigate the next attack. In this article, we’ll explore the technical side of fake shop campaigns, and unpack exactly what makes them so effective and hard to handle. We’ll also highlight the best solutions, giving you the tools you need to fight back, and protect your brand.  

CDN: What is a Content Delivery Network?   

A content delivery network (CDN) speeds up content delivery by caching assets like HTML pages, images, and videos. Positioned close to end users, CDNs shorten the distance between users and web servers.  Organizations use CDNs to efficiently deliver content around the world.  

Scammer have long used CDN technology to power realistic fake online shops. However, the newer generation of evasive fake CDNs makes their content harder to identify and shut down. They often combine a CDN with a lookalike domain that impersonates a legitimate brand, like “ebr4nd.com” to impersonate EBRAND. Then, they set up fake CDNs under neutral-sounding domains, such as “cdn.normaldomain.com”. Combining a convincing lookalike domain with a neutral-looking CDN equips the fake shop with versatile content and an air of believability.  

Crucially, the CDN structure also helps fraudsters distribute images, videos, and more across multiple fake stores. This tactic allows scammers to create redundancy and swap out content quickly. Even tech-savvy users struggle to spot the scams.  

Why CDNs Make Fake Shops More Effective—and Harder to Take Down  

CDNs offer advantages that make fake shops far more effective and challenging to eliminate. By caching and distributing content across multiple servers worldwide, they deliver speed, reliability, and reach—factors that fraudsters exploit to build convincing, efficient scams. Here’s how CDNs empower fake shops to deceive and persist:  

1. Fast Load Times and Lower Latency  

CDNs minimize load times and latency by delivering content from servers close to users. This speed allows fake shops to appear as responsive and reliable as legitimate ecommerce sites. Fast loading fake shops reduce user hesitation, drawing in consumers who may otherwise suspect a scam. For fraudsters, this also means a smoother experience that captures more victims before detection occurs.  

2. High Availability and Redundancy  

With servers around the globe, CDNs maintain high availability. If one server is down or blocked, the CDN redirects traffic to the next available server. This redundancy makes fake shops harder to remove; if authorities take down one site, other mirrored versions remain online. They thereby spin off new websites on the fly, without having to start from scratch every time. Buying tons of domains helps them redeploy the same infrastructure straight from their CDN files. This persistent network of fake shops creates a constant threat for brands, eroding trust with each new victim.  

3. Innocent-Looking and Trustworthy Domains  

By hosting fake shops under neutral, inconspicuous CDN domains (e.g., cdn.normaldomain.com), scammers shield their operations behind layers of legitimacy. The neutral appearance of a CDN link helps avoid raising red flags for consumers, who may not immediately suspect a problem. Fraudsters also often use innocent-seeming CDNs to deliver social media content, allowing them to seamlessly integrate fake shops with ads on platforms like Facebook.  

4. Higher Ranking in Organic Search Results  

Since Google favors fast-loading websites, CDNs can inadvertently boost the rankings of fake shops in search results. Better load times and low Time to Interactive scores (ideally under 3.8 seconds) can raise a site’s position, increasing visibility. Higher rankings drive more traffic to these fake sites, expanding the pool of potential victims before detection tools catch on.  

5. Social Media Compatibility and Malvertising  

CDNs allow scammers to effectively connect their fake shops with malvertising on social media. Fraudsters run ads directly linked to fake sites, often featuring time-sensitive “deals” that encourage impulse clicks. Social media ads typically have a short lifespan, and the high availability of CDN-backed fake sites keeps them live and reachable even after some ads are removed. These ads make fake shops appear legitimate, especially when layered with positive comments or endorsements.  

For both brands and consumers, these CDN-powered fake shops present a serious risk. Scammers exploit the very features that make CDNs valuable to legitimate businesses, creating realistic and resilient fake shops that trick consumers and resist takedown efforts. Brands face reputational damage, and consumers lose funds and data. CDNs, while vital for online business, have inadvertently become a powerful tool in the toolkit of cybercriminals.  

CDN Fake Shops in Action: A Recent Example  

These fake shop tactics pose a genuine threat, both in theory and in practice. One recent case, dubbed the “Eriakos” campaign, highlights how dangerous these CDN-powered operations can be. Detected in April 2024, the Eriakos network promoted over 600 fake ecommerce sites through Facebook ads, targeting mobile users and directing them to counterfeit stores. The Eriakos campaign took advantage of psychological tactics, promoting eye-catching discounts that seemed too good to miss. Ads flooded Facebook with offers like an 87.5% discount on Nike sneakers, North Face jackets, and Amazon iPhones—prices that immediately captured attention. These “limited-time” deals created a false urgency, prompting quick clicks from users fearing they’d miss out.  

To ensure wide reach, each fake domain was promoted through dozens, sometimes over a hundred, individual ads. This approach allowed the scammers to cast a large net, bypassing ad detection filters on social media. Even as Facebook’s filters blocked some of these ads, many others remained active, luring more victims to these fraudulent shops.  

Once visitors arrived, the sites prompted them to enter payment information, claiming to secure these unbeatable discounts. In reality, the scammers used this information to siphon off funds and capture financial data for resale on dark web markets. The threat actors behind Eriakos demonstrated how a CDN can make a fraud network resilient: as Facebook occasionally flagged and removed some of their ads, the CDN-backed sites stayed active, quickly regenerating with fresh domains. This redundancy allowed the fake shops to persist across multiple domains, keeping their scam active and well-hidden.  

Conclusions: How to Fight Back Against CDN Scams  

CDN-based fake shop scams pose many challenges, but the more you know about them, the better your chances of detecting and taking them down. We at EBRAND detect and eliminate fake shops every day. Understanding how these scams operate is key to protecting your brand.  

CDNs play a significant role in these scams by hosting high-quality imagery and stolen brand logos, giving fake shops a veneer of legitimacy. Using image recognition technology can help detect unauthorized use of your brand assets, allowing you to catch these threats early. It’s also important to stay vigilant against seemingly neutral domains hosting CDNs with potential malicious intent.  

When it comes to takedowns, combining technical tactics, like registrar takedowns, with legal actions such as DMCA requests is your best defense. To learn more about takedown strategies, check out our expert guide.  

However, the first step is regular monitoring. By actively tracking your brand online, you can uncover fake shops and protect your clients as soon as possible. To find out what’s out there right now, get a free fake shop audit here. 

The post CDN: How tech tactics help fake shops avoid detection  appeared first on EBRAND.