Company Name: BrandProtect
Executive Name: Michael Kiefer
Title: General manager and executive vice president
Web Site: http://www.brandprotect.com

ITA: In 10 words or less, what problem does BrandProtect solve for your clients?
Michael Kiefer: We identify, manage and mitigate Internet trademark abuse.

ITA: What motivated you to join BrandProtect?
MK: I’ve been involved in network security for many years. For the most part, the reality is that the network is pretty secure. The technology is out there that does a great job of making a well-fortified perimeter a lousy target. The bad guys have realized it’s much easier to attack an organization outside of the network.

Why attack a hardened network when you can simply attack a company’s reputation and do 100 times more damage? I joined BrandProtect because I believe the major threat facing organizations over the coming years will be non-traditional attacks against rights, revenue and reputation. These attacks will come from outside the network.

ITA: How does BrandProtect differentiate from its competitors?
MK: Unlike traditional domain-monitoring companies, we are 100 percent BrandProtection end to end. We even conduct the cease-and-desist operations where we take down the bad guys. We monitor, manage and mitigate while they only monitor and push all enforcement activities back to their clients.

ITA: What type of clients provide BrandProtect’s primary source of income?
MK: Our clients are many of the Fortune 500 along with many of the world’s most recognized brands.

ITA: How has your business sector evolved over the last five years?
MK: Five years ago, no one could have predicted the rise of social media or how quickly it would be exploited by identity thieves, phishers and vhishers. Our business has quickly evolved to help organizations monitor and manage their entire reputation online.

This ranges from trademark infringement, product counterfeits on eBay, diversion of Web traffic, social media monitoring, channel partners that illegally use your logo and even competitors that use your brand names online. We also provide mitigation services where we work with law enforcement or ISPs to actually stop the bad guys.

ITA: “Internet reputation management” is the term you use for what your business offers to clients. What does that term entail? How is it utilized within the products you offer?
MK: I’ll give you an example that applies to financial institutions. In order to mitigate risks to banking customers, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) now requires all financial institutions to perform an Internet presence risk assessment.

Most financial institutions today engage in an ongoing assessment of their internal information systems. However, they don’t necessarily engage in an Internet presence risk assessment. We assess Internet risk by monitoring an organization’s exposure to significant Internet threats and benchmarking against industry standards.

We measure the magnitude and impact of each infraction and work with the financial institution to set boundaries for acceptable risk. An advanced rating system assigns scores to each threat based on the overall risk exposure and likelihood of mitigation. These provide the foundation for the removal of the most serious threats.

Following the identification of these threats, we then conduct an in-depth analysis of the reach, severity, frequency and complexity of each threat to calculate the overall threat impact and likelihood scores. By assessing these attributes using benchmarked data, we can determine an institution’s exposure to Internet threats and their potential impact. From there, we design a program that addresses those risks.

ITA: How does having a Midwestern location help you in the IT industry as a whole?
MK: We’re central to anyone and everyone. We have access to great talent with a fantastic work ethic.

ITA: What are the Web 2.0 issues regarding identity theft? How has this crime evolved?
MK: While the Internet has enabled unprecedented growth in global commerce, it has also become a hotbed for issues ranging from brand and trademark infringement to phishing attacks and Web traffic diversions. These Internet threats mislead consumers and expose organizations to liability.

They divert consumer traffic from its intended destination and falsely connect corporate brands with illegal or offensive activities. They also lead to significant financial losses, a decline in investor confidence and impact relationships with existing and prospective customers.

Left unchecked, companies risk diluting their rights over their intellectual property or missing out on opportunities to enhance Internet traffic flow. They can even be blindsided by reputation “tipping points” where simmering issues begin to boil to the point where shareholder value is seriously compromised.

Given the extent of damage that could be sustained by organizations exposed to these online threats, Gartner named enterprise Internet reputation management (EIRM) a critical concern for every enterprise doing business on the Web. This is supported by further research that global CEOs and risk managers have identified reputation as the biggest threat to enterprises for 2008 and beyond.

ITA: What trends do you see heading into the last quarter of 2009 that are relevant to the industry and your company?
MK: While the pundits are preaching the equalizing benefits of social media for marketing, few are actively speaking about the risks from social media. We expect to see a major case of identity theft enabled by social media in the coming months. This will propel social media monitoring for both positive and negative comments.