Phishing Activity: Domain Registrars
Quarter over Quarter Comparison:
February 1, 2023 - April 30, 2023
For purposes of observing change over time, it is useful to compare measurements and metrics over successive reporting periods. Such comparisons illustrate whether phishing activities are increasing or decreasing, and where such changes are occurring. Such comparisons can identify suspicious concentrations of phishing domains reported in registrar domain portfolios, and can identify registrars where phishers flock to purchase and manage phishing domains. Investigators or policy makers may focus on these for deeper analyses.
In the table below, we use the measurement reported phishing domains to compare the rankings of registrars during the November 1, 2022 - January 31, 2023 period to the ranking for the February 1, 2023 - April 30, 2023 period.
Ranking of Domain Registrars by Phishing Domains, Quarter over Quarter (February to April 2023)
Registrars with a minimum of 30,000 domains under management and 25 phishing domains
| Domains under Management | Number of Phishing Domains | ||||||||
| Rank | Registrar | IANA ID | November to January 2023 | February to April 2023 | November to January 2023 | February to April 2023 ▼ | |||
| 1 | ▲ +1* | NameSilo, LLC | 1479 | 4,435,176 | 4,452,651 | (0%) | 30,368 | 16,068 | (-47%) |
| 2 | ▼ -1 | PDR Ltd. d/b/a PublicDomainRegistry.com | 303 | 4,647,019 | 4,429,499 | (-5%) | 38,114 | 15,282 | (-60%) |
| 3 | — | NameCheap, Inc. | 1068 | 14,539,475 | 14,666,675 | (+1%) | 14,230 | 11,517 | (-19%) |
| 4 | — | GoDaddy.com, LLC | 146 | 65,549,799 | 65,664,751 | (0%) | 12,549 | 10,282 | (-18%) |
| 5 | ▲ +5 | Sav.com, LLC | 609 | 1,537,868 | 1,633,675 | (+6%) | 3,442 | 5,821 | (+69%) |
| 6 | ▼ -1 | Google LLC | 895 | 8,143,743 | 8,629,289 | (+6%) | 5,393 | 4,395 | (-19%) |
| 7 | ▲ +4 | Hostinger, UAB | 1636 | 960,997 | 1,145,936 | (+19%) | 3,247 | 4,134 | (+27%) |
| 8 | ▲ +8 | eNom, LLC | 48 | 4,343,412 | 4,239,904 | (-2%) | 2,765 | 3,548 | (+28%) |
| 9 | ▲ +14 | Gname.com Pte. Ltd. | 1923 | 2,406,636 | 2,749,023 | (+14%) | 1,320 | 3,192 | (+142%) |
| 10 | ▼ -3 | Registrar of Domain Names REG.RU LLC | 1606 | 740,237 | 650,515 | (-12%) | 4,246 | 3,163 | (-26%) |
| 11 | ▼ -2 | NICENIC INTERNATIONAL GROUP CO., LIMITED | 3765 | 41,615 | 50,833 | (+22%) | 3,973 | 3,104 | (-22%) |
| 12 | — | GMO Internet Group, Inc. d/b/a Onamae.com | 49 | 4,619,970 | 4,353,902 | (-6%) | 3,208 | 3,043 | (-5%) |
| 13 | ▲ +7 | Chengdu West Dimension Digital Technology Co., Ltd. | 1556 | 1,760,417 | 1,654,503 | (-6%) | 1,848 | 2,967 | (+61%) |
| 14 | ▼ -1 | Tucows Domains Inc. | 69 | 9,689,178 | 9,680,797 | (-0%) | 3,041 | 2,630 | (-14%) |
| 15 | ▲ +10 | Internet Domain Service BS Corp | 2487 | 405,363 | 404,954 | (-0%) | 1,003 | 2,512 | (+150%) |
| 16 | ▼ -1 | Dynadot, LLC | 472 | 3,111,664 | 3,023,913 | (-3%) | 2,982 | 2,129 | (-29%) |
| 17 | ▲ +1 | Web Commerce Communications Limited dba WebNic.cc | 460 | 956,261 | 813,704 | (-15%) | 2,101 | 1,971 | (-6%) |
| 18 | ▼ -4 | Name.com, Inc. | 625 | 2,189,113 | 2,153,074 | (-2%) | 2,984 | 1,874 | (-37%) |
| 19 | — | Alibaba Cloud Computing Ltd. d/b/a HiChina (www.net.cn) | 1599 | 3,303,160 | 2,977,281 | (-10%) | 1,893 | 1,627 | (-14%) |
| 20 | ▼ -12 | OwnRegistrar, Inc. | 1250 | 948,017 | 902,935 | (-5%) | 3,988 | 1,526 | (-62%) |
* Indicates change over prior quarter
To allow comparison of large and small gTLD registrars, we rank registrars based on a metric, phishing domain score, which is calculated by dividing the number of domain names reported for phishing in a registrar by the number of domains delegated from that registrar.
gTLD registrar Phishing Score = (number of phishing domains/domains delegated from gTLD registrar) * 10,000
This score can highlight where high-volume phishers place multiple phish on one domain.
In the table below, we use the metric phishing domain score to compare and rank registrars for the November 1, 2022 - January 31, 2023 period to the February 1, 2023 - April 30, 2023 period.
Ranking of Domain Registrars by Phishing Domain Score, Quarter over Quarter (February to April 2023)
Registrars with a minimum of 30,000 domains under management and 25 phishing domains
| Domains under Management | Phishing Domain Score | ||||||||
| Rank | Registrar | IANA ID | November to January 2023 | February to April 2023 | November to January 2023 | February to April 2023 ▼ | |||
| 1 | — | NICENIC INTERNATIONAL GROUP CO., LIMITED | 3765 | 41,615 | 50,833 | (+22%) | 954.7 | 610.6 | (-36%) |
| 2 | ▲ +10* | Internet Domain Service BS Corp | 2487 | 405,363 | 404,954 | (-0%) | 24.7 | 62 | (+151%) |
| 3 | ▲ +2 | Registrar of Domain Names REG.RU LLC | 1606 | 740,237 | 650,515 | (-12%) | 57.4 | 48.6 | (-15%) |
| 4 | N/R** | Lexsynergy Limited | 1466 | 38,392 | 39,596 | (+3%) | 1.3 | 43.7 | (+3,261%) |
| 5 | ▲ +4 | TLD Registrar Solutions Ltd. | 1564 | 74,637 | 71,753 | (-4%) | 30.6 | 39.3 | (+29%) |
| 6 | ▼ -3 | NameSilo, LLC | 1479 | 4,435,176 | 4,452,651 | (0%) | 68.5 | 36.1 | (-47%) |
| 7 | — | Hostinger, UAB | 1636 | 960,997 | 1,145,936 | (+19%) | 33.8 | 36.1 | (+7%) |
| 8 | ▲ +6 | Sav.com, LLC | 609 | 1,537,868 | 1,633,675 | (+6%) | 22.4 | 35.6 | (+59%) |
| 9 | ▲ +2 | DOTSERVE INC. | 1913 | 78,895 | 61,910 | (-22%) | 25.6 | 34.7 | (+36%) |
| 10 | ▼ -8 | PDR Ltd. d/b/a PublicDomainRegistry.com | 303 | 4,647,019 | 4,429,499 | (-5%) | 82 | 34.5 | (-58%) |
| 11 | ▼ -3 | iNET CORPORATION | 3234 | 65,207 | 65,237 | (0%) | 31.4 | 26.2 | (-17%) |
| 12 | ▼ -2 | Cosmotown, Inc. | 1509 | 117,864 | 158,260 | (+34%) | 28.9 | 25 | (-14%) |
| 13 | ▲ +2 | Web Commerce Communications Limited dba WebNic.cc | 460 | 956,261 | 813,704 | (-15%) | 22 | 24.2 | (+10%) |
| 14 | ▲ +3 | Atak Domain Bilgi Teknolojileri A.Ş. | 1601 | 343,598 | 286,375 | (-17%) | 21.3 | 22.2 | (+4%) |
| 15 | ▲ +49 | Gransy, s.r.o. | 1505 | 223,594 | 228,495 | (+2%) | 3.7 | 21.9 | (+491%) |
| 16 | ▲ +5 | ALIBABA.COM SINGAPORE E-COMMERCE PRIVATE LIMITED | 3775 | 998,033 | 693,065 | (-31%) | 14.7 | 21.4 | (+46%) |
| 17 | ▲ +13 | Hello Internet Corp. | 1924 | 38,414 | 47,815 | (+24%) | 11.2 | 18.2 | (+63%) |
| 18 | ▲ +13 | Chengdu West Dimension Digital Technology Co., Ltd. | 1556 | 1,760,417 | 1,654,503 | (-6%) | 10.5 | 17.9 | (+71%) |
| 19 | ▼ -13 | OwnRegistrar, Inc. | 1250 | 948,017 | 902,935 | (-5%) | 42.1 | 16.9 | (-60%) |
| 20 | ▼ -1 | NETIM SARL | 1519 | 67,265 | 74,360 | (+11%) | 19.9 | 16.7 | (-16%) |
* Indicates change over prior quarter
** Indicates not ranked in prior quarter; either domains under management or number of phishing domains did not meet minimum threshold for ranking
The final table compares and ranks gTLD registrars by malicious domain registrations.
Ranking of Domain Registrars by Malicious Domain Registrations, Quarter over Quarter (February to April 2023)
Registrars with a minimum of 30,000 domains under management and 25 phishing domains
| Domains under Management | Malicious Domain Registrations | ||||||||
| Rank | Registrar | IANA ID | November to January 2023 | February to April 2023 | November to January 2023 | February to April 2023 ▼ | |||
| 1 | — | NameSilo, LLC | 1479 | 4,435,176 | 4,452,651 | (0%) | 26,831 | 13,715 | (-49%) |
| 2 | — | PDR Ltd. d/b/a PublicDomainRegistry.com | 303 | 4,647,019 | 4,429,499 | (-5%) | 15,783 | 11,020 | (-30%) |
| 3 | — | NameCheap, Inc. | 1068 | 14,539,475 | 14,666,675 | (+1%) | 8,235 | 7,720 | (-6%) |
| 4 | ▲ +6* | Sav.com, LLC | 609 | 1,537,868 | 1,633,675 | (+6%) | 2,681 | 5,185 | (+93%) |
| 5 | ▼ -1 | GoDaddy.com, LLC | 146 | 65,549,799 | 65,664,751 | (0%) | 6,330 | 5,079 | (-20%) |
| 6 | — | Google LLC | 895 | 8,143,743 | 8,629,289 | (+6%) | 4,328 | 3,624 | (-16%) |
| 7 | ▲ +4 | Hostinger, UAB | 1636 | 960,997 | 1,145,936 | (+19%) | 2,414 | 3,006 | (+25%) |
| 8 | ▲ +1 | NICENIC INTERNATIONAL GROUP CO., LIMITED | 3765 | 41,615 | 50,833 | (+22%) | 2,980 | 2,732 | (-8%) |
| 9 | ▲ +7 | Chengdu West Dimension Digital Technology Co., Ltd. | 1556 | 1,760,417 | 1,654,503 | (-6%) | 1,540 | 2,717 | (+76%) |
| 10 | ▲ +8 | eNom, LLC | 48 | 4,343,412 | 4,239,904 | (-2%) | 1,476 | 2,625 | (+78%) |
| 11 | ▲ +10 | GMO Internet Group, Inc. d/b/a Onamae.com | 49 | 4,619,970 | 4,353,902 | (-6%) | 994 | 2,467 | (+148%) |
| 12 | ▲ +10 | Gname.com Pte. Ltd. | 1923 | 2,406,636 | 2,749,023 | (+14%) | 934 | 2,192 | (+135%) |
| 13 | ▼ -5 | Registrar of Domain Names REG.RU LLC | 1606 | 740,237 | 650,515 | (-12%) | 2,987 | 2,166 | (-27%) |
| 14 | ▼ -1 | Tucows Domains Inc. | 69 | 9,689,178 | 9,680,797 | (-0%) | 1,860 | 1,654 | (-11%) |
| 15 | ▼ -3 | Dynadot, LLC | 472 | 3,111,664 | 3,023,913 | (-3%) | 1,995 | 1,479 | (-26%) |
| 16 | ▼ -2 | Web Commerce Communications Limited dba WebNic.cc | 460 | 956,261 | 813,704 | (-15%) | 1,644 | 1,433 | (-13%) |
| 17 | ▼ -2 | Name.com, Inc. | 625 | 2,189,113 | 2,153,074 | (-2%) | 1,557 | 1,322 | (-15%) |
| 18 | ▲ +7 | Internet Domain Service BS Corp | 2487 | 405,363 | 404,954 | (-0%) | 693 | 1,182 | (+71%) |
| 19 | ▲ +4 | ALIBABA.COM SINGAPORE E-COMMERCE PRIVATE LIMITED | 3775 | 998,033 | 693,065 | (-31%) | 927 | 1,137 | (+23%) |
| 20 | ▲ +4 | Key-Systems GmbH | 269 | 1,864,112 | 2,125,650 | (+14%) | 868 | 1,126 | (+30%) |
* Indicates change over prior quarter
| Quarterly Update: Registrars |
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| Quarter over Quarter: Key Statistics |
Quarter over Quarter: Top Level Domains |
Quarter over Quarter: Registrars |
Quarter over Quarter: Hosting Networks |