Data, due to increased accessibility and interconnection, has been making the World Wide Web go round. Without your log-in credentials, you can’t check your email, see what your friends and family are up to on social media, listen to music or watch movies and your favorite shows on streaming services, book a ride, shop for groceries, or do online transactions.

This fact has made your personally identifiable information or PII even more important than cash to some extent so protecting it should be your utmost priority. Why? Because cybercriminals are bound to attempt to steal your data by any means necessary.

Data-stealing has gained ubiquity because selling PII is a lucrative business for cyber thieves. A survey of cybercriminal underground markets in 2015 showed the following:

I’ve limited the list to include only items that are related to what I’m going to share about today—WHOIS database downloads and how they can help you secure your PII.

WHOIS databases are quite useful for companies that maintain virtual real estates—websites and pages. They are especially handy for cybersecurity, digital marketing, brand protection, law enforcement, domaining, market research, and several other practical uses.

How WHOIS Databases Can Protect PII

Cybercriminals have been known to obtain victims’ log-in credentials via phishing. They would bait potential victims to click links to websites that host data-stealing malware such as keyloggers and backdoors. These malware programs are automatically downloaded and installed on insufficiently secured or vulnerable systems. Once in a system, they automatically run and start siphoning off log-in credentials and other PII stored or keyed. They then send these to servers that are under the cyber thieves’ control. Cybercriminals can then either use your stolen data or sell this to fellow bad guys in the Deep Web or underground forums and markets.

All hope is not lost though. Going for more proactive cyber defenses such as monitoring domains and registrants can help you enhance your security posture. With the help of a reliable WHOIS database, you can identify all the domains tied to a particular server, for example. Incident reports usually list down malicious domains that businesses need to block from accessing their websites and pages.

Going a step further, you can look at the IP addresses and registrants. They could be malicious too and need to be blocked. Are the domain owners real or fake? Look for publicly available reports and lock out suspicious entities from your system or network. Cover all your bases using all the data your product can provide.

How to Pick the Best WHOIS Database Download

There are tons of providers offering the product, but how do you know who’s really up for the challenge? One way is to check a WHOIS database download review done by an independent party who preferably has knowledge in software and tech.

If you’d rather try out available products on your own, you can do that as well. Most WHOIS database download providers offer free trials. As an expert in the field myself, I’d advise you to look for a provider that has been in the business for quite some time. Make sure the product has a huge set of regularly updated WHOIS records to get information off; tracks all kinds of TLDs, including the most recent additions—gTLDs; and can be easily run using and integrated into already-existing platforms and systems.

Some providers also offer a whole host of other products that can help you better secure your digital assets.

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Protecting your data and other precious assets shouldn’t be a chore, it should become a habit so your PII doesn’t end up for sale in the Deep Web next—notably thanks to WHOIS Database Download.