The reliability of .US domains has been a topic of concern due to their frequent use in phishing scams. The .US domain is intended for U.S. citizens, entities, or those with a genuine connection to the United States. However, research has shown that .US domains are among the most prevalent in phishing scams, with a significant number of phishing domains registered under this domain.
The .US domain is overseen by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), an executive branch agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce. The management of the .US domain is contracted out to GoDaddy, the world’s largest domain registrar. Despite NTIA regulations requiring verification of the residency or U.S. connection of domain registrants, there have been concerns about the effectiveness of GoDaddy’s vetting process.
GoDaddy’s registration process for .US domains includes a U.S. Registration Information page that auto-populates the nexus attestation field with pre-selected responses, such as “I am a citizen of the US,” “I am a permanent resident of the US,” and “My primary domicile is in the US.” This process has raised questions about the thoroughness of the verification process.
Furthermore, research has found that a significant number of .US domains were registered to impersonate prominent U.S. companies, including Bank of America, Amazon, Apple, AT&T, Citi, Comcast, Microsoft, Meta, and Target. This indicates a lack of effective measures to prevent the misuse of .US domains for malicious purposes.
In comparison to other country-specific domains, the .US domain has been criticized for its higher incidence of phishing compared to domains from countries like Germany (.de), Hungary, New Zealand, and Finland, which have implemented stricter controls and have fewer instances of phishing.
In conclusion, while the .US domain is intended for use by U.S. citizens and entities, concerns have been raised about its reliability due to its frequent use in phishing scams and questions about the effectiveness of the verification process by GoDaddy. Users should exercise caution when interacting with .US domains, especially when it comes to providing personal information or financial details online.
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About .US domains
- What are some factors to consider when choosing between .US and other TLDs for a specific entity?
- How does the use of the .US domain extension compare to other domain extensions in terms of popularity and recognition?
- How does the demand for .US domains compare to other top-level domains in the United States?
- Is .US domain reliable?
- What specific industries are .US domains particularly popular or in demand?