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...]
FIASCO: Multiple Squarespace Domains Hijacked After Security Loophole Exploited
NEW YORK, NY - Last week, multiple organizations with domains registered with Squarespace had their websites hijacked by hackers, with most of the instances primarily targeting cryptocurrency-based businesses, such as Celer Network, Compound Finance, Pendle Finance, and Unstoppable Domains. The hijacks took place between July 9 and July 12, and involved Google Domains assets; Squarespace had purchased the Google Domains service in June 2023 – along with approximately 10 … [Read more...]
Ticketmaster Faces Massive Data Breach, Affecting Millions of Users
WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA - Ticketmaster, the ticketing giant, is reeling from a major data breach that may have exposed the personal information of over half a billion users. The notorious hacking group ShinyHunters is claiming responsibility for the attack and is demanding a ransom of $500,000 to prevent the data from being sold. While Ticketmaster has yet to confirm the breach officially, security experts are taking the claims seriously. According to reports, the stolen data … [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...]
Google Begins Testing Custom Filters for Search Based on Domains, Keywords
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA - Google has begun testing custom filters for its search engine for results based on domains and keywords. Currently, these new features have been made available only to a certain number of users, which allow them to customize their search results according to certain specific domain types, websites, and keywords in order to find the information they are looking for. Reports indicate that these new filters allow users to search for specific types of files … [Read more...]
World’s Biggest Ransomware Group Shut Down, Domains Seized in Global Operation
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The operations of infamous ransomware group LockBit have been shut down, their domains seized, and several high-ranking members placed under arrest as the result of a recent digital takedown carried out by an international law enforcement operation. Operation Cronos, the code name of a joint effort made up by agencies representing 11 countries – Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, the United … [Read more...]
ACE Enforcement Action Reaches Record Levels, Over 3,000 Pirate Domains Seized
LOS ANGELES, CA - The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) has stepped up their enforcement actions recently, having seized over 3,000 pirate site domains over the past few weeks. But despite this impressive effort, the number of new and illegal domains constantly taking the place of the ones that have been taken down are never-ending. The domains in question – which revolve around pirating copyrighted video entertainment such as movies and television … [Read more...]
Somebody Bought The Entire Country of Portugal And It Only Cost $350,000
PALM BEACH, FL – According to a recent report that popped up in my LinkedIn feed, the domain name Portugal.com recently sold through SEDO brokerage and domain sales platform. For those wondering, Portugal is a European country on the Iberian Peninsula, bordering Spain. It’s population, according to the World Bank, is over 10 million. Many geographic domain names sell based on their overall popularity as travel destinations and largely on population size which helps in … [Read more...]
PII Of Up To 4.6 Million Neiman Marcus Customers Potentially Exposed In Breach
PALM BEACH, FL - On Thursday, September 30, 2021, luxury department store Neiman Marcus announced that about 4.6 million of its customers may have had their personally identifiable information or PII compromised in a data breach that occurred in May 2020. The personal information stolen in the breach varied and may have included names and contact information, payment card numbers and expiration dates including virtual gift card numbers. Worse, the cyber-thieves may have … [Read more...]
Hyphenated Domain Name Fetches Over $61k In Latest SEDO Weekly Sales Report
WEST PALM BEACH, FL – The hyphenated domain name “TN-I.com” sold at $61,990 this past week according to the latest SEDO.com weekly domain sales report. The web address is currently parked. I've always avoided hyphenated domains unless the words being used are ordinarily hyphenated or it separates two extremely popular words mostly used together. There are some instances where this works well, but with TN-I, let's just say I'm not a fan of this one. Also … [Read more...]
Legacy Domain “Movies.net” Premiers In SEDO Weekly Sales List at $45,000
WEST PALM BEACH, FL – According to a weekly sales release issued by SEDO domain marketplace and parking provider, the domain name “Movies.net” (parked at Godaddy) has changed hands for the cool sum of $45,000, making it the highest ‘public’ sale of the week. Each week, SEDO releases a list of domain names which have been sold including highlights of .COM, ccTLDs and notable domains in ‘other’ TLD categories. It is nice to see a short “legacy” .net domain name sell … [Read more...]
VeriSign Quarterly Reports Indicate Legacy “.net” and “.org” Future Not So Wonderful
PALM BEACH, FL – Each quarter, VeriSign, Inc. (VRSN), releases its “THE DOMAIN NAME INDUSTRY BRIEF” market report, highlighting the growth of the domain name system as well as the individual growth of name registration, in numbers, for various extensions including their own “.com”, and “.net” domain names. These reports also include other legacy extensions such as Public Interest Registry's “.org” and leading country-code “ccTLDs.” Not surprisingly, ccTLDs continue to grow … [Read more...]
Sedo.com Releases Weekly Domain Name Sales List 07/09/2018 – 07/15/2018
NEW YORK, NY – Recently released is Sedo’s weekly sales list, a weekly list of public transactions above $2,000. This weeks highlights included the top .com sold as BTCExchange.com at $55,000 USD, the top ccTLD as Park.co.us at 22,500 GBP ($29,508.19 US) and the top other as KYG.org at $8,800 USD. Here is the entire list for Sedo.com sales from 07/09/2018 – 07/15/2018. Domain … [Read more...]
Does the Domain Industry Suffer From Own Versions of Trumpted “Fake News” Stories?
NEW YORK, NY – You may have heard the news that a tremendous transaction recently took place. According to TNT Names, Donuts recently sold www.home.loans for $500,000.00. Wow, I missed the boat for sure. I just let Find.cars drop, crash and burn and lost $10,000.00 to count my chips and walk-away. I probably could have sold it for half-a-million dollars in CASH, or could I? What a mistake that was. Or was it? Considering the fact that this deal reflects the largest … [Read more...]