Cybersecurity News

Even dead websites aren't safe — experts warn hackers are spending millions on expired domains to enable malware scams

August 21, 2026

Cybercriminals are buying expired domains at scale — around 65,000 change hands daily — to exploit the inherited trust and search rankings of formerly legitimate sites. One criminal group is estimated to have spent $7 million acquiring these domains to distribute malware and run scams, raising concerns about how domain expiration creates persistent security vulnerabilities.

• security
• cyber security
• malware
• domains
• hacking
• computing security