SEATTLE, WA - Online shopping retail giant Amazon this week seized multiple internet domains that have been utilized by Russian hackers to launch phishing attacks that targeted users of Microsoft’s Windows operating system. Chief Information Security Officer at Amazon, CJ Moses, announced in a blog post that Midnight Blizzard, otherwise known as APT29 – a threat actor directly sponsored by the Russian government – had been targeting government agencies, empires, … [Read more...]
These Countries Are Beniffting Big from Their Distinctive Top-Level Domains
PALM BEACH, FL -The rise in prominence of artificial intelligence in the tech industry has proven to be a significant boon for Anguilla, which has seen a huge spike – and along with it, a lucrative revenue stream – from companies and organizations seeking to register the small Caribbean island nation’s top-level domain (TLD) of “.AI.” This development has been making headlines in the press, but Anguilla isn’t the only country with a TLD that is desired across the globe for … [Read more...]
GoDaddy or Namecheap: Which Registrar Should You Use to Buy an .AI Domain?
PHOENIX, AZ - With the boom of the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution the talk of the technology industry – both for good and bad – the demand for the .AI domain has skyrocketed. Originally an obscure country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for the small Caribbean island of Anguilla, it has spiked in popularity with tech companies looking to cash in on the AI craze, making it one of the most popular extensions out there currently. That being said, the US-based GoDaddy … [Read more...]
Threads.com Acquired by Facebook Parent Meta; Expected to Redirect Soon
MENLO PARK, CA - Meta, the parent company of Facebook (which changed its corporate name in October 2021 to align with its vision for the "metaverse"), has acquired the domain "Threads.com" for its X (formerly Twitter) competitor, Threads. Originally, Meta launched the service using the domain "Threads.net" due to the prior ownership of Threads.com by another company, which was running a cloud-based team communications platform. In June 2024, the company that owned … [Read more...]
Google Announces Parked Domains Will Automatically Be Opted Out of Ad Serving
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA - On Thursday, September 5, Google informed advertisers and users that they will be changing their Content Suitability policy, with new accounts being automatically opted out of serving ads on parked domains, beginning in October 2024. A parked domain is a domain name has been registered, but is not currently connected to an online service such as a website or email hosting. Simply put, it is a domain that has been bought but is currently unused; instead, … [Read more...]
Lawsuit Alleges GoDaddy “Stole” Domain Name Two Months After Purchase
TEMPE, AZ - A lawsuit filed by Sweden-based Crisby Studio AB alleges that the biggest Internet registrar in the world, GoDaddy, “wrongfully took possession of” a domain name, two months after it had been successfully purchased by the company earlier this year. Crisby Studio AB, a Swedish limited liability company, and Niklas Thorin, a Swedish resident Plaintiffs, v. GoDaddy, Inc., a Delaware corporation, GoDaddy.com, LLC, a Delaware corporation, … [Read more...]
Domain Registrar, Site Builder Squarespace Purchased by Permira for $6.9 Billion
NEW YORK, NY - Private-equity firm Permira has entered into a deal with Squarespace to acquire the website-building platform and domain host/registrar in an all-cash deal valued at $6.9 billion, according to an announcement made this week by both companies. The deal involves Permira paying approximately a 30 percent premium to Squarespace’s unaffected share price, which comes to $44 a share in cash; as a part of the transaction, the publicly-traded web company – … [Read more...]
Investigation Uncovers 40,000 Phishing Domains Linked To LabHost Scam Operation
UNITED KINGDOM - The LabHost phishing-as-a-service (PhaaS) platform, which had tens of thousands of phishing domains linked to it and thousands of users worldwide, has had its infrastructure completely disrupted and 37 suspects have been arrested – including the original developer – following a year-long global law enforcement operation. Originally launched in 2021, LabHost was a resource for cybercriminals that – for a monthly subscription fee – provided them … [Read more...]
Recently Discovered October 2023 Xfinity Hack Affects Nearly 36 Million Customers
PHILADELPHIA, PA - Leading internet service provider, Xfinity, recently released information regarding a major data breach that is expected to have affected millions of customers. The offenders exploited a vulnerability left by a patch, causing unauthorized access to software provider Citrix, a system used by Xfinity. It is important for Xfinity users to amend their usernames and passwords in response to this breach, even if their data has not been directly exposed. While … [Read more...]
Multiple Domains Used by Vietnamese Cybercrime Group Seized by Microsoft
REDMOND, WA - Multiple domains utilized by a Vietnamese cybercrime group known as “Storm-1152” to sell fraudulent Outlook email accounts have been seized by Microsoft’s Digital Crimes Unit. The domains have been used to cause millions of dollars in damage. Storm-1152 had reportedly used these domains to register over 750 million fake Outlook accounts that they then would sell online to cybercriminals. In addition, the outlaw group also provided numerous other illegal … [Read more...]
Experts: 23andMe Hack Is DNA Catastrophe; Leaked Millions of Genetic Profiles
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Earlier this week, in a startling revelation, 23andMe conceded that a hack in October was significantly worse than initially reported. Affecting nearly 6.9 million people, the scale of this data breach was shockingly larger than the initially stated figure of 14,000 users. Regrettably, the stolen data contained not only sensitive information such as full names, but genetic profiles. Yet, the severity of the situation was met with indifference by some … [Read more...]
New Service to Assist with WHOIS Lookups Launched by ICANN for Authorized Users
LOS ANGELES, CA - The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) – the nonprofit organization that oversees the domain industry – has launched a new centralized online service to assist researchers, law enforcement, and others to request personal data from all public domain registration records. This new service comes after ICANN had instructed all registrars in May 2018 to redact personal data – such as a customer’s name, address, phone number … [Read more...]
You Really Can Make A Logo In 3 Minutes With Founder Richard Lau’s Logo.com
PALM BEACH, FL - Richard Lau, it’s a name many in the domain industry will be familiar with, as he was a Co-Founder of NamesCon, the domain industries “main event” so to speak, now owned by GoDaddy.com through its acquisition of World Hosting Days. Richard is also known for his long-term support of WaterSchool, a global nonprofit organization bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing countries. It was a staple at NamesCon events – at least that is where … [Read more...]
What Is Web Site Hosting and Why Do I Need It? Seems Like A Monthly Rip Off
NEW YORK – Once in a while I come across a person, customer or prospect that doesn’t understand what website hosting is and why they might have to pay for it. They seem to feel that hosting is some unknown, unexplained add-on which seems confusing at best or a rip-off at worst. The particular people seem to think a website just 'exists' out there on the Inter-webs or are somehow part of the World Wide Web; they have trouble understanding what website hosting is and why … [Read more...]