There’s a rising trend of domain disputes, possibly due to a new tactic called cybersquatting. Attackers wait for a business’s domain name to expire so they can buy it for themselves, keeping companies from being able to use their own names for their websites. Registration status is important within domain monitoring.

Another version of this trend, which is a tad more sinister, is typosquatting. Attackers defraud patrons by purchasing domain names that are typos of a well-known website.

You can avoid the risks posed by these tactics by integrating domain monitoring into your cybersecurity. Let’s talk about what domain monitoring is and why you need it.

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Alberto Casares

VP of Threat Research

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What Is Domain Monitoring?

Domain monitoring is what allows businesses to review the registration status of domains. You’ll be alerted whenever your domains are about to expire so you can keep your domains from falling into the wrong hands.

Monitoring also empowers you to check for all domain variations, including typos and different top-level domains (dot-com, dot-org, dot-net, etc.). By monitoring these variations, you can effectively prevent attackers from scamming unsuspecting patrons trying to navigate to your website.

With domain monitoring, you can also check for data breaches associated with your domains. You may think other security programs are enough to detect data breaches, but you might be wrong. A recent study found that it takes an average of 287 days—over nine months—to catch a cybersecurity breach.

While monitoring won’t stop these breaches (you’ll need a threat intelligence service), it can keep attackers from using the information they obtain from a breach.

How Does Domain Monitoring Work?

Domain monitoring services use the latest technology to sift through the mountain of information on the web to deliver accurate and timely insights into your domain’s health. Here’s a breakdown of all the processes domain monitoring uses to achieve that.

AI Integration

A typical domain monitoring service utilizes AI technology and automated processes to identify and monitor thousands of domain variations. AI technology can catch suspicious or lookalike domains and fake websites attempting to emulate yours.

Using AI technology easily beats maintaining a list of potential domains that cybercriminals may use to scam your visitors. With AI, domain monitoring is entirely automated. The AI in your domain monitoring service will also be much faster at detecting compromised credentials when they become an issue.

Threat Measurement

After identifying threats, a domain monitoring program will then measure the threat level of each domain or credentials it discovers. The program assesses threats by measuring the risk potential. For example, links that attempt phishing scams rank higher than links on which people are simply cybersquatting.

Timely Alerts

If domain monitoring detects a threat, it will deliver accurate, detailed, and timely alerts so you can take action immediately. If your domain is ever at risk of expiring, domain monitoring will alert you with plenty of time to spare. This alert ensures you never risk losing your domain to a nefarious third party.

Continuous Analysis

Thanks to the AI technology, your domain monitoring service’s analysis is continuous. It will work every second of every day to scour the internet for information that may jeopardize your website or company.

Do I Need Domain Monitoring?

If you conduct most of your business online, you need to adopt domain monitoring into your cybersecurity strategy. Monitoring should be a top priority along with registration status, even if you only have a website. It’s your best line of defense against cybersquatting and an essential addition to your threat monitoring strategy.

Don’t just take our word for it; here are three measurable advantages of using domain monitoring.

1. Reduced risk of fraud: Keeping tabs on similar domains and potential security breaches can accelerate your response time to threats. When you can eliminate or mitigate a threat the moment it surfaces, your risk of fraud plummets, keeping you and your customers safe.

2. Faster data overview: Having a list of all domain names registered (and unregistered) to your business gives you immediate insights into managing your domain better.

3. 24/7 monitoring: Domain monitoring is always on. Trust the system to alert you when a threat arises. Add dark web monitoring to ensure you cover your bases. You can rest easy while working on other projects with no unsuspected attacks outside of business hours.

Secure Your Domain with Constella Intelligence

Do you want to secure your domain and reduce cybersecurity risks for you and your clientele? Then it’s time to adopt domain monitoring into your cybersecurity matrix. A good place to start? Constella Intelligence.

Constella’s service combines the power of domain security and threat detection to deliver a product that makes it easy to protect your business. Check out our domain monitoring service today to get started.

*** This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from Constella Intelligence authored by The Constella Team. Read the original post at: https://constella.ai/what-is-domain-monitoring/