Championing Safer Digital Identities this Cybersecurity Awareness Month

This October marks the 22nd anniversary of Cybersecurity Awareness Month, a nationwide effort focused on giving individuals and organizations the knowledge and tools they need to stay safe online. As a proud Cybersecurity Awareness Month Champion, our goal is to help make the internet a safer place, beginning with the foundation of digital trust.

Why Domains Matter for Cybersecurity

Strong passwords and multi-factor authentication (MFA) are important, but real online safety begins even earlier, at the domain layer. Domains are the front door to every digital interaction, and when they’re well protected, they create a safer, more trusted experience by blocking many of the most common attack vectors before they ever reach a user. 

But right now, 68% of Global 2000 companies still haven’t implemented half of the recommended and necessary domain security measures, such as using an enterprise-class registrar, registry lock, sender policy framework (SPF), or domain-based message authentication, reporting, and conformance (DMARC). Additionally, with three out of four security leaders reporting only “somewhat” confidence in their current defenses, the demand for stronger protections is unmistakable, and it’s not too late for organizations to implement these protocols to proactively secure their business.  

We see these challenges as opportunities to raise the bar for trust online. Our approach to domain security emphasizes early detection and rapid response, pairing advanced monitoring with real-time abuse mitigation to identify threats before they escalate. Services like our Domains Protected Marks List prevent impersonation at the point of registration, while trusted notified partnerships allow us to respond quickly to attempts to bypass safeguards. The result is safer digital identities that give businesses and consumers the confidence to connect, build and transact online. 

That mission aligns closely with this year’s Cybersecurity Awareness Month theme, “Stay Safe Online." Cybersecurity Awareness Month highlights four best practices that every individual and business can follow to strengthen their defenses. While these are critical elements that all organizations should implement to stay safe online, domain security should be prioritized as the foundation to help these practices work as intended.

Secure Your Digital Identity With Proven Strategies 

By adopting these methods, you can reduce your risk of becoming a victim of cybercrime:

• Use strong passwords and a password manager. Even the strongest password won’t protect you if you’re logging into a spoofed site. Domain protections ensure that users aren’t duped into handing credentials to attackers in the first place.
• Turn on multi-factor authentication (MFA). MFA is a critical safeguard, but if a phishing site tricks a user into entering both their password and MFA code, the damage is done. Stopping domain-based phishing campaigns keeps MFA effective.
• Recognize and report scams. Consumers and businesses need clear signals to separate legitimate sites from fakes. If something feels suspicious, like a misspelled domain name or an odd-looking URL, don’t engage. Report the site to your IT or security team so it can be taken care of quickly and others stay protected. 
• Update software. Regular updates patch vulnerabilities, but domains are often the doorway that attackers use to deliver malware. Blocking malicious domains reduces the chance of exploits reaching end users at all. 

Zero Trust as the Foundation of Security

Zero Trust is a cybersecurity model built on a simple principle: never trust by default, always verify. Instead of assuming that users, devices, or requests are safe just because they’re inside a network, Zero Trust requires continuous validation at every step.

For domains, that means ensuring that every interaction is legitimate before it’s trusted. When the domain layer is secure, businesses can engage with customers, partners, and employees knowing that the first step in the digital journey is protected.

We help organizations bring this mindset to life. Our safeguards, from homograph-blocking to continuous abuse monitoring, proactively reduce risk. At the same time, our ability to detect and respond to new threats in real time ensures resilience as the landscape shifts. By embedding these protections, companies can advance their digital strategies with greater assurance, knowing that trust is not left to chance, but actively reinforced at every step. 

Moving Forward Together

Cybersecurity Awareness Month is a good reminder that keeping the internet secure is a shared responsibility. We are proud to stand alongside government, industry, and consumers as a Cybersecurity Awareness Month Champion, helping to ensure that businesses and individuals alike can build their digital identities with confidence.