Trends in Global Domain Activity Observed in Q3 2024

Summary:

Our analysis of nearly 22 million newly registered domains (NRDs) from July to September 2024 reveals a 2.05% increase in NRDs compared to the previous quarter. The report highlights trends in domain registrations, including the popularity of specific top-level domains (TLDs), leading registrars, and insights into malicious domains tagged as indicators of compromise (IoCs).

Keypoints:

  • 22 million domains analyzed from July to September 2024.
  • 2.05% increase in NRDs compared to Q2 2024.
  • gTLD registrations declined by 0.63%, while ccTLD registrations rose by 11.24%.
  • .com remains the most popular gTLD, with .cn leading among ccTLDs.
  • GoDaddy is the top NRD registrar with 16.31% market share.
  • Amazon Technologies accounted for 4.15% of NS resolutions in the past year.
  • 17.29% of malicious domains tagged as IoCs were .com domains.
  • Other gTLDs in the top 10 for IoCs include .org, .net, and .biz.
  • ccTLDs .ru and .cn also appeared in the top 10 IoCs.

MITRE Techniques

  • Command and Control (T1071): Utilizes multiple command and control domains to maintain communication with compromised systems.

IoC:

  • [domain] .com
  • [domain] .org
  • [domain] .net
  • [domain] .biz
  • [domain] .info
  • [domain] .bazar
  • [domain] .life
  • [domain] .tickets
  • [domain] .ru
  • [domain] .cn


Full Research: https://circleid.com/posts/global-domain-activity-trends-seen-in-q3-2024