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Connected Domains API: Cutting the Ties

Cybercriminals continue to grow in sophistication and daring, and traditional cybersecurity methods are no longer enough to contain them. Most Internet users share this view, as confirmed by a 2017 study where only 31% of respondents said traditional solutions provide the protection their organizations need.

In such a landscape, it is prudent to be proactive and take advantage of emerging cybersecurity approaches, and TIP’s Connected Domains API is one of them.

Connected domains occur in an infrastructure where hosts, IP addresses, and servers are shared or when registrants have similar names and email addresses. The API retrieves a list of these domains and subdomains so as to enable you to check whether your website is at risk.

This post highlights the importance of examining the connections and the benefits you can derive from the results.

Ensure Effective Cybersecurity

Like spiders that create extensive webs to trap their targets, hackers set up a net of malicious domains under the same IP address.

Connected Domains API checks whether a domain is part of a malicious cluster of domains, allowing cybersecurity teams to warn employees about potentially dangerous websites, and promptly configure firewalls to block traffic from the cluster.

Protect Your Reputation

The success of your business, sales, and strategic partnerships depends on your good reputation. And reputation is built upon many factors, on top of which are the associations that you knowingly, or unknowingly, enter into.

Sharing a host server or IP address can get you in bad company as your neighbors may be engaged in publishing inappropriate content or running a gambling or adult site. As a result, you may be mistaken as being in cahoots which can significantly damage your reputation.

Connected Domains API checks your IP neighborhood, allowing you to take both proactive and protective measures when it's positive for malicious activities — e.g., opt for a different domain or transfer your website to a new hosting service.

Improve Email Delivery

The smooth flow of email communication is crucial to your business, but it may stop if your neighbors’ email practices flagrantly violate the rules. Malicious sites may spread spam emails which are eventually blocked by email service providers.

If you share the same address with the culprits, your email marketing efforts could get blocked as well. Connected Domains API allows you to check your neighborhood, detect and avoid spammers thus ensuring seamless email delivery.

Learn About Third-Party Credibility

Businesses would find it impossible to operate without third-party support. They perform crucial functions in information technology and financial transactions processing and are trusted with confidential data and sensitive information.

However, these close associates may be vulnerable too if not involved in dubious activities themselves. Connected Domains API can research third-party credibility by checking the domains they are connected with. It will reveal if they are linked to known malevolent entities or if their neighbors’ activities might result in potential issues for the collaboration.

Conduct Brand Research

Before launching a new business or a new product line, it is important to conduct research on a chosen domain to ensure strong cybersecurity and excellent brand reputation.

Connected Domains API allows you to see which other domains are connected to the one your company wishes to purchase. This will help reveal the entities behind them and whether they are associated with cybercriminals. The API also allows you to check similar-sounding domain names and their network of connections.

Protect Against Phishing

Employees of target companies may easily believe emails that purportedly come from respected organizations but which, in fact, come from hackers. As a result, confidential data might get exposed and money transferred to fraudster accounts.

Once such phishing scams are made public through the media or from warnings shared by partners, you can use Connected Domains API to research names that are similar to the perpetrators and the domains connected to them. The result would be a list of all the suspect domains which you must immediately check and block if needed.

Avoid Impersonation

Hackers can impersonate you to trick your customers into sharing their sensitive information. If they succeed and media gets wind of it, the bad publicity can put a dent on your reputation in the eyes of customers, third parties, and the public at large.

You can avoid an impersonation attack by using Connected Domains API to check all the domains connected to yours. You can also look for variations of your domain and subdomain names and the domains connected to those in order to evaluate the risk of impersonation, take timely precautionary measures and alert your customers.

Assist During Investigation

Connected Domains API is an excellent tool to investigate fraudulent networks. Connecting the dots of similar domains and shared IP addresses traces the extent of malicious activities and leads to other domains owned by a cybercriminal. Discovering the networks of dubious websites and their handlers might result in their subsequent prosecution and eventual shutdown.

Hackers operate through malicious networks of connected domains which you may unknowingly be part of or vulnerable to. Connected Domains API enables you to research your connections and cut the ties to protect your business reputation.

Find out more about how TIP can help you counter connected domains and other threats. Contact us at service.desk@threatintelligenceplatform.com or sign up for a free trial.