Domain Names

Verisign Domain Name Industry Brief: 351.5 Million Domain Name Registrations in Q2 2022

Today, we released the latest issue of The Domain Name Industry Brief, which shows that the second quarter of 2022 closed with 351.5 million domain name registrations across all top-level domains, an increase of 1.0 million domain name registrations, or 0.3%, compared to the first quarter of 2022.

Profiling the Massive Infrastructure Behind the Democratic National Committee Cyberintrusion

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) breach was a high-profile cyber attack in recent history. Years later, the cybersecurity community can still benefit from insights and actionable intelligence relevant to the attack. In line with this, WhoisXML API threat researcher Dancho Danchev dove deep into the DNS system intrusion using publicly available indicators of compromise (IoCs). We further enriched his findings, allowing us to uncover:

Is Your Software a Top Impersonation Target?

Anything conveniently obtainable online is often ripe for cybercriminal picking, and that's certainly true for the most commonly used software. We can't live without them, after all, if we are to thrive and not just survive in the digital world.

Brand Registry Group .brand Brief, ICANN75

The Brand Registry Group (BRG) is the global association of companies and organizations working together to champion the use of .brand top-level domains and includes some of the world's most recognized consumer and B2B brands.

XCSSET Shows How Threat Actors Cope with OS Changes, Does Away with Python Like macOS

Just as software and hardware vendors push upgrades and updates for their products and services to stay secure against the latest threats, so do threat actors work as fast as possible to stay abreast of OS and version modifications. That's exactly what the XCSSET malware operators have done for their campaigns targeting macOS users to continue working.

Radix Turns 10, Celebrates With We Are X Campaign

Radix, the largest portfolio nTLD Registry with over 5.5 million domains under management, marked its 10th anniversary last week by launching a celebratory campaign, We Are X, at NamesCon 2022. Launched in 2012, Radix has seen a staggering 216% revenue growth in the last five years alone.

DIY Web Attacks Might Still Live on via WebAttacker

Age is rarely an issue when it comes to malware campaigns, and that's certainly true for WebAttacker. WebAttacker is a do-it-yourself (DIY) malware creation kit that became popular back in 2006. It was the first exploit kit made available to cybercriminals in the Russian underground market for as little as US$20.

Exposing a Currently Active Ashiyane Digital Security Domain Infrastructure

The infamous gray hat security company Ashiyane Digital Security Team has gone back online in 2021. At that time, WhoisXML API threat researcher Dancho Danchev exposed more than 100 domains belonging to the group. This analysis was recently expanded to further explore the Iran-based threat group's Internet-connected infrastructure.

What Is the Current State of Malicious PPI Businesses and Affiliate Networks?

Pay-per-install (PPI) businesses and affiliate networks made for a booming cybercriminal underground market from 2008 to 2013. Buoyed by the proliferation of fake antivirus (FakeAV) peddlers, operators made staggering profits from the sale of rogue security software.

From Counterfeiting to Phishing: Cybersquatting Properties Target Network Device Makers

Early last July 2022, news broke out about the arrest of a CEO who allegedly sold fake Cisco networking devices. While he used e-commerce sites as sales channels, the idea that counterfeit products are also peddled through cybersquatting domains is not too far-fetched.