When you register a domain name for the online presence of your company, you are automatically a part of the WHOIS database. Most commonly WHOIS information is considered merely data that should be available within a specific domain name as and when requested by the registrar of your domain. But what one doesn’t understand is the power that drives this data nor many know the functioning of the WHOIS service, its beginning, including the InfoSec repercussions it has today.
Read the post till completion to learn the ways whois lookup api can bolster your everyday infosec audits.
WHOIS Service
WHOIS information, commonly referred to as WHOIS data or WHOIS details, is a global database feed of domain owners that includes individuals who register domain names. You must always enter your name and contact details when registering a domain, including:
1. Name
2. Mailing address
3. Email
4. Phone number
5. City
6. Postal code
7. State
8. Country
Contrary to popular belief, there are numerous registrars and registries around the world that provide access to the WHOIS service, which is not housed in just one separate database. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) retains its objective to keep the WHOIS database as exact, safe, free, and public as possible for its users. One of the main purposes of WHOIS data is to maintain as much transparency as possible in the domain name space.
Function Of WHOIS Lookup
The WHOIS concept was nothing more than a user directory during the ARPANET era. However, as the years went by, WHOIS data grew much more personal, containing complete contact information, making it one of the most helpful data sets for conducting data reconnaissance and intelligence gathering operations.
The whois api lookup’s primary objective and functions have changed with time, and it is now used for a variety of purposes, including:
1. Tracking down spamming, phishing, and domain cracking activities.
2. To assist in investigations by the federal government into websites that spread abusive content such as xenophobia, child abuse, child pornography; the sale of illegal narcotics, hatred, violence, racial and socioeconomic prejudice, to name a few.
3. Providing the information required to make the Internet as secure and open as possible to ISPs, network operators, security agencies, and governmental law enforcement agencies.
4. Assisting trademark enforcement organizations with their investigations into unauthorized use of registered company names or products through domain names or unauthorized
trademark promotion.
5. Phishing attempts against financial institutions and generally used login-based web services are prevented by training users to recognize them.
Performing WHOIS Lookup
There are different ways to query a WHOIS database, and some of them don’t require using terminal
commands manually.
These techniques work well when incorporating WHOIS lookups into your own domain and DNS apps or infosec audits. Instead of contacting a live WHOIS database server, they offer faster results by querying a passive DNS/WHOIS server, which updates its data silently in the background. By doing this, interaction time with the current WHOIS global database is minimized.
WHOIS Lookup API Endpoint
Your first choice for Whois domain tools is to use bulk whois API services, followed by a WHOIS lookup API endpoint query. It’s quite easy because of the integration with popular programming languages like PHP, Node, Ruby, JavaScript, and Python.
Additionally, API lets you run historical WHOIS lookups to compare various dates. If you want to incorporate historical information for WHOIS lookups, you can start with the historical API lookup endpoint.
“WHOIS privacy ” or WHOIS proxy ” Services
You’ve probably seen that some domain name owners use so-called “WHOIS privacy” “WHOIS proxy” services to hide their contact and personal information from WHOIS records.
A WHOIS privacy service will only conceal your personal information, not the existence of your domain name. In this scenario, the registrar will supply the information displayed, making domain registration a little more “private.”
However, putting into practice a domain privacy service does not ensure your online secrecy. If users engage in criminal activity, law enforcement organizations may demand that your domain registrar divulge your real identity, financial information, and other information about you; and your domain name so that they can continue their investigation. There are several ways to explore a domain name if you don’t have a court order, but still want to learn about the person who owns it. For example, manually—by combining data from various databases or using WHOIS historical records.
Conclusion
WHOIS data is essential in the area of cybersecurity because it can serve as a jumping-off point for researchers and investigators pursuing fraud, trademark infringement, spamming, malware, and other unlawful activities. Whether you’re a user who just needs to know who is behind a domain name or an infosec researcher conducting a more in-depth study. The WHOIS domain api tools will perfectly suit your needs and help you correlate information between various security datasets.
