Security company gets patent for parked domain detection system - Domain Name Wire | Domain Name News

Andrew Allemann 1 Comment February 18, 2025

Patent covers detecting parked pages to block malicious activity.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted patent number 12,229,647 (pdf) to cyber security company Palo Alto Networks for “Unified parked domain detection system”.

The patent describes ways to detect that domain names are parked. For example, common signatures can be words used on the page, specific privacy policy links, etc.

Palo Alto Networks’ patent claims “Parked domains are commonly owned or controlled by the registrar or reseller,” which makes me think it’s considering registrar coming soon pages.

It also claims, “The webpage (e.g., landing page) for the parked domain may include information indicating that the domain is for sale or may be available, and hyperlinks purportedly providing a means to communicate with the domain owner but that may be directed to malicious exploits.”

Frankly, I wasn’t aware of a problem with malware and other exploits on parked domains (only zero click traffic has been an issue). From time to time I hear about a malware being spread through ad networks that may show up on parked domains.

At any rate, I imagine security companies would like to block parked domains rather than run the risk of a client visiting one that spreads malware.

Palo Alto Networks applied for the patent in July 2022 and the patent was granted today.

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Categories: Domain Parking