Why you should be familiar with the spammiest domain extensions

If you think that some of the latest domain extensions seem spammy, you’re right. It doesn’t take a IT expert to figure out that links ending in .click or .party might be sketchy.

But did you know that innocent-sounding extensions like .work might also be a problem? .work doesn’t seem very different from .biz, does it? But while .biz has become as accepted as .com, .work is on the Spamhaus list of the ten most abused top-level domains, with 54.5% of its websites containing spam or malware.

It’s good to know which domain extensions are sketchy, not just so that you can avoid clicking on them, but also so that you’re not tempted to use them for legitimate business, a legitimate organization, or personal blog. If you do, companies and home users may block your website just because of your extension.

Nevertheless, blocking is not the answer! Why? Because it’s very common for spammers and hackers to redirect a safe .com link to a dangerous website. You may hover over a link in an email message ad feel reassured when the pop-up URL matches the text you see on the screen, only to have your computer connect to a bad website, anyway.

Here’s what business owners need to know: Your best protection is a managed firewall, which will see the redirection and prevent you from clicking on the link. The reason the firewall should be managed is that updating every component, including the antivirus and antimalware software within, is a constant activity that will pull you, or your employees, away from their real jobs — and your employees are generally not trained to do this sort of work, anyway. And while the firewall protects your network, you need additional devices and applications to protect your companies individual computers and other devices.

To see the list of the spammiest domain extensions, check Spamhaus:
https://spamhaus.org/statistics/tlds/

To learn how a managed firewall and other managed IT solutions can keep your business safe, give us a call at 480.926.6445 or write to us at [email protected].