Infoblox Finds Tens of Thousands of Expired Domains Re-Registered Daily
Summary
Infoblox estimates that about 50,400 gTLD domains are re-registered daily, roughly 20% of new gTLD registrations. Old domains can retain trust and connections that threat actors may exploit.
Key points
- Infoblox observed an average of 50,400 dropcatch domains per day in gTLDs during the first half of 2026, rising to about 65,000 when ccTLDs are included.
- Dropcatch domains account for nearly 20% of observed registrations; approximately 92% of the gTLD total came from 15 TLDs.
- Nearly 30% of newly observed .net and .xyz domains had existed before; the figure for .com was 24.5%.
- Infoblox identifies dropcatch domains by comparing newly observed registrations and creation dates against its historical domain records; inconsistent creation-date availability limits measurement, especially for ccTLDs.
- Re-registered domains may retain reputation, traffic, email, cached search results, or lingering DNS connections that create security risks.
- In one example, a former marketing-service CDN domain was acquired in February 2026 by threat actor Shady Squirrel, who used it to send visitors to malware.
Article Details
- Publisher
- Infoblox Threat Intel
- Report Period
- First half of 2026
- Scope
- Dropped domains re-registered with new creation dates across gTLDs and observable ccTLDs.
- Key Statistics
- An average of 50,400 dropped gTLD domains were re-registered daily, nearly 20% of observed daily gTLD registrations.
- Including observable ccTLDs, approximately 65,000 dropcatch domains were detected daily; their overall share of registrations was about 20%.
- Approximately 92% of observed gTLD dropcatch domains came from 15 TLDs.
- Nearly three in ten newly observed .net and .xyz domains had been registered before; the rate for .com was 24.5%.
- Recommendations
- Register expired domains associated with brand impersonation risks to prevent future abuse.
- Recover accidentally dropped legitimate domains before they fall into a threat actor’s hands.