7 Professionals Who Can Leverage WHOIS Database Download Services

Did you know how much it is possible to unveil about a website by using WHOIS data?

Having the ability to keep track of contact and registration data for specific domain names can be very practical, especially with the increasing number of websites registered daily. Indeed, a recent report states that there were more than 300 million domain name registrations in the second quarter of 2018 alone.

WHOIS database download services allow in-house access to this information organized in a way that transforms raw data into insights. These databases can also be customized to fit specific business needs. And as a matter of fact, many professionals in many industries and sectors already make use of WHOIS records to tackle a series of challenges.

Let’s take a look at how they do it.

Economists

Need an impartial measure to check how well a specific economy has been going in the past years? How quickly online businesses are picking up in big cities compared to less populated areas? Economists and policymakers can get an estimation of a country’s economy by just looking at the number of new domain registrations broken down by location and time period.

Furthermore, by looking at the contact details of registrants, it’s also possible to assess the concentration of business activity — e.g., the ratio of repeating entrepreneurs or organizations that own more than one website and have therefore registered several domain names.

Security Experts

As well as everyone else, cybercriminals are required to provide contact information when they register a domain. This data is then compiled into WHOIS databases which cybersecurity experts can use to flag hazardous entities who attempt to mislead people about their true identity and dupe them into committing human errors — i.e., opening dubious attachments or links redirecting to bugged contact forms.

Due to the comprehensiveness, WHOIS database can play a big part in flagging cybercrime perpetrators. For instance, scammers who operate at a large scale may sloppily have used the same contact details, even fake ones, for registering dozens or more domains behind seemingly disconnected websites, except for their intent to harm. Is it realistic for someone to register so many names and build a legitimate business for every one of them?

Brand Keepers

Brands play an important role in differentiating an organization or product from the rest, and they can drive profits thanks to customer loyalty and recurring purchases. Of course, this business advantage also attracts the attention of unlawful competitors, who may disguise their offerings and exploit reputational merits that aren’t theirs.

WHOIS database download services can detect brand infringers by efficiently monitoring new domain name registrations that closely resemble existing ones — e.g., the same name except for a few characters or a different TLD or ccTLD extension.

Security Researchers

Where is the next generation of cybercriminals likely to emerge? How can organizations prepare when nation-state hackers have virtually unlimited resources to conduct attacks? Security researchers in charge of understanding big trends need access to every piece of information that could help them come up with a decent answer to these questions.

Alongside other sources, WHOIS data is useful to figure out abnormal domain registration activities in a given country or region and spot anomalies — e.g., the use of a given ccTLD extension for registrants located far away. Suspicious records can be further analyzed, and if deemed necessary, be added to web blacklists.

Content Checkers

The Internet and its mass-publication capacities have made it possible for anyone to disseminate information at scale. While this means relevant matters can spread at an unprecedented speed, it has also led to the rise of fake news.

But what can you do once you have detected inaccuracies on the web? WHOIS databases provide you with a starting point to rectify the situation. You might, for example, contact wrongful publishers and ask them to put the erroneous content down. Or you may take a step further and alert registrars and start legal proceedings.

Marketing Executives

The number of people connected to the Internet keeps growing, and this trend is fuelling online consumption through e-commerce channels and new varieties of digital services. In such an environment, it didn’t take long for marketers to put their hands on every means at their disposal to better understand what encourages clicks and purchases.

Domain WHOIS records based on filtered research criteria allow these professionals to learn more about market forces and formulate well-tuned brand strategies. For example, marketers can use WHOIS databases to identify common words and syllables used and their corresponding connotations in a specific country where they decide to expand.

Governmental Authorities

Knowing that there are more varied attacks happening in cyberspace today, law enforcement agencies use WHOIS records to look into identities on the Internet while conducting investigations. The information comes in the form of registration or contact details of suspected fraudulent domains which allow agents to keep digging — locating and catching perpetrators and pinpointing cybercrime patterns.

Numerous professionals in different industries make use of WHOIS data to access information that helps them do their jobs better and serve the best interests of their organizations and the public at large. You too can learn more about the WHOIS database download, by reaching out with your questions to [email protected].