Bogus Hillary site highlights online perils

The site is registered, not to Ms Clinton, but to an administrator in the Cayman Islands. Its existence underscores the challenge 2016 US presidential hopefuls will face in trying to control their digital brands.

Hillaryclinton. org bears the likely Democratic presidential candidate’s name, but she would not want supporters to go there: some cyber security experts said this week the site contains malicious software.

The site is registered, not to Ms Clinton, but to an administrator in the Cayman Islands. Its existence underscores the challenge 2016 US presidential hopefuls will face in trying to control their digital brands, more important than ever before as voters increasingly turn to the Internet to learn more about candidates.

An examination by Reuters of domains including the full names of eight Republican and four Democratic hopefuls, ending in . com, . org, . net and . info, showed that only a few of those sites appear to be under the control of the candidates.

The rest are seemingly owned by a hodgepodge of buyers — from self- declared fans of the candidates to anonymous registrants who have “parked” the domains — that is to say owned but unused, for undisclosed reasons.

“Welcome to the Wild Wild West of the Internet,” said Patrick Peterson, the chief executive of cyber safety company Agari.

Texas Senator Ted Cruz learned that the hard way last week when he became the first major Republican contender to announce his bid for the presidency.

Ted cruz. com, whose owner is anonymous, immediately attracted increased attention but for the wrong reasons: its p roO bama, pro- immigration reform message. The real Cruz has vowed to fight President Barack Obama’s immigration reforms.

Several experts, including from Trend Micro and Trusted Sec, who reviewed the hillaryclinton. org site at the request of Reuters said it contained malware that could infect users’ computers or phish for personal information. Kevin Epstein, a vice president at cyber security company Proofpoint, said the site had “classic domain- squatting drive- by download malware.” The owner of hillaryclinton. org did not respond to a request for comment.

A source familiar with Ms Clinton’s office said she values using “innovative ways on digital platforms” to communicate should she run for the presidency.

“But that doesn’t mean that this kind of thing isn’t going to happen from time to time, as we’ve seen with others in recent weeks.”