Newly Registered & Just Expired Domains Blog

Download WhoisXML API daily data ASAP part 2: An application with trending English words in .com

In the first part of this blog, we demonstrated how to download data from WhoisXML API's daily data feeds right after their publication by using the recently introduced RSS feed as the activator of download. In particular, we showed how to download the list of domains newly registered in the .com top-level domain (TLD). 

Now, to make the task a bit more interesting we demonstrate the use of our domain list with a showcase application: we calculate the list of the most frequent English words in the domain names on that day. This can be interesting in various applications. Domainers, for instance, can get information on the newest trends in domain registrations. Journalists and researchers can get a clue on a topic gaining popularity, etc.

Download WhoisXML API daily data ASAP part 1: RSS-activated download

This technical blog aims to demonstrate how to download data from WhoisXML API's daily data feeds right after their publication. Obtaining lists of newly registered domains and their WHOIS data can be critical in many applications. (We will showcase such an application in the second part of this blog.) Recently an RSS feed has been introduced for the service that informs about data publication immediately, which makes this easy. As a demonstration, we shall go through a particular task: download the list of domains newly registered in the .com top-level domain (TLD). 

We will use a Linux system and its understanding requires intermediate programming and command-line skills. We will use BASH but it is also easy to modify for zsh, which is the default on Mac OS X. We assume Python, with pip and virtualenv.  

Getting Started with WhoisXML API’s Newly Registered & Just Expired Domains Database

Domain intelligence gleaned from WhoisXML API’s Newly Registered & Just Expired Domains can help companies in multiple ways, including but not limited to:

• Supporting threat intelligence collection and correlation;
• Looking into domain registration trends and market shares;
• Enhancing brand and trademark protection strategies;
• Gathering data for competitor analysis and anticipating the rivals’ next moves.

We tackle these use cases with illustrations in this in-depth guide, along with details on how to access such a source via flexible pricing plans.

Integrating a Newly Registered Domains Database into Enterprise Cybersecurity Strategies

It’s generally agreed that newly registered domains are potential sources of threats. After all, many of these domain registrations are made opportunistically—sometimes even in bulk, following public announcements and global events. While not all of these domains have to be avoided at all costs, they certainly deserve more scrutiny than others that have been established for years.

The good news is that monitoring newly registered domains is doable with the help of the Newly Registered & Just Expired Domains Database.

4 Practical Usages of a Newly Registered & Just Expired Domains Database

Imagine a world without domain names. While it is possible to live in one, the majority of people would have a hard time memorizing sets of numbers instead of names. If you want to visit google[.]com, for example, you would need to type in 172[.]217[.]11[.]14 every single time – not to mention that this IP address might change every time Google changes the way it deploys its web server network. But you get the point. People would need to memorize several series of numbers so they can shop, pay bills, and get in touch with people from across the globe online.

We dare say that without domain names, the online world would not be flourishing as it is now. The domain name industry in itself is also thriving, with thousands of domains bought and registered every day. Verisign disclosed that during the fourth quarter of 2019, it closed 362.3 million domain name registrations across all top-level domains (TLDs).

With that enormous number, how can you monitor new domain names? That is where Newly Registered & Recently Expired Domains Data Feed comes in handy. But perhaps a more pressing question is why there should be a need to monitor domain names, notably, newly registered ones? We addressed these questions in this post, starting with the practical usages of having a newly registered domain list or database.

Warding Off Threats Spawned by the Abuse of Newly Registered Domains

When the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) agreed to the addition of new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) in 2012 through the New gTLD Program, the number of spam emails coming from these domains started to rise significantly.

In fact, studies revealed that a new malicious site is hosted on a domain with a new gTLD extension every 15-20 seconds. What’s more, seven out of 10 newly registered domains are classified as either suspicious or downright malicious and thus should not be accessed.

A possible reason for said criminal activities is that domains sporting the new gTLDs are relatively cheap in comparison to the more popular .com and .net domains. Another reason is that most credible name entries using traditional TLDs have already been taken. Either way, there seems to be a substantial amount of abusive domains registered using a new gTLD after its sunrise period (the 30 days during which trademark holders are the only ones entitled to register their domains), and, similarly, across registries.

As we know, spammers and phishers need tons of domains to pull off numerous scams at once. Going with cheaper, more available domains lets them cut down on costs, which makes sense from the perspective of threat actors since malicious hosts are often quickly taken down once detected as dangerous.

In this post, we further discuss the threats that come from newly registered domains and illustrate how Domain Reputation API and Newly Registered & Just-Expired Domains Database can help identify and assess potentially dangerous online properties.

Who Has Been Acquiring the Web? Newly Registered Domains Can Tell You

Connectivity is a double-edged sword. Though it makes reaching almost anyone and anything with an email address or a website a breeze, it also puts all things online at the mercy of cybercriminals and unfair competitors who are always on the lookout for benefiting from established brands using malicious copycat or similarly misleading sites registered under new domains.

There is no doubt that one of a company’s greatest assets — its customer or client portal — is its website. It can be likened to a shop’s front door. And let’s face it, we all want to keep thieves and infringers out of our places of business.

To make this happen, you need a strategy in place, and one which involves keeping track of all new and disguised players on the web — a process that can be aided by an effective domain-monitoring tool such as Newly Registered Domains. If you are still wondering why you should care about recent domain registrations, read on to find out.

Monitoring Newly Registered Domains

The first line of defense for companies that want to protect their staff or customers from bogus websites is monitoring domain names.Hackers will use variations of domain names to lure unsuspecting users onto portals whose purpose is to steal private information and drop viruses onto devices.

WhoisXML API offers a Newly Registered Domains Database and the Domain Research Suite that provide users with the ability to watch whether new domain names closely resemble existing registrations, which may be intended to trap internet users.