DomainHunter & WhoisXML API: Detecting and Profiling Potentially Malicious Domains
About
A cybersecurity developer created DomainHunter, a distributed system that identifies and profiles potentially malicious domains, specifically those tagged as indicators of phishing and malware distribution. DomainHunter leverages various intelligence APIs, including WHOIS API, to build a comprehensive profile for each detected domain. The system sends real-time notifications with concise summaries to a Slack channel, allowing security teams to quickly assess threats.
Highlights
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Security teams often struggle with the influx of potential phishing domains and the need for tools that efficiently detect and respond to these threats.
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The developer leveraged WhoisXML API’s specialized WHOIS API to obtain critical domain registration data that complements other intelligence APIs to create threat profiles.
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DomainHunter became a more effective threat detection system, providing actionable threat intelligence in real time.
Building Extensive Domain Threat Profiles
Threat hunting does not stop at getting a list of potentially harmful domains. Each domain name has to be enriched with relevant intelligence to provide security teams with deeper context about the threat, and this is where DomainHunter adds value for security teams.
However, to give security teams relevant information, such as domain age, name servers, and registrant information, DomainHunter needed access to deep WHOIS intelligence. Without these critical registration data points, security professionals may find it difficult to accurately assess the legitimacy of domains.
Easy Integration and WHOIS Data Extraction
The developer created a Cloudflare Worker wrapper around WHOIS API to allow DomainHunter to query the tool and extract the necessary data points, namely:
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Registrar details
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Registration and expiration dates
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Name servers
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IP addresses the domain resolves to
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Registrant information
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Historical registration data
The IP address obtained from the WHOIS information is then used to further enrich the domain’s threat profile, specifically by analyzing the IP address’s hosting infrastructure using another intelligence API.
“In my specific use case, WhoisXML API generously supported my independent security research. I created a Worker wrapper around their WHOIS API to query and extract the exact data points needed for this project.”
Actionable Threat Intelligence
Comprehensive Threat Profiles
With the help of WHOIS API and other intelligence APIs, DomainHunter can create in-depth threat profiles of suspicious domains that encompass several factors, such as domain age, ownership legitimacy, hosting infrastructure, and website content.
Enriched Real-Time Threat Alerts
DomainHunter has the capability to send real-time notifications that contain a summary of the suspicious domain’s critical information, including its IP address, host, name servers, and registrar name. This quick summary allows security teams to assess specific threats at a glance, without needing to constantly check dashboards.