Best Practices on How to Block Threats Using Firewall

In today's digital world, particularly with the rise of newly registered domains cyber threats are growing at an alarming rate. Each and every day, thousands of new sites and domains are being registered. Although most of them are authentic, a great number of them are generated out of ill intentions. Cybercriminals can use these freshly created domains to deliver malware, launch phishing attacks, steal credentials and other sensitive information, or conduct other massive attacks of businesses and individuals.

The largest risk is that new domains are generally not subjected to build up reputation. The trust scores-based security tools are not able to understand them as malicious in many cases until it is too late. This renders newly registered domains, which pose a potential risk, the ideal instrument of the cybercriminals.

Firewalls will be useful in this area. A firewall is a computer protection in the form of a digital gatekeeper. It keeps track of traffic on your network, prohibits dangerous connections and lets only secure communication, protecting sensitive data such as credit card information, into your system. By properly setting a firewall, organizations and individuals will be able to prevent any unwanted domain traffic, eliminate malicious traffic, and significantly decrease chances to become a victim of a cyberattack.

This blog will explain the importance of blocking threats using firewalls, highlight how malicious activities work, and provide insights on how to block newly registered domains using firewall as best practices you can follow to protect yourself from cybercriminals.

Why Firewalls Are Important in Cybersecurity

Before diving into the details of malicious activities and domain blocking, it’s essential to understand the role of firewalls.

Firewall is like a security gate between the Internet and store or network. It keeps track of the traffic coming to the system and the one going out of the system and judges accordingly to either permit or block it based on the set rules. It curbs unauthorized access, restriction of downloads of malicious files, and protection of sensitive information for the first time ensuring comprehensive security.

Without firewalls, organizations would be exposed to:

• Malware infections from unsafe websites
• Phishing attempts that trick employees into giving away credentials
• Data leaks caused by unauthorized connections
• Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks

In short, a firewall is your first line of defense against the evolving cyber threat landscape.

Understanding Malicious Activities

Cybercriminals exploit newly registered domains for phishing, scams, and malware distribution.
These activities often bypass traditional reputation checks, making detection more difficult.

1. How Cybercriminals Exploit Newly Registered Domains

Newly registered domains are cheap, quick and easy to acquire. Cybercriminals use this by registering domains used by phishing websites, counterfeit online storefront, or servers used to host malware. These domains are new, and, in most cases, they may not be suspicious with the help of the traditional reputation-based mechanisms.

For example:

• A hacker may create a fake banking website on a new domain to steal login details.
• Malware authors may use a new domain to push harmful downloads disguised as useful software.
• Attackers may send phishing emails with links to these new domains to bypass filters.

2. Common Types of Malicious Activities

• Phishing: Fake websites or emails tricking people into giving away personal information like usernames, passwords, or credit card details.
• Malware distribution: Hosting viruses, trojans, ransomware, or spyware on newly registered domains.
• Command and Control (C&C) servers: Domains used to remotely control compromised devices in a botnet.
• Scams and fraud: Fake e-commerce sites or cryptocurrency scams that vanish after collecting payments.

3. Role of WHOIS Data in Identifying Risks

WHOIS data is one of the best methods to detect suspicious domains because it contains the information about the person, who registered this domain, when it was registered and other data. When the information of ownership is suspiciously fake, or when the domain is far too new, it is a warning sign. Security solutions like WHOISFreaks provide valuable data to help organizations monitor and flag risky domains.

Protection Against New Threats

Cybercriminals constantly adapt with new domains and attack strategies, making continuous monitoring essential. Firewalls strengthened with threat intelligence feeds, patches, and updates provide real-time defense. Advanced solutions predict and block malicious domains before damage occurs.

1. Continuous Monitoring

Cybercriminals constantly adapt. A given domain that is blocked today may be swapped with another one tomorrow. This renders ongoing observation to be important. Security teams should monitor the processing of domain registrations in real-time and to block those involved in malicious activities.

2. Threat Intelligence Feeds

Current firewalls are able to customize with threat intelligence feeds that will update in-real-time on latest malicious domains, IP addresses, and attack methods. This makes sure that you are constantly ready to block the latest threats with your firewall.

3. Patching and Updates

Firewall, just like any other software must be updated on a regular basis. There are outdated security systems that may be used by the cybercriminals. By installing patches and firmware upgrade, you can keep your firewall well-fortified against the latest attack techniques.

4. Staying Ahead of Cybercriminals

Attackers tend to employ strategies such as domain generation algorithms (DGAs), which generate thousands of new domains in a day to evade detection. Security solutions can evaluate trends in newly registered domains and employ machine learning translation to predict domains they suspect are malicious and block them before they can cause damage.

WhoisFreaks Tools for Firewall-Driven Security

WhoisFreaks offers a suite of domain and IP intelligence tools that directly support firewall-based threat blocking.

Here are the key features and how they apply:

• Security Lookup API & Tool: Identifies risky IPs such as VPNs, Tor exits, or botnets and assigns a threat score. High scores mean high risk, so you can automatically block those IPs. It also provides ASN and network info, and supports bulk lookups for building blocklists quickly.
• IP Geolocation API: Provides country, city, ISP/ASN, and flags like "VPN/Datacenter." Useful for spotting unusual access (e.g. an admin logging in from an unexpected country) and creating geo-based or dynamic firewall rules.
• WHOIS Lookup API & Databases: Shows domain/IP ownership details (registrant, registrar, creation date, IP allocation). This helps analysts spot suspicious domains or IPs. Historical WHOIS/DNS data tracks ownership changes to flag threats.
• Subdomains Lookup API: Finds all subdomains of a domain, helping uncover forgotten or spoofed ones. These can be blocked in your firewall/DNS filter to prevent phishing or impersonation attacks.
• Newly Registered / Expiring Domains Feeds: Daily feeds of fresh, expiring, or deleted domains. Great for spotting brand impersonation attempts or phishing sites and adding them to your blocklists.
• Security (Threat) Database: A bulk feed with IP threat intelligence (VPN/proxy use, botnet history, threat scores). Can be directly integrated into firewall or edge devices for automated blocking.
• DNS and WHOIS Databases: Large-scale datasets for historical lookups. Useful for enriching firewall logs to see if an IP/domain has past ties to malicious activity.
• Monitor Services: Tracks domain registrations or changes. Detects phishing sites using your brand so you can block them at firewall/DNS level.
• Bulk Lookup Tools: Lets you check lists of IPs/domains in bulk. Ideal for scheduled jobs to validate and clean up firewall blocklists.

Real-World Example: Using WHOISFreaks for Firewall Security

WHOISFreaks can give a domain ownership and registration information to make it easier to know about suspicious domain before they can cause any harm. Integrating the WHOISFreaks information with firewalls, organizations can:

• Identify new risky domains quickly
• Block suspicious ownership patterns
• Automate the blocking process with APIs and daily updates
• Reduce false positives by verifying domain legitimacy

This proactive approach ensures that firewalls aren’t just reactive but actively preventing attacks before they happen.

Best Practices for Blocking Threats Using Firewalls

Combining firewalls with DNS filtering, WHOIS checks, and intelligence feeds strengthens protection. These practices help block malicious domains before they cause harm.

1. Enable DNS Filtering: Turn on firewalls that include the DNS-blocking protection to block access to malicious domains at the DNS stage prior to connection being made.
2. Use WHOIS Data for Verification: Monitor details of domain ownership. Suspicious or newly created domains are to be flagged or blocked automatically
3. Create and Update Blocklists: Maintain updated lists of known malicious domains and IP addresses. Automating this process through feeds ensures no gap in protection.
4. Adopt a Whitelist Approach: For high-security environments, consider allowing access only to trusted domains and blocking everything else.
5. Regular Firewall Audits: Consistent review of firewall rules should also be carried out to ensure there are effective, up to date rules and in line with the current threat picture.
6. Educate Employees: With the firewall, there is still the possibility of human error that will lead to breaches. Educate employees not to click the link on potential threats and report about suspicious behavior.
7. Combine Firewall with Other Security Tools: A firewall is robust, but it is most functional when used together with IDS and antivirus programs and endpoint security.

Conclusion

Cyber threats are not slowing down in fact; they are becoming more advanced every day. Newly registered domains, often using a new domain name, remain one of the most common tools for cybercriminals to spread malware, launch phishing campaigns, and steal sensitive data.

Firewalls present the initial firewall of security against these attacks and serve to thwart off such attacks. Knowledge of the malicious activities would help you block the registered domains and everman, new threats should be monitored and applied best practices that would go a long way in ensuring that you do not fall victims.

Tools like WHOISFreaks provide an additional layer of security by helping you verify domain ownership, offer suggestions, and identify suspicious domains before they become active threats.

FAQs

1. How to block a newly registered domain on a firewall?

You can block a domain by adding it to the firewall's blacklist or DNS filtering rules, so no traffic goes to it.

2. Can Windows Firewall Block Newly Registered domains?

Windows Firewall doesn't block domains directly, but you can block them by using IP rules or editing the host's file.

3. How do you block domains?

Domains can be blocked using firewall rules, DNS filters, or security tools that stop requests to those sites.

4. How long is a domain considered newly registered?

A domain is usually considered "newly registered" for the first 30 days after it's created and should be monitored immediately for any malicious activities.