Microsoft 'URL Tracer' Hunts Typosquatters

TonioSop writes "Microsoft Research has released a new tool to help pinpoint large-scale typosquatters that are known to be gaming pay-per-click domain parking services. The lightweight prototype, called Strider URL Tracer, builds on the work within Microsoft's Cybersecurity and Systems Management group to keep tabs on a sophisticated typosquatting scheme that uses multilayer URL redirection to make money from Google's AdSense for domains program. "

Yay?

[GrumblyStuff]

But would MS really like it being used to help fix Google's troubles?

Re:Yay?

[larry bagina]

Well, this is from Microsoft Research, which is reminiscent of what Bell Labs used to be like. Anyhow, it helps google, but it also throws egg on their face... like when 3rd parties release IE bug fixes before MS does.

Curiosity and the child

[SlyW]

A child's curiosity will always trump the laid down law. Unless of course you beat them on a regular basis.

According to TFA:

The Typo-Patrol scanner built into the tool currently consists of a network of 17 machines, each running a daemon process that monitors its own input-request queue residing in a folder on a central management machine. According to Wang, when a list of typo-domains is dropped into the queue, the daemon fetches the list and launches virtual machines to visit each domain.
The daemon copies all recorded data to the host machine, including information on all secondary URLs visited, the content of all HTTP requests and responses, and optionally a screen shot. Upon completing the scan of the entire list, the daemon copies all data to its output folder on the central management machine, Wang said.
Recorded data in the output folder is inserted into a typo-domain database for data queries and analysis.

Doesn't sound like a tool for general release.

More to the point, with enough information and the proper lobbying we can probably expect to see some legislation addressing this. If not legislation, then at least some lawsuits.

I think this will lead to a crackdown on the #!@#%...ahem...typosquatters and some good(?) PR for M$.

Re:Sleezy - glad someone is looking into it

[generic-man]

Google AdSense for domains [google.com]

If Google does it, it obviously isn't an evil act.

Re:Great news.

[arivanov]

There are people who are using specialised software for this and it is a well developed industry.

For example:

Most UK Nildram customers with a static IP have a hostname in the form username.gotadsl.co.uk. Nildram has minimal restrictions on services which you can run (only SMTP is subject to relay check, everything else is fare game). It is also an old business ISP so most people on static IPs are actually running something on these addresses.

So as a result some enterprising individual is running a dedicated typosquatting service. In fact it has been running it for quite a while.

If you query any address in the domain goatadsl.co.uk you will always get the following answer:

$dig arivanov.goatadsl.co.uk
arivanov.goatadsl.co.uk. 86400 IN A 217.160.182.197

Similarly,
$dig aivanov.goatadsl.co.uk
aivanov.goatadsl.co.uk. 86400 IN A 217.160.182.197

And
$dig utterbollocks.goatadsl.co.uk
utterbollocks.goatadsl.co.uk. 86400 IN A 217.160.182.197

I have not tried what is on that IP, but it is a classic typosquatting on an industrial scale. It has been there for at least a year now, possibly longer.

This is just an example off the top of my head. I bet that there are plenty others out there.

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[account_deleted]

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Even Microsoft, don't forget...

[TheNetAvenger]

Even Microsoft, don't forget...

Microsoft is a 'big' company, and even as much as we can dislike MS as a whole or things they do or have done, it is easy to forget that a LOT of strong minded tech people work there.

So when MS releases something of benefit it is a bit hard to stomach for a lot of people, but easy once we step back and remember that MS as a whole is comprised of many bright tech people that USE technology on a daily basis, and not even all the people at Microsoft are 'Windows' only people.

MS research is one area that is the most evident of tech minded people without the corporate controls, but good developers exists throughout MS so we can't expect everything they do to be wrong or evil. Look at it from a statistical view if nothing else.

So sure MS will put out selfless tools that help customers and computer users from time to time.

Having been a person that has watched MS for a long time, I remember days when they seemed to care about the little person and companies, and a shift in the mid 90s where that focus was lost. I remember when MS technologies were made and distributed for many OSes, not just Windows. From Media Player to IE, etc. These were free technologies that didn't fit the 'Windows' business model that Ballmer has made the central focus of the company, unfortunately.

The potential for this concept of business to return is there. Ballmer is a business person, not a true tech person, nor an innovative mind when it comes to technology. He is the face of the evil side of MS, and Bill G. giving control to him is the biggest mistake of MS history.

If I was going to paint the evil face of MS it would be Ballmer and his followers. I don't think Gates understands business enough to realize this, nor do I think he is inherently a business only person. His parents were very charitable and pushed for making peoples lives better. His failure is in not recognizing the evil aspects of business and the greed that is can create and is embodied in Ballmer.

So offtopic a bit, but the foundation of my views on this technology. Not everything at MS is evil and there still exist people there with the original 'empowering' concepts that flourished pre-Ballmer mindset and control. Gates use to wrangle him in, and for whatever reason stopped, and MS became the company they fought against for years at Ballmers control and advice.

So it is nice to see from time to time evidence that the non-Ballmer business model still does exist within MS, who knows, maybe there is hope for them to figure out the Ballmer and his followers mistakes and go back to a company that gives a crap.