Macnica and Fujitsu Defense & National Security today release report on trends in domain abuse in phishing site URLs through joint research

Macnica (headquarters: Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture; Representative Director and President: Kazumasa Hara; hereinafter "Macnica) and Fujitsu Defense & National Security Limited (headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director and President: Suzuki Akira; hereinafter "FDNS") conducted joint research and wrote a research report on trends in domain abuse in phishing site URLs titled "The Past and Present of Domain Names Abuse in Phishing Sites." The report was released today.

Background
The damage caused by phishing is increasing year by year and has become a social problem, and various organizations and companies are working to reduce the damage. In this context, Macnica has begun joint research and studies on phishing together with FDNS.
This report summarizes the current phishing situation from a bird's-eye view, based on the awareness that comprehensive research and information dissemination on conventional domain abuse is insufficient. In order to reduce phishing damage, it is necessary to take measures against the latest and most mainstream methods, and this knowledge can be utilized by organizations and companies that are taking various measures.

■Report Overview
In conventional phishing attacks, phishing URLs are often designed to contain strings of characters that mimic major brand names. ^{* 1} phishurl-list provided by ^*2 As a result of analyzing data from January 2019 to December 2023, it was found that the method of phishing has changed to the abuse of phishing URLs and subdomains that do not include brand names. This may make it difficult to detect phishing sites using conventional phishing URL detection technology.

<Number of URLs by format in phishurl-list and ratio of subdomain types to the whole>

Macnica FDNS creation

■ Future plans
Macnica will continue to conduct analysis and educational activities appropriate to the times in order to eradicate phishing scams.

*1: JPCERT/CC (Japan Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Center)
An information provider that responds to computer security incidents, such as intrusions and unauthorized access via the Internet. It accepts reports of incidents from domestic sites, grasps the situation, supports responses, analyzes methods used, and considers and advises on measures to prevent recurrence. , from a technical standpoint.

*2: phishurl-list
A database of URLs used for phishing.

[The report's public URL is here]
https://www.macnica.co.jp/business/security/security-reports/145691/index.html

■Table of contents of the report
1. Summary
2. Survey method and data
3. Overall trends of phishing site URLs
4. Trends in domain abuse in phishing site URLs
5. Summary
6. References

*Company names and product names mentioned in this text are trademarks or registered trademarks of Macnica and each company.
*The information published in the news release (including product price, specifications, etc.) is current as of the date of announcement. Please note that the information may be subject to change without prior notice.