Phishing Activity: Top-level Domains Quarter over Quarter Comparison: August 1, 2024 - October 31, 2024

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 TLDs that are persistently abused or exploited by phishers. 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 ranking of TLDs for the May 1, 2024 - July 31, 2024 period to those for August 1, 2024 - October 31, 2024.

Ranking of TLDs by Phishing Domains, Quarter over Quarter (August to October 2024)

TLDs with a minimum of 30,000 domains under management and 25 phishing domains

Domains under Management Number of Phishing Domains
Rank TLD May to July 2024 August to October 2024 May to July 2024 August to October 2024 ▼
1 com 154,941,634 154,345,503 (-0%) 157,053 145,124 (-8%)
2 top 2,771,014 2,768,949 (-0%) 40,989 48,854 (+19%)
3 ▲ +1* bond 391,069 525,702 (+34%) 21,684 19,321 (-11%)
4 ▲ +11 cn 8,666,364 9,754,503 (+13%) 6,528 16,016 (+145%)
5 ▲ +3 shop 3,051,605 3,434,196 (+13%) 14,405 15,423 (+7%)
6 ▼ -3 xyz 3,592,150 3,696,507 (+3%) 30,932 15,166 (-51%)
7 ▼ -1 info 3,532,518 3,540,746 (0%) 18,120 12,215 (-33%)
8 ▲ +2 net 12,678,064 12,476,797 (-2%) 12,172 9,855 (-19%)
9 online 3,087,869 3,027,709 (-2%) 13,889 8,208 (-41%)
10 ▼ -3 ru 5,605,588 5,736,720 (+2%) 17,366 7,633 (-56%)
11 ▲ +1 org 10,905,500 10,992,984 (+1%) 9,150 6,606 (-28%)
12 ▲ +4 cc 1,328,954 1,485,706 (+12%) 6,186 5,392 (-13%)
13 site 1,507,028 1,511,993 (0%) 8,053 4,654 (-42%)
14 ▲ +3 cfd 699,317 348,514 (-50%) 5,781 3,883 (-33%)
15 ▲ +4 live 541,014 537,964 (-1%) 4,366 3,589 (-18%)
16 ▲ +2 today 367,417 463,934 (+26%) 4,921 3,447 (-30%)
17 ▼ -6 sbs 718,979 809,926 (+13%) 9,835 3,349 (-66%)
18 ▲ +5 vip 995,026 1,113,890 (+12%) 3,177 3,334 (+5%)
19 ▼ -5 icu 451,355 394,301 (-13%) 6,902 3,171 (-54%)
20 ▲ +2 click 487,857 422,743 (-13%) 3,277 2,583 (-21%)

* Indicates change over prior quarter

To allow comparison of large and small Top-level Domains, we rank TLDs based on a metric, phishing domain score, which is calculated by dividing the number of domain names reported for phishing in a TLD by the number of domains delegated from that TLD.

TLD Phishing Score = (number of phishing domains/domains delegated from TLD) * 10,000

This score can highlight where high-volume phishers place multiple phish on one domain.

Table 2 compares phishing domain scores and rankings of TLDs for the May 1, 2024 - July 31, 2024 period to those for August 1, 2024 - October 31, 2024.

Ranking of TLDs by Phishing Domain Score, Quarter over Quarter (August to October 2024)

TLDs with a minimum of 30,000 domains under management and 25 phishing domains

Domains under Management Phishing Domain Score
Rank TLD May to July 2024 August to October 2024 May to July 2024 August to October 2024 ▼
1 bond 391,069 525,702 (+34%) 554.5 367.5 (-34%)
2 ▲ +1* finance 33,731 33,473 (-1%) 293.5 210.9 (-28%)
3 ▲ +5 top 2,771,014 2,768,949 (-0%) 147.9 176.4 (+19%)
4 support 36,692 36,906 (+1%) 290.8 176.1 (-39%)
5 fyi 65,991 75,648 (+15%) 227.0 151.9 (-33%)
6 mom 43,924 47,285 (+8%) 167.1 134.9 (-19%)
7 ▲ +6 zone 51,242 62,526 (+22%) 122.8 122.7 (-0%)
8 ▲ +10 cfd 699,317 348,514 (-50%) 82.7 111.4 (+35%)
9 ▲ +31 best 63,561 67,570 (+6%) 44.2 109.5 (+148%)
10 ▲ +4 world 244,884 269,321 (+10%) 113.7 84.3 (-26%)
11 ▼ -1 pics 61,041 63,663 (+4%) 135.3 81.7 (-40%)
12 ▼ -5 icu 451,355 394,301 (-13%) 152.9 80.4 (-47%)
13 ▲ +22 ink 72,286 71,378 (-1%) 45.8 80.0 (+75%)
14 ▼ -3 today 367,417 463,934 (+26%) 133.9 74.3 (-45%)
15 ▼ -3 buzz 297,934 327,230 (+10%) 127.6 73.7 (-42%)
16 N/R** run 29,513 30,249 (+2%) 32.2 69.8 (+117%)
17 ▲ +9 rest 54,617 64,859 (+19%) 52.9 69.2 (+31%)
18 ▲ +1 live 541,014 537,964 (-1%) 80.7 66.7 (-17%)
19 ▲ +2 click 487,857 422,743 (-13%) 67.2 61.1 (-9%)
20 ▲ +2 network 76,897 76,479 (-1%) 61.9 60.9 (-2%)

* 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 TLDs by malicious domain registrations.

Ranking of TLDs by Malicious Domain Registrations, Quarter over Quarter (August to October 2024)

TLDs with a minimum of 30,000 domains under management and 25 phishing domains

Domains under Management Malicious Domain Registrations
Rank TLD May to July 2024 August to October 2024 May to July 2024 August to October 2024 ▼
1 com 154,941,634 154,345,503 (-0%) 95,179 91,132 (-4%)
2 top 2,771,014 2,768,949 (-0%) 29,947 39,250 (+31%)
3 ▲ +1* bond 391,069 525,702 (+34%) 21,564 19,280 (-11%)
4 ▼ -1 xyz 3,592,150 3,696,507 (+3%) 26,313 13,644 (-48%)
5 ▲ +5 shop 3,051,605 3,434,196 (+13%) 8,638 9,867 (+14%)
6 ▲ +1 info 3,532,518 3,540,746 (0%) 14,217 9,578 (-33%)
7 ▼ -1 ru 5,605,588 5,736,720 (+2%) 15,629 6,116 (-61%)
8 online 3,087,869 3,027,709 (-2%) 9,851 6,069 (-38%)
9 ▲ +2 net 12,678,064 12,476,797 (-2%) 7,780 5,829 (-25%)
10 ▲ +34 cn 8,666,364 9,754,503 (+13%) 609 5,763 (+846%)
11 ▲ +5 cc 1,328,954 1,485,706 (+12%) 4,906 4,255 (-13%)
12 ▲ +1 org 10,905,500 10,992,984 (+1%) 5,734 3,753 (-35%)
13 ▲ +2 cfd 699,317 348,514 (-50%) 5,414 3,694 (-32%)
14 site 1,507,028 1,511,993 (0%) 5,678 3,527 (-38%)
15 ▲ +2 today 367,417 463,934 (+26%) 4,465 3,229 (-28%)
16 ▼ -7 sbs 718,979 809,926 (+13%) 9,428 3,108 (-67%)
17 ▲ +1 live 541,014 537,964 (-1%) 3,649 2,918 (-20%)
18 ▼ -6 icu 451,355 394,301 (-13%) 6,349 2,900 (-54%)
19 ▲ +5 vip 995,026 1,113,890 (+12%) 2,094 2,501 (+19%)
20 ▼ -1 buzz 297,934 327,230 (+10%) 3,333 2,239 (-33%)

* Indicates change over prior quarter


Quarterly Update:
Top Level Domains
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Key Statistics
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Top Level Domains
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Registrars
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Hosting Networks