WhoisXML API Blog

March 2025: Domain Activity Highlights

The WhoisXML API research team analyzed 8.2+ million domains registered between 1 and 31 March 2025 to identify the most popular registrars, top-level domain (TLD) extensions, and other global domain registration trends.

We also determined the top TLD extensions used by 59.2+ billion domains from our DNS database’s A record full file dated 6 March 2025.

Next, we studied the top TLDs of 1.1+ million domains detected as indicators of compromise (IoCs) this March.

Finally, we summed up our findings and provided links to the threat reports produced using DNS, IP, and domain intelligence sources during the period.

Wildcard DNS Records: Use Cases and Associated Risks

As an organization’s internet infrastructure grows, it requires more and more configuration, setup, and decision-making—from selecting a reliable name server to determining the right types of DNS records and setting the appropriate time-to-live (TTL) values. One of those decisions is whether or not to create a wildcard DNS record, a feature that most hosting providers, registrars, and DNS providers offer.

In this post, we discuss what a wildcard DNS record is, how it helps, and any risks associated with it.

FQDN to IP, IP to FQDN: The Queries that Power Domain Infrastructure Discovery

Identifying malicious infrastructure, implementing blocklists, analyzing IP or domain reputation — all of these (and many other) tasks rely on mapping fully qualified domain names (FQDNs, or so called "complete domains") to IPs and IPs to FQDNs. These mappings are crucial not only for network security analysis but also for troubleshooting and even basic website administration. 

There are lookup tools that can let you obtain the IP address that resolves to the FQDN (i.e., FQDN to IP or forward lookup tools) or retrieve a list of domains resolving to an IP address (i.e., IP to FQDN also known as reverse lookup tools). If you want to dig deeper—go back in time, if you will—there are also tools that let you perform historical FQDN to IP and IP to FQDN lookups based on passive DNS data. From there, you can create a timeline of the resource's resolutions. 

In this post, we'll show you how to do all of these. If you want to follow along and do the queries yourself, make sure to sign up for a free account to start using the tools we will be demonstrating.

February 2025: Domain Activity Highlights

The WhoisXML API research team analyzed 7.5+ million domains registered between 1 and 28 February 2025 to identify the most popular registrars, top-level domain (TLD) extensions, and other global domain registration trends.

We also determined the top TLD extensions used by 62.1+ billion domains from our DNS database’s A record full file dated 6 February 2025.

Next, we studied the top TLDs of 1.0+ million domains detected as indicators of compromise (IoCs) this February.

Finally, we summed up our findings and provided links to the threat reports produced using DNS, IP, and domain intelligence sources during the period.

January 2025: Domain Activity Highlights

The WhoisXML API research team analyzed 7.6+ million domains registered between 1 and 31 January 2025 to identify the most popular registrars, top-level domain (TLD) extensions, and other global domain registration trends.

We also determined the top TLD extensions used by 61.2+ billion domains from our DNS database’s A record full file released in the same month.

Finally, we summed up our findings and provided links to the threat reports produced using DNS, IP, and domain intelligence sources during the period.

December 2024: Domain Activity Highlights

The WhoisXML API research team analyzed 7.9+ million domains registered between 1 and 31 December 2024 to identify the most popular registrars, top-level domain (TLD) extensions, and other global domain registration trends.

We also determined the top TLD extensions used by 60.1+ billion domains from our DNS database’s A record full file released in the same month.

Next, we studied the top TLDs of 1.3+ million domains detected as indicators of compromise (IoCs) in December.

Finally, we summed up our findings and provided links to the threat reports produced using DNS, IP, and domain intelligence sources during the period.

November 2024: Domain Activity Highlights

The WhoisXML API research team analyzed 8.2 million domains registered between 1 and 30 November 2024 to identify the most popular registrars, top-level domain (TLD) extensions, and other global domain registration trends.

We also determined the top TLD extensions used by 59.6 billion domains from our DNS database’s A record full file released in the same month.

Next, we studied the top TLDs of 1.1 million domains detected as indicators of compromise (IoCs) in November.

Finally, we summed up our findings and provided links to the threat reports produced using DNS, IP, and domain intelligence sources during the period.

October 2024: Domain Activity Highlights

The WhoisXML API research team analyzed more than 8.2 million domains registered between 1 and 31 October 2024 to identify the most popular registrars, top-level domain (TLD) extensions, and other global domain registration trends.

We also determined the top TLD extensions used by the more than 57.4 billion domains from our DNS database’s A record full file released in the same month.

Next, we studied the top TLDs of more than 1.0 million domains detected as indicators of compromise (IoCs) in October.

Finally, we summed up our findings and provided links to the threat reports produced using DNS, IP, and domain intelligence sources during the period.