Phishing Activity: Top-level Domains Quarter over Quarter Comparison: May 1, 2023 - July 31, 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 February 1, 2023 - April 30, 2023 period to those for May 1, 2023 - July 31, 2023.
Ranking of TLDs by Phishing Domains, Quarter over Quarter (May to July 2023)
TLDs with a minimum of 30,000 domains under management and 25 phishing domains
| Domains under Management | Number of Phishing Domains | |||||||
| Rank | TLD | February to April 2023 | May to July 2023 | February to April 2023 | May to July 2023 ▼ | |||
| 1 | — | com | 159,531,443 | 159,018,085 | (-0%) | 74,900 | 69,560 | (-7%) |
| 2 | ▲ +1* | top | 1,945,721 | 2,243,675 | (+15%) | 11,429 | 11,031 | (-3%) |
| 3 | ▼ -1 | cn | 7,363,700 | 7,511,395 | (+2%) | 12,863 | 9,956 | (-23%) |
| 4 | — | info | 3,737,554 | 3,747,038 | (0%) | 9,383 | 7,995 | (-15%) |
| 5 | ▲ +1 | live | 649,941 | 632,401 | (-3%) | 7,079 | 5,904 | (-17%) |
| 6 | ▼ -1 | xyz | 3,610,448 | 3,239,639 | (-10%) | 7,602 | 5,546 | (-27%) |
| 7 | ▲ +2 | net | 12,965,167 | 12,823,843 | (-1%) | 4,616 | 4,613 | (-0%) |
| 8 | — | online | 2,279,920 | 2,419,155 | (+6%) | 5,799 | 3,350 | (-42%) |
| 9 | ▲ +3 | org | 10,730,117 | 10,747,830 | (0%) | 3,698 | 3,082 | (-17%) |
| 10 | ▲ +1 | ru | 4,890,218 | 4,940,178 | (+1%) | 4,101 | 2,516 | (-39%) |
| 11 | ▼ -1 | shop | 1,556,450 | 1,691,583 | (+9%) | 4,301 | 2,241 | (-48%) |
| 12 | ▼ -5 | us | 1,912,099 | 2,018,702 | (+6%) | 6,199 | 2,238 | (-64%) |
| 13 | — | site | 1,208,140 | 1,338,872 | (+11%) | 2,709 | 2,080 | (-23%) |
| 14 | — | click | 383,173 | 503,300 | (+31%) | 2,554 | 1,852 | (-27%) |
| 15 | ▲ +12 | cfd | 198,634 | 589,403 | (+197%) | 1,144 | 1,607 | (+40%) |
| 16 | ▲ +1 | tk | 4,729,434 | 4,401,411 | (-7%) | 1,643 | 1,602 | (-2%) |
| 17 | ▼ -1 | me | 1,171,576 | 1,158,617 | (-1%) | 1,695 | 1,581 | (-7%) |
| 18 | ▲ +10 | cc | 962,466 | 1,034,968 | (+8%) | 1,016 | 1,401 | (+38%) |
| 19 | ▲ +1 | id | 638,981 | 657,762 | (+3%) | 1,432 | 1,265 | (-12%) |
| 20 | ▼ -2 | co | 3,365,294 | 3,471,655 | (+3%) | 1,606 | 1,244 | (-23%) |
* 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 February 1, 2023 - April 30, 2023 period to those for May 1, 2023 - July 31, 2023.
Ranking of TLDs by Phishing Domain Score, Quarter over Quarter (May to July 2023)
TLDs with a minimum of 30,000 domains under management and 25 phishing domains
| Domains under Management | Phishing Domain Score | |||||||
| Rank | TLD | February to April 2023 | May to July 2023 | February to April 2023 | May to July 2023 ▼ | |||
| 1 | ▲ +6* | best | 46,144 | 51,938 | (+13%) | 66.5 | 114.6 | (+72%) |
| 2 | ▲ +1 | live | 649,941 | 632,401 | (-3%) | 108.9 | 93.4 | (-14%) |
| 3 | ▼ -2 | support | 32,705 | 33,068 | (+1%) | 134.8 | 91 | (-32%) |
| 4 | ▲ +11 | icu | 312,533 | 168,694 | (-46%) | 39.6 | 56.9 | (+44%) |
| 5 | ▲ +8 | fyi | 57,879 | 58,007 | (0%) | 46.5 | 56.4 | (+21%) |
| 6 | ▲ +2 | top | 1,945,721 | 2,243,675 | (+15%) | 58.7 | 49.2 | (-16%) |
| 7 | ▲ +13 | ink | 60,966 | 72,958 | (+20%) | 33 | 43.7 | (+33%) |
| 8 | ▲ +22 | pics | 43,610 | 50,101 | (+15%) | 24.1 | 42.3 | (+76%) |
| 9 | ▼ -3 | click | 383,173 | 503,300 | (+31%) | 66.7 | 36.8 | (-45%) |
| 10 | ▲ +14 | zone | 42,580 | 41,460 | (-3%) | 29.1 | 33.3 | (+14%) |
| 11 | ▲ +6 | life | 322,212 | 351,535 | (+9%) | 37.3 | 30.4 | (-18%) |
| 12 | ▲ +2 | cloud | 281,813 | 301,571 | (+7%) | 44.8 | 27.7 | (-38%) |
| 13 | ▼ -4 | cfd | 198,634 | 589,403 | (+197%) | 57.6 | 27.3 | (-53%) |
| 14 | ▼ -10 | cyou | 314,942 | 291,940 | (-7%) | 79.3 | 26.5 | (-67%) |
| 15 | N/R** | autos | 27,617 | 32,948 | (+19%) | 31.1 | 23.7 | (-24%) |
| 16 | ▼ -11 | bond | 40,289 | 109,839 | (+173%) | 79.2 | 23 | (-71%) |
| 17 | ▲ +57 | asia | 233,428 | 258,618 | (+11%) | 7.1 | 22.7 | (+222%) |
| 18 | ▼ -8 | beauty | 39,614 | 39,107 | (-1%) | 53.8 | 21.5 | (-60%) |
| 19 | ▲ +9 | info | 3,737,554 | 3,747,038 | (0%) | 25.1 | 21.3 | (-15%) |
| 20 | ▼ -18 | monster | 64,685 | 78,559 | (+21%) | 120 | 20.4 | (-83%) |
* 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 (May to July 2023)
TLDs with a minimum of 30,000 domains under management and 25 phishing domains
| Domains under Management | Malicious Domain Registrations | |||||||
| Rank | TLD | February to April 2023 | May to July 2023 | February to April 2023 | May to July 2023 ▼ | |||
| 1 | — | com | 159,531,443 | 159,018,085 | (-0%) | 52,318 | 36,152 | (-31%) |
| 2 | — | top | 1,945,721 | 2,243,675 | (+15%) | 11,028 | 10,507 | (-5%) |
| 3 | — | info | 3,737,554 | 3,747,038 | (0%) | 8,295 | 6,340 | (-24%) |
| 4 | — | live | 649,941 | 632,401 | (-3%) | 6,507 | 4,949 | (-24%) |
| 5 | — | xyz | 3,610,448 | 3,239,639 | (-10%) | 6,352 | 3,934 | (-38%) |
| 6 | ▲ +3* | net | 12,965,167 | 12,823,843 | (-1%) | 2,864 | 2,320 | (-19%) |
| 7 | — | shop | 1,556,450 | 1,691,583 | (+9%) | 4,300 | 2,194 | (-49%) |
| 8 | ▼ -2 | online | 2,279,920 | 2,419,155 | (+6%) | 4,746 | 2,009 | (-58%) |
| 9 | ▲ +3 | click | 383,173 | 503,300 | (+31%) | 2,317 | 1,600 | (-31%) |
| 10 | — | ru | 4,890,218 | 4,940,178 | (+1%) | 2,751 | 1,507 | (-45%) |
| 11 | ▲ +7 | cfd | 198,634 | 589,403 | (+197%) | 1,067 | 1,486 | (+39%) |
| 12 | ▲ +1 | org | 10,730,117 | 10,747,830 | (0%) | 2,312 | 1,300 | (-44%) |
| 13 | ▲ +1 | site | 1,208,140 | 1,338,872 | (+11%) | 2,185 | 1,273 | (-42%) |
| 14 | ▼ -6 | us | 1,912,099 | 2,018,702 | (+6%) | 3,733 | 1,130 | (-70%) |
| 15 | ▲ +2 | life | 322,212 | 351,535 | (+9%) | 1,081 | 938 | (-13%) |
| 16 | ▲ +10 | cc | 962,466 | 1,034,968 | (+8%) | 651 | 882 | (+35%) |
| 17 | ▲ +12 | pl | 2,367,509 | 2,435,289 | (+3%) | 562 | 867 | (+54%) |
| 18 | ▼ -2 | icu | 312,533 | 168,694 | (-46%) | 1,168 | 812 | (-30%) |
| 19 | ▼ -4 | cn | 7,363,700 | 7,511,395 | (+2%) | 1,571 | 756 | (-52%) |
| 20 | ▲ +2 | id | 638,981 | 657,762 | (+3%) | 881 | 690 | (-22%) |
* Indicates change over prior quarter
| Quarterly Update: Top Level Domains |
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| Quarter over Quarter: Key Statistics |
Quarter over Quarter: Top Level Domains |
Quarter over Quarter: Registrars |
Quarter over Quarter: Hosting Networks |