.garden TLD's change to a bad neighborhood
3 days ago
- #Cybersecurity
- #TLD Analysis
- #Domain Risk
- The .garden TLD has seen a massive increase in registrations in 2026, with 147,000 domains ingested compared to 2.5k in 2025.
- The average risk score for .garden domains jumped from 55 in 2025 to 84 in 2026, indicating a significant rise in potential threats.
- AliDNS nameservers, particularly when combined with Dominet registrar, contribute to very high risk scores, with some reaching 94.
- Cloudflare accounts for a smaller portion of domains with a slightly below-average risk score, not the primary driver of the overall risk increase.
- Recommendations include blocking the .garden TLD entirely, allowlisting as needed, and evaluating blocking based on registrar or nameserver characteristics like AliDNS or Dominet.