Hackers Create Over 1,000 Malicious Domains Daily, Report Finds
A new report from DomainTools reveals that hackers are creating over 1,000 new malicious domains every day. In 2024, more than 106 million new domains were registered, equating to roughly 289,000 websites launched daily. While only a small fraction of these domains are malicious, the challenge for security teams is identifying them quickly.
The analysis highlights a significant rise in both total new domains and likely harmful domains. These malicious websites are used for a variety of cyberattacks, including phishing, malware delivery, credential theft, botnet operations, and Command and Control servers for compromised systems.
In total, 380,000 domains were flagged as "threat indicator domains," likely used for cybercrime activities. DomainTools also tracks five million top-level domains that pose a high risk for phishing, malware, and spam attacks.
Hackers show preference for certain domain registrars, ISPs, and SSL issuers, such as Namecheap, which accounts for over 10% of malicious domains. Cloudflare and Amazon are commonly used for domain parking, DNS resolution, and content delivery by cybercriminals.
Malicious domain names often include specific keywords like "login," "verify," "download," "install," and terms related to fraud and financial scams, such as "phishing," "fraud," "crypto," "bitcoin," and "investment."
Hackers also exploit current events, like elections or natural disasters, to launch attacks, with topics such as generative AI and elections being particularly popular in 2024.
Despite efforts to curb malicious domain registrations, the scale of domain creation and the complexity of internet infrastructure make it difficult for registrars to proactively prevent these threats.
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