New research from CSC’s State of Online IP Risk 2026 report has found that impersonation is the biggest online intellectual property (IP) infringement concern for organisations, cited by 40% of respondents. Phishing and domain name abuse follow closely behind, both at 39%. The research surveyed 300 senior executives specialising in IP law, including general counsels, chief legal officers and chief technology officers.

The findings come as organisations report a rise in online IP infringement. More than eight in ten respondents (82%) have seen infringement rise over the past 12 months, including 27% who have experienced a significant increase. Looking ahead, 29% expect a significant increase over the next year, rising to 52% over the next three years.

AI is expected to add further pressure. Nine in ten (90%) respondents believe AI-enabled systems are increasing the frequency of online IP infringements and similar threats. Adding to this, almost all (98%) believe AI-enabled processes could expose their organisations to IP infringements over the next three years. More than two in five (43%) expect their organisation to be “extremely” exposed.

This is fueling concern among organisations. Almost all (96%) respondents are either “very” or “slightly” concerned about online IP infringement, up from 91% in CSC’s 2025 research. The growing volume of infringement is also creating operational pressure. Almost three quarters (73%) noted slow enforcement processes as a challenge when managing IP infringements, while 65% pointed to small teams or a lack of dedicated staff and 64% cited the high volume of infringement activity. Despite this, 59% said they outsource half or less of their infringement monitoring to specialist third parties.

“Beyond brand damage alone, online IP infringements cause a variety of consequences for businesses today including lost revenue, customer harm, and regulatory exposure,” states Elliott Champion, Senior Director of Technology, Brand Protection at CSC. “The primary goal for organisations must be to ensure that their marketing, IT, security, and legal teams are aligned on their IP and domain management strategies–particularly in advance of any domain expansions that occur following approved gTLD applications. Relying only on defensive registration strategies will become more expensive, so we recommend combining risk-based registrations with blocking, monitoring, enforcement, and abuse mitigation.”

Additional key findings include:

•       Regulatory issues and penalties were cited by 66% of respondents as a significant consequence of IP infringement.
•       Most respondents (59%) say they outsource half or less of their infringement monitoring activities to specialist third parties
•       With ICANN’s new round of gTLDs expanding the domain namespace in 2026, 60% cited the cost of defensive domain registrations as a concern, while 58% are concerned about cybersquatting or brand-infringing registrations under new extensions.

To learn more about the current scale, speed, and sophistication of digital IP risk, as well as CSC’s recommendations for organisations to strengthen their defences, visit here to download The State of Online IP Risk 2026 report.

For more information on how CSC supports CISOs and security teams with domain security and management, visit CSC | The Most Security Conscious Domains Provider | CSC.