Over 2,000 new .ie domain names in 2022 were based in Kildare, report shows

A new report has shown that over 2,000 new .ie domain names from last year. were based in County Kildare.

Launched today, the .IE Domain Profile Report 2022 reveals there were almost 330,000 .ie domain names in the database by the end of last year with 48,168 new .ie domains registered in 2022.

Of those, 2,040 were based in Kildare.

Speaking at the launch of the report, David Curtin, chief executive of .IE, said: "At .IE it is a priority to proactively tackle abuse in the .ie namespace to protect both Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and their customers.

"The findings of our .IE Domain Profile Report highlight some security vulnerabilities of .ie profiles, but also demonstrates where we provide enhanced supports to help Ireland’s digital economy thrive.

Mr Curtin continued: "Our .IE Tipping Point Report 2022 also revealed that SMEs who invested in their online services since Covid, 30 per cent (1 in 3) were busier than they were before the pandemic and 36 per cent maintained the same level of business."

"SMEs are facing a new wave of economic challenges post Covid but with over 50 per cent planning a significant digital investment in the next five years, we want to make sure they are investing in that digitalisation smartly and are aware of the necessary security features to implement."

Despite being one of the top four counties for new domain name registrations, Kildare recorded a 13.6 per cent decrease in .ie domain registrations in 2022 when compared to pre pandemic levels of 2019.

The report reveals that the .ie domain, accounts for 53.6 per cent of all domains hosted in Ireland.

Now in its eighth year, the .IE Domain Profile Report is an annual exploration of the .ie database and is published by .IE, the national registry for .ie domain names.

It also outlines key advantages that can be leveraged by Irish enterprise with a .ie domain.

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CYBER ATTACKS

.IE provides an additional layer of security to owners of a .ie domain name, free of charge.

This service provides a constant scanning of .ie sites and involves instant notification to an SME’s hosting provider, who can help them take the corrective action once a scam has been detected.

The report also revealed over 500 cyber-attacks were taken down in 2022. Two in five were phishing scams and one in four were malware attacks.

Despite a significant increase in cyber-attacks, websites featuring a security certificate were down six percentage points resulting in more websites being vulnerable to attack.

This level of security is crucial to safeguard customer’s data.

The report indicated that threats to a .ie domain are lower than other top level domain names, such as .com.

Only individuals and businesses with a provable connection to Ireland can register a .ie domain. 

Applications from new customers are manually reviewed to ensure that they meet this requirement: this process keeps the .ie domain largely free from scams and other illegal activities.

91 per cent of .ie domain names are registered on the island of Ireland, with the total number of internationally registered .ie domains under 30,000.

Top international registrants come from Great Britain (10,983), United States (5,117) and Germany (2,535).

The trustworthiness of a .ie domain is also internationally recognised by The SpamHaus Project, an international non-profit organisation that tracks spam and related cyber threats.

According to the report, they collate a 'Badness Index' for top level domains in real-time with .ie currently listed with a perfect rating of 0.0 per cent in comparison with .com with a Badness Index of 2.5 per cent. 

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GROWTH

The report identified the counties experiencing the largest growth in new .ie domain registrations, a positive 'forward-indicator' of increased regional economic activity, with Tyrone recording the largest growth for 2022 v 2019 at 73.4 per cent. Tipperary came in second overall, with 26.5 per cent growth.

Mayo had the largest had the largest growth (up by 24.1 per cent) for any county in Connacht, followed by Galway at 8.4 per cent adding 2,303 new domains

Wexford came out on top in Leinster with an 18.2 per cent increase.

Amongst the border counties, Monaghan had the largest percentage growth (up by 8.4 per cent)

In addition, the report also indicates that the Covid surge of digital mobilisation has tapered off, identifying a drop in new .ie registrations year-on-year (down by 22.6 per cent compared to 2021).

This is much less significant at four per cent (2022 compared to 2019) when compared to more normal pre-pandemic levels and demonstrates that SMEs continue to use websites as a core part of their business with the benefits far outweighing a social media 'shop front.'

Along with added security, trust and higher search optimisation, there is also a wider choice of available .ie domain names compared to .com.

One of the longest .ie websites coming soon in Kildare is 29 characters long, at newbridgecommunitydevelopment.ie.

The .IE Domain Profile Report can be viewed in full here.