Re: Internet Keyword System..

[Alex Swavely <cohort () swavely net>]

Consider, there was a while back and "Internet Keyword Service" based in
the US that was getting a lot of attention at the time, but has since
lost a lot of their traction.  The company is still out there, though.

Currently, the only 'keyword' system I see today is simply a "I'm
Feeling Lucky" Google search via Firefox/Netscape.

IMHO, this is not a "web security" thing at all, this is more akin to
trademark registration.

I would wad up the fax and round-file it myself.

cc wrote:
> Dear All,
>
> I received the following fax today and would like some advice.  The
> company that faxed me this letter also faxed me a newspaper clipping
> from 2004 about this Internet Keyword Service/system.
>
> (Internet Keyword Service(IKS) allows the user to enter a 'keyword'
> on the location bar of the browser and it will then go directly to
> the company's website.  ie. if Securityfocus.com registered
> "SecurityFocus", and a user typed in "Securityfocus", instead of going
> to whatever search engine, it will go directly to securityfocus.com.)
>  [personally, I don't know how this will work without needing the user
> to set the 'search engine' to some China-based one, and whether or not
> it will work with non-registered ones.]
[...]
> Can someone please point out how this system would 'aid' Web Security?
>   Furthermore, is this an example of 'social engineering' (due to the
> 'scare tactics' and 'pressure' of getting a response)?
[...]
> I personally do not see any relevance as to how this will improve 'web
> security'.  I'm getting the 'this seems more like a cash-cow' than an
> incentive to protect businesses.

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