The purpose of DNS is to spread scams
85 million new gTLD registrations occurred in 2025, with 8.5 million already added to blocklists by May 2025 The actual abuse rate is estimated between 10-20%, meaning roughly one in five newly registered gTLD domains are used for scams Terence Eden characterizes DNS as a primary vector for criminal activity at alarming scale, calling it a crisis ICANN has been aware of and discussing this problem for years, yet the issue persists at escalating levels
Analysis
TL;DR
- 85 million new gTLD registrations occurred in 2025, with 8.5 million already added to blocklists by May 2025
- The actual abuse rate is estimated between 10-20%, meaning roughly one in five newly registered gTLD domains are used for scams
- Terence Eden characterizes DNS as a primary vector for criminal activity at alarming scale, calling it a crisis
- ICANN has been aware of and discussing this problem for years, yet the issue persists at escalating levels
Why It Matters
This highlights a critical infrastructure vulnerability that directly impacts AI practitioners deploying services requiring domain trust, email deliverability, and secure communications. The scale of DNS abuse affects content filtering systems, AI safety layers, and any application relying on domain reputation signals.
Technical Details
- 85 million new gTLD registrations in 2025; 8.5 million (10%) added to blocklists by May 2025 alone
- Estimated real abuse rate likely between 10-20%, suggesting up to 17 million malicious domains
- Blocklist addition serves as a lagging indicator, meaning actual abuse figures are significantly higher than recorded
- ICANN has acknowledged the problem for years without effective resolution, indicating systemic governance gaps
Industry Insight
- Organizations should implement proactive domain monitoring and reputation filtering rather than relying solely on blocklists, which are inherently reactive
- AI systems that depend on URL/domain trust signals need updated threat intelligence pipelines to account for the escalating abuse rate
- The persistence of this crisis despite years of ICANN discussion suggests regulatory and industry coordination failures that will likely worsen before improvement
Disclaimer: The above content is generated by AI and is for reference only.