The research that we conduct for clients frequently leads to insights with lasting significance.

Our knowledge base spans a very wide range of subjects that inform our system-level approach to resilience. We've captured insights of particularly lasting significance in a series of Interisle white papers.

David Piscitello David Piscitello

Malware Landscape 2023: A Study of the Scope and Distribution of Malware

Interisle reviewed over 7 million reports of distinct malware events from January 2022 to December 2022 collected by the Cybercrime Information Center, examining malware that attacks both IoT and user-attended devices ("endpoints"). This year Interisle also studied reports of malicious traffic sources: malware that is used to scan web sites for exploitable vulnerabilities, to inject malicious content into web forms, or to conduct denial of service attacks.

Read More
David Piscitello David Piscitello

Malware Landscape 2022: A Study of the Scope and Distribution of Malware

Interisle researchers analyzed 2.5 million records of distinct malware events from April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022 collected by the Cybercrime Information Center, to identif what malware was most prevalent, where malware was served from, and what resources criminals used to pursue their attacks. The study provides yearly and year-over-year measurements.

Read More
David Piscitello David Piscitello

Malware Landscape 2021: A Study of the Scope and Distribution of Malware

The study, which analyzes nearly 1.7 million malware reports collected from January 1, 2021 to June 30, 2021, shows a 663% increase in malware reports in the first half of 2021. Our analyses identify what malware was most prevalent, where malware was served from or distributed, and what resources criminals used to pursue their attacks

Read More
David Piscitello David Piscitello

Phishing Landscape 2021: An Annual Study of the Scope and Distribution of Phishing

Phishing continues to pose a significant threat to millions of Internet users. This study, which analyzes nearly 1.5 million phishing reports representing 700,000 phishing attacks, shows that phishing increased by nearly 70% over the period 1 May 2020 through 30 April 2021. The study also reports that most phishing occurs on domains purposely (maliciously) registered for phishing attacks.

Read More
David Piscitello David Piscitello

Domain Security: A Critical Component of Enterprise Risk Management

This report describes the adverse and costly consequences when an organization becomes a victim of domain name hijackings or misuse. Interisle recommends that organizations need to include domain names in their enterprise risk management planning and execution. Interisle's analysts describe incidents where major corporations, government agencies, financials, or crypto-currency exchanges fell victim to domain theft or “hijackings.” The research indicates that such hijacking incidents occur with disturbing frequency, even among the large enterprises or government services across the globe.

Read More
David Piscitello David Piscitello

WHOIS Contact Data Availability and Registrant Classification Study

The report presents an in-depth analysis of how contact data for Internet domain names — which make all web sites, email, and apps work-has disappeared from public access, impeding cybercrime investigation, consumer protection, Internet security, and online commerce. The Interisle study finds that ICANN's GDPR-driven policy has resulted in the redaction of contact data for 57% of all generic Top-level Domain (gTLD) names, perhaps five times more contact data than is required by the GDPR.

Read More
David Piscitello David Piscitello

Domain Name Registration: Data at the Crossroads

The report measures the effectiveness and impact of ICANN's registration data access policies and procedures by examining the practices of 23 registrars, which collectively sponsor more than two-thirds of the registrations in the generic top-level domains (gTLDs). This study determines whether they comply with ICANN's policies and related contractual obligations, and also to the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR).

Read More

Latest News

23 January 2024: Trends in Spam

Analysis of spam data for September to November 2023 shows that the number of domains reported for spam declined for the third straight quarter. But that still represents over 200,000 unique spam domains each month. New gTLDs and subdomain reseller accounts continue to attract more spammers. More