Security Stop-Press: Hackers Use Expired Domains To Spread Malware

Published 18 August 2026

Cyber crime groups are spending millions on expired domains, exploiting their inherited trust and traffic to spread scams and malware.

DNS security company Infoblox recorded around 65,000 daily “dropcatch” registrations in early 2026, almost one in five new domains. Its Vice President, Renée Burton, called them “a shortcut to both trust and traffic”.

The cyber crime operation dubbed “Sable Squirrel” controls over 10,000 domains, is estimated to have spent more than US$7 million and is linked to 31,000 malware samples.

Some pose as illegal sports-streaming sites while promoting gambling or controlling infected devices. Others remain embedded in compromised websites, providing ready-made victim traffic.

Businesses should catalogue domains, enable automatic renewal, remove obsolete links and DNS records, and treat ownership changes as a warning.