Phishing Activity: Top-level Domains 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 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 November 1, 2022 - January 31, 2023 period to those for February 1, 2023 - April 30, 2023.

Ranking of TLDs by Phishing Domains, Quarter over Quarter (February to April 2023)

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

Domains under Management Number of Phishing Domains
Rank TLD November to January 2023 February to April 2023 November to January 2023 February to April 2023 ▼
1 com 158,909,625 159,531,443 (0%) 109,807 74,900 (-32%)
2 cn 7,205,158 7,363,700 (+2%) 67,143 12,863 (-81%)
3 ▲ +1* top 1,850,675 1,945,721 (+5%) 24,117 11,429 (-53%)
4 ▲ +2 info 3,722,404 3,737,554 (0%) 15,916 9,383 (-41%)
5 ▲ +6 xyz 3,777,627 3,610,448 (-4%) 7,455 7,602 (+2%)
6 ▲ +13 live 632,881 649,941 (+3%) 4,126 7,079 (+72%)
7 ▼ -2 us 1,881,103 1,912,099 (+2%) 16,135 6,199 (-62%)
8 ▲ +7 online 2,099,301 2,279,920 (+9%) 6,102 5,799 (-5%)
9 ▲ +7 net 13,043,037 12,965,167 (-1%) 6,048 4,616 (-24%)
10 ▲ +4 shop 1,379,972 1,556,450 (+13%) 6,103 4,301 (-30%)
11 ▲ +7 ru 4,868,885 4,890,218 (0%) 4,254 4,101 (-4%)
12 ▲ +5 org 10,707,159 10,730,117 (0%) 4,846 3,698 (-24%)
13 ▲ +7 site 1,129,853 1,208,140 (+7%) 3,140 2,709 (-14%)
14 ▲ +12 click 319,793 383,173 (+20%) 1,972 2,554 (+30%)
15 ▼ -5 cyou 592,033 314,942 (-47%) 9,029 2,497 (-72%)
16 ▲ +7 me 1,191,809 1,171,576 (-2%) 2,319 1,695 (-27%)
17 ▼ -10 tk 5,268,878 4,729,434 (-10%) 15,254 1,643 (-89%)
18 ▲ +4 co 3,418,346 3,365,294 (-2%) 2,421 1,606 (-34%)
19 ▲ +8 fr 3,949,825 3,982,141 (+1%) 1,779 1,434 (-19%)
20 ▲ +14 id 624,592 638,981 (+2%) 938 1,432 (+53%)

* 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 November 1, 2022 - January 31, 2023 period to those for February 1, 2023 - April 30, 2023.

Ranking of TLDs by Phishing Domain Score, Quarter over Quarter (February to April 2023)

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

Domains under Management Phishing Domain Score
Rank TLD November to January 2023 February to April 2023 November to January 2023 February to April 2023 ▼
1 ▲ +2* support 32,257 32,705 (+1%) 143.5 134.8 (-6%)
2 ▲ +21 monster 74,122 64,685 (-13%) 30.4 120 (+295%)
3 ▲ +7 live 632,881 649,941 (+3%) 65.2 108.9 (+67%)
4 ▼ -2 cyou 592,033 314,942 (-47%) 152.5 79.3 (-48%)
5 ▲ +8 bond 37,181 40,289 (+8%) 60.8 79.2 (+30%)
6 ▲ +6 click 319,793 383,173 (+20%) 61.7 66.7 (+8%)
7 ▲ +24 best 41,420 46,144 (+11%) 25.1 66.5 (+165%)
8 ▼ -3 top 1,850,675 1,945,721 (+5%) 130.3 58.7 (-55%)
9 ▲ +5 cfd 102,112 198,634 (+95%) 57.5 57.6 (+0%)
10 ▲ +25 beauty 36,305 39,614 (+9%) 21.8 53.8 (+147%)
11 ▲ +46 rest 45,055 39,700 (-12%) 13.3 51.1 (+284%)
12 N/R** mom 22,981 34,966 (+52%) 17.4 47.2 (+171%)
13 ▲ +2 fyi 50,815 57,879 (+14%) 48.2 46.5 (-4%)
14 ▲ +12 cloud 251,762 281,813 (+12%) 28.4 44.8 (+58%)
15 ▲ +57 icu 825,971 312,533 (-62%) 9.9 39.6 (+298%)
16 ▲ +47 network 70,772 70,785 (0%) 12.2 37.9 (+212%)
17 ▲ +1 life 292,027 322,212 (+10%) 36.9 37.3 (+1%)
18 ▼ -14 link 200,873 203,671 (+1%) 132.2 34.7 (-74%)
19 ▲ +31 tokyo 108,725 119,451 (+10%) 15.5 33.2 (+115%)
20 ▲ +8 ink 48,093 60,966 (+27%) 27.9 33 (+18%)

* 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 (February to April 2023)

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

Domains under Management Malicious Domain Registrations
Rank TLD November to January 2023 February to April 2023 November to January 2023 February to April 2023 ▼
1 com 158,909,625 159,531,443 (0%) 66,721 52,318 (-22%)
2 ▲ +2* top 1,850,675 1,945,721 (+5%) 23,566 11,028 (-53%)
3 ▲ +3 info 3,722,404 3,737,554 (0%) 13,797 8,295 (-40%)
4 ▲ +14 live 632,881 649,941 (+3%) 2,705 6,507 (+141%)
5 ▲ +9 xyz 3,777,627 3,610,448 (-4%) 5,550 6,352 (+14%)
6 ▲ +9 online 2,099,301 2,279,920 (+9%) 4,799 4,746 (-1%)
7 ▲ +6 shop 1,379,972 1,556,450 (+13%) 5,895 4,300 (-27%)
8 us 1,881,103 1,912,099 (+2%) 11,020 3,733 (-66%)
9 ▲ +7 net 13,043,037 12,965,167 (-1%) 3,451 2,864 (-17%)
10 ▲ +10 ru 4,868,885 4,890,218 (0%) 2,320 2,751 (+19%)
11 ▼ -1 cyou 592,033 314,942 (-47%) 8,898 2,327 (-74%)
12 ▲ +10 click 319,793 383,173 (+20%) 1,720 2,317 (+35%)
13 ▲ +4 org 10,707,159 10,730,117 (0%) 2,817 2,312 (-18%)
14 ▲ +5 site 1,129,853 1,208,140 (+7%) 2,480 2,185 (-12%)
15 ▼ -12 cn 7,205,158 7,363,700 (+2%) 36,680 1,571 (-96%)
16 ▲ +15 icu 825,971 312,533 (-62%) 678 1,168 (+72%)
17 ▲ +12 life 292,027 322,212 (+10%) 819 1,081 (+32%)
18 ▲ +21 cfd 102,112 198,634 (+95%) 468 1,067 (+128%)
19 ▲ +16 cloud 251,762 281,813 (+12%) 571 1,021 (+79%)
20 ▲ +4 me 1,191,809 1,171,576 (-2%) 1,329 998 (-25%)

* Indicates change over prior quarter


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