IP Library Granted Patent US 11,902,324
Granted Patent B2
US 11,902,324 · App. 17/711,472 · Granted Feb 13, 2024

System and methods for spoofed domain identification and user training

Inventors: Stu Sjouwerman (Belleair, FL); Alin Irimie (Clearwater, FL); Greg Kras (Dunedin, FL)
H04L63/1466G06N20/00H04L63/1416
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,902,324
App. No.
17/711,472
Granted
Feb 13, 2024
Kind
B2
Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed that minimize ongoing risk to an organization from user behaviors which magnify the severity of a spoofed domain. Systems and method are provided which enable an entity and users of an entity to identify potential harmful domains, combining search, discovery, reporting, the generation of risk indicators, end-user risk assessments, and training into a security awareness system.

Claims (25)

1. A method comprising:

identifying, by one or more processors, via mail exchange records of each of a plurality of uniform resource locators (URLs) of a plurality of spoofed domains of a domain name of an entity, a first one or more spoofed domains of the plurality of spoofed domains of the entity are registered to one or more parties other than the entity and a second one or more spoofed domains of the plurality of spoofed domains of the entity are unregistered;

determining, by the one or more processors, a level of spoof risk for the domain name of the entity based at least on a number of the first one or more spoofed domains that are registered to one or more parties other than the entity in comparison to a number of the plurality of spoofed domains, wherein the level of spoof risk for the domain name is higher when the number of the first one or more spoofed domains of the plurality of spoofed domains of the entity is greater than the number of the second one or more spoofed domains of the plurality of spoofed domains of the entity;

identifying, by the one or more processors based at least on the level of spoof risk, the second one or more spoofed domains of the plurality of spoofed domains of the entity that are unregistered; and

generating a notification that the second one or more spoofed domains are available to be registered to the entity.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising identifying, by a domain test manager, the second one or more spoofed domains of the plurality of spoofed domains as available to be registered by the entity.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining, by the one or more processors, the level of spoof risk for the domain name of the entity based on aggregating one or more levels of spoof risk of the plurality of spoofed domains.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining, by the one or more processors, the level of spoof risk for the domain name of the entity based on a number of users of the entity that have been trained about typo squatting or domain spoofing.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining, by the one or more processors, the level of spoof risk for the domain name of the entity based on a number of users of the entity that have been passed security awareness tests on recognizing domains that are spoofs of the entity domain.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining, by the one or more processors, the level of spoof risk for the domain name of the entity based on a number of the spoofed domains that have an active web server.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein one or more of the plurality of spoofed domains comprises punycodes or permutations of a uniform resource locator (URL) of the domain of the entity.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising communicating, by the one or more processors, to one or more devices of one or more users an electronic training configured to train the one or more users to identify between the domain of the entity and one or more of the plurality of spoofed domains.

9. A system comprising:

one or more processors, coupled to memory, and configured to:

identify, via mail exchange records of each of a plurality of uniform resource locators (URLs) of a plurality of spoofed domains of a domain name of an entity, a first one or more spoofed domains of the plurality of spoofed domains of the entity are registered to one or more parties other than the entity and a second one or more spoofed domains of the plurality of spoofed domains of the entity are unregistered;

determine a level of spoof risk for the domain name of the entity based at least on a number of the first one or more spoofed domains that are registered to one or more parties other than the entity in comparison to a number of the plurality of spoofed domains, wherein the level of spoof risk for the domain name is higher when the number of the first one or more spoofed domains of the plurality of spoofed domains of the entity is greater than the number of the second one or more spoofed domains of the plurality of spoofed domains of the entity;

identify, based at least on the level of spoof risk, the second one or more spoofed domains of the plurality of spoofed domains of the entity that are unregistered; and

generate a notification that the second one or more spoofed domains are available to be registered to the entity.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein a domain test manager is configured to identify the second one or more spoofed domains of the plurality of spoofed domains as available to be registered by the entity.

11. The system of claim 9 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to determine the level of spoof risk for the domain name of the entity based on aggregating one or more levels of spoof risk of the plurality of spoofed domains.

12. The system of claim 9 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to determine the level of spoof risk for the domain name of the entity based on a number of users of the entity that have been trained about typo squatting or domain spoofing.

13. The system of claim 9 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to determine the level of spoof risk for the domain name of the entity based on a number of users of the entity that have been passed security awareness tests on recognizing domains that are spoofs of the entity domain.

14. The system of claim 9 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to determine the level of spoof risk for the domain name of the entity based on a number of the spoofed domains that have an active web server.

15. The system of claim 9 , wherein one or more of the plurality of spoofed domains comprises punycodes or permutations of a uniform resource locator (URL) of the domain of the entity.

16. The system of claim 9 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to communicate to one or more devices of one or more users an electronic training configured to train the one or more users to identify between the domain of the entity and one or more of the plurality of spoofed domains.

Assignments (4)
PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Aug 8, 2025
From: KNOWBE4, INC.
To: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 072337/0277 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENT COLLATERAL RECORDED AT REEL/FRAME: 062627/0001 Recorded Jul 28, 2025
From: BLUE OWL CREDIT INCOME CORP. (FORMERLY KNOWN AS OWL ROCK CORE INCOME CORP.)
To: KNOWBE4, INC.
Reel/Frame 072108/0205 →
PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Feb 2, 2023
From: KNOWBE4, INC.
To: OWL ROCK CORE INCOME CORP., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 062627/0001 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 21, 2022
From: SJOUWERMAN, STU; IRIMIE, ALIN; KRAS, GREG
To: KNOWBE4, INC.
Reel/Frame 062166/0789 →
Continuity (3)
Continuation 16865952 · May 4, 2020
Continuation 16143132 · Sep 26, 2018
Related Publication 20220224719A1 · Jul 14, 2022