A Vancouver cybersecurity expert is facing a $1 million lawsuit in the U.S., where he’s accused of cybersquatting and intercepting a law firm’s emails.

Wesley Kenzie, who runs a Vancouver firm called Securikai, has been served with the lawsuit by Gioconda Law Group of New York.

He has until the end of this week to answer the lawsuit, said owner Joe Gioconda from New York.

The firm alleges Kenzie had registered the Internet domain name GiocondoLaw.com, which is one letter off the firm’s domain name of GiocondaLaw.com, according to U.S. federal court documents.

It’s a common illegal practice called “typosquatting,” that has been around for years, said Gioconda.

“What makes this case unique or more disturbing to us is he allegedly set up email accounts intended to capture emails sent to our firm,” which, ironically, specializes in brand protection.

“It’s certainly brazen. We’re probably not the easiest target,” he said.

Gioconda said Kenzie, who attended BCIT and calls himself a “cyber security and mobile app developer” on LinkedIn, had his knuckles rapped in a similar ploy with U.S. defence contract Lockheed Martin Corp.

He purchased the names LockheedMarton.com and LockheedMartun.com, said Gioconda.

Kenzie claimed he was researching Lockheed’s “email vulnerabilities,” but in May, a panel that handles domain name disputes found “Kenzie’s attempt to intercept Lockheed’s private emails was motivated by a bad faith attempt to extort money,” according to a release by the law firm.

The panel ruled it was “obvious” it was Kenzie who had created the alleged breach and “his purpose was to offer services to the complainant, looking for a financial gain.”

The suit also alleges Kenzie is using the same techniques with major corporations, including MasterCard and McDonald’s.

From the balcony of his Strathcona home, Kenzie said he had no comment, promising to talk later.

And in an email, he said, you “may want to read about my research over the past seven months on this email vulnerability” on his website.

According to court documents, Kenzie allegedly asked another company for $295 and an undisclosed fee in another similar case and when the company didn’t respond, Kenzie emailed back, asking if he could blog about the company’s email vulnerability.

None of the allegations have been proved in court.

Giaconda said his firm has asked for punitive damages of up to $1 million, to deter Kenzie from further similar attempts.

Gioconda said he filed a complaint about Kenzie with the RCMP’s anti-fraud unit, but spokesman Sgt. Duncan Pound said the RCMP received legal advice that the case was a civil matter and was not investigating further.

Source from:http://www.theprovince.com/news/Vancouver+cybersquatter+with+million+lawsuit/6908017/story.html

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