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Nowadays, brands, corporations and service organizations all do business on the web in some fashion. It is not only Internet businesses. In order to engage a customer base, internal and external vendors, employees and the like,online entities must employ a solid digital presence. More so, they must employ safeguards for the protection of such digital assets. Otherwise, they risk putting all they have worked for, including reputation and the ability to prosper.

With this risk and complexity, it doesn’t amaze me to see many organizations not managing their digital assets as a whole, but rather in a piecemeal fashion. But, in the end, it makes sense. Managing IP across the enterprise is a complex task, with digital technologies evolving so rapidly. If you launch a new product, a new website gets launched with it. If your marketing team thinks up a new promo idea in Beijing, they register it on a social media network using a new user name. Again, it is understandable, but particularly dangerous, as each new digital asset adds complexity, and with that risk.

It only stands to reason that managing a digital portfolio today, varies greatly, dependent upon the size and needs of a business. An established brand that operates in a global market will need a much more complex digital footprint than a new ecommerce venture.

However, regardless of the size and needs of an entity doing business online, we have come to identify a slew of common challenges. This is heightened even more, with the introduction of 1400 plus new gTLDs thrown into the DNS mix. Now, the threats to your digital assets are multiplied, as there is more to attack and more places to be attacked from. Also, with the addition of social media platforms and other places that your digital brand can be attacked from, the threat is heightened.

With the introduction of all the complexities, is your brand ready to battle these online threats? Are you practicing vigilance enough to protect your brand against these threats to your brand round the clock.

Let’s take a look at some of the threats:

Domain Squatting

Also referred to as CyberSquatting, this is when a person with ill intent registers a domain name that they do not have the rights to. With the number of new gTLDs growing, digital brand owners can see a lot more of this. With the high cost of legal proceedings, the rightful owner often just pays these cyber criminals for the domain, usually for lots of money and they secure it.

Another type of cyber squatting is known as TypoSquatting where Cyber criminals identify domain names and register them with misspelled names such as Nikee.com or Wallmart.com.

Online Counterfeiting

Counterfeit goods have quickly made their way off the streets of NYC and Bangkok and onto the online world, where they are much harder to recognize. Counterfeiting has become an art, not only in fooling people but in identifying. Experts believe that 2015 will be a banner year for online shopping and with that a groundbreaking year for online counterfeiters.

Mobile

Because of its’ immediacy, mobile apps represent the next force to be dealt with in the area of brand protection. Mobile is the top factor influencing shoppers and businesses worldwide. Mobile apps have been transitioning brands to a place where they can influence their customers and create a conduit for communication, with messages going both ways non stop.

An app disguising itself as one from a legitimate app can exact heavy damage on a brand’s reputation.

I hope this post has shed some light on the need to protect your brand in this increasingly complex landscape. Please feel free to share.