The Online Brand Rating™ is an independent valuation and metric model that measures exposure to current and future corporate identity fraud, including phishing, based on IP Governance standards. These include federal and state regulations such as Sarbanes-Oxley, Gramm-Leach-Bliley-Act, banking regulations and related best business practices from the AICPA (American Institute of CPA's) for safeguarding intellectual property from fraudulent and wasteful uses. One aspect of IP Governance is the FDIC's FIL 64-2005. This directs banks to submit periodic risk assessments of domain name risks to their Board of Directors.
The Online Brand Rating, for each firm, measures:
| (1) | for Boards of Directors and senior management, their efforts to safeguard, per their fiduciary and duty of care responsibilities, corporate trademarks from fraudulent and dilutive online infringements by unauthorized parties. |
| (2) | for C-Level executives and regulators, the adequacy and quality of internal controls at the corporate governance level to prevent, detect, report and disclose (Suspicious Activity Reports; Privacy & Security Statements; Forward-Looking Risks in SEC filings) corporate identity fraud per federal and state standards. |
| (3) | for consumers, the degree of exposure to current and future corporate identity fraud with an Online Brand Rating scale that ranges from “F” (non-compliance) to “A” (compliance). |
Corporate identity fraud is the illegal use of corporate trademarks in the form of domain names and related fake web sites and email addresses that are registered and used by cyber criminals to deceive, divert and, in the worst case, defraud consumers with phishing scams and malware. These are designed to gain unlawful or fraudulent access to financial information of individuals.
Fraudulent access to financial information is a central theme within the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and related Security and Privacy Standards. Phishing cases prosecuted by the FTC that centered on the fraudulent use of corporate trademarks include
"FTC v. Zachary Keith Hill" and
"FTC v. C.J.". Preventing fraudulent access to financial information through fake web sites and related phishing cases is addressed by a series of federal bank standards. These direct banks to have matching domain names and trademarks for each brand and country of operation along with a system to prevent, detect, and report the fraudulent use of their corporate assets, including domain names, by cyber criminals. Enacting these standards reduces exposure to corporate identity fraud and leads, in the strongest case, to an Online Brand Rating of "A".
Exposure to corporate identity fraud is reflected in Online Brand Ratings that range from A to F20, where F20 signifies a very high degree of exposure. The ratings are designed to help Audit and Technology Committees, CxO's, Privacy Officers, Accountants, Compliance Officers, Trademark attorneys, lenders, investors and consumers understand and assess a trademark portfolio's exposure to corporate identity fraud. The Online Brand Ratings are based on public information relating to corporate trademarks and due diligence per the
IP Goverrnance standards.
With the release of the Google Finance Search Engine during March, 2006, individual Online Brand Rating postings are syndicated and posted within the matching home finance page for each organization.
