16 per cent increase in new .ie domains registered locally
THE latest .ie Domain Profile Report 2023, reveals that 48,689 new domains were registered in Ireland up to December 31, 2023, a modest increase of 0.34 per cent on the previous year. A total of 484 .ie domain sites were created in Sligo itself with the county showing the strongest growth in registrations compared to 2022. Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Neale Richmond, said: “This report highlights just how important digitalisation and e-commerce is for Irish businesses.
“While many companies may have an online presence, be that a ‘shop window’ or click and collect, the option to shop online is hugely important for customers both in Ireland and abroad. This will open businesses up to new markets and more customers.
“There are a number of supports available for businesses of all sizes who want to improve their digital footprint, from the Local Enterprise Office to Enterprise Ireland, and I would encourage all businesses to avail of these as the opportunities that come with an enhanced online presence are endless.”
The .ie Report shows a slight increase in the number of cyberattacks across Ireland (552 in 2023) on the .ie namespace vs 2022.
These attacks ranged from phishing, web shell and website defamation to shopping site skimmers and survey scams. However, .ie websites boast significantly lower levels of spam and cyber threats when compared to other top-level domains like .com on an international scale. Speaking on keeping the domain as safe as possible for users, David Curtin, Chief Executive .ie, said: “We remain concerned that cyber-crime and online fraud continue to be a drag on digital adoption and risks undermining consumer confidence in e-commerce and digital business. “As part of a range of responses, our data analytics team is developing scorecards, dashboards and tools to provide insights for policymakers and practitioners into the profile and progression of website/email/domain security.
“We take great pride in the level of rigour in our domain registration and management process. This, paired with our monitoring of active domains using the Netcraft service, has contributed to our excellent scoring in the SpamHaus ratings.
“This service gives reassurance to our .ie domain holders who may otherwise not be aware that they are an innocent victim of malicious hackers.”