It indicates that the domain has been observed under the control of a known attacker group (its categorization method matches an attacker-group feed) and records when that control was first seen: the WHOIS update date if the ownership changed at that time, otherwise the date the attacker-group categorization was set. Sublabels express how recent that takeover is.
The questions every analyst asks before acting on this signal.
It indicates that the domain has been observed under the control of a known attacker group (its categorization method matches an attacker-group feed) and records when that control was first seen: the WHOIS update date if the ownership changed at that time, otherwise the date the attacker-group categorization was set. Sublabels express how recent that takeover is.
'Domain Ownership Transition' is derived purely from WHOIS registrant changes and does not imply who took over. 'Attacker Group Takeover' is derived from attacker-group attribution: the new operator is a known malicious actor. The two can coexist on the same domain.
Treat the domain as actor-controlled infrastructure for the duration shown by the sublabel; correlate with the attacker group's other domains and with recent DNS, SSL or hosting changes. A recent takeover of a previously benign domain is a strong reputation-hijacking signal.
A realistic shape of the entry the engine appends to the risk_signals array when this signal fires. Evidence keys are subgroup-default; per-signal overrides documented in the API reference.
{
"slug": "attacker_group_takeover",
"name": "Attacker Group Takeover in Last Month",
"group": "whois",
"subgroup": "ownership_changes",
"direction": "malicious",
"evidence": {
"owner_changes_12m": 3,
"last_owner_change_days_ago": 14,
"registrant_anonymized": true,
"new_owner_attacker_group_match": true,
"last_update_days_ago": 14
}
}2 other signals share the same subgroup. They detect related behaviors and often co-fire on the same IOC.
It indicates that the WHOIS ownership or registrant details of a domain have recently changed. Such transitions may occu…
It indicates that the domain's WHOIS data, such as ownership, registrar, or contact details, has been updated within a r…
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