ICANN survey reveals cybersquatting awareness

Less than 50% of internet users are aware of cybersquatting, an ICANN survey has revealed.

According to the “ICANN Global Registrant Survey”, 40% of end users are aware of the issue, while awareness among domain name registrants is slightly higher, at 54%.

Additionally, 18% of the total respondents said cybersquatting was not a very common problem. This was higher than the equivalent figures for phishing, spamming and malware.

When asked whether they fear cybersquatting, 40% of domain registrants said they were not at all scared, compared to 30% for phishing and 23% for malware. The survey showed that 28% have taken no measures to avoid being a victim of cybersquatting.

The survey also found that for parties seeking to tackle cybersquatting, ICANN was the most popular body to refer to in order to deal with the problem. This was ahead of national law enforcement groups and consumer protection agencies.

The number of people surveyed was 3,357 domain name registrants and 6,144 end users from Asia, Europe, Africa, North America and South America. The results were published by ICANN last month.

Akram Atallah, president of ICANN’s global names division, said: “This survey provides us with a better understanding with how registrants view the domain space and internet, and will help inform future reviews of the [generic top-level domain] programme.”